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William the Conqueror

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William the Conqueror

William the Conqueror (c. 1028 – 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy (as William II) from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading a Franco-Norman army to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose. William was the son of the unmarried Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, as did the anarchy which plagued the first years of his rule. During his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke, and for their own ends. In 1047, William quashed a rebellion and began to establish his authority over the duchy, a process that was not complete until about 1060. His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointment of his supporters as bishops and abbots in the Norman church. His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and he secured control of the neighbouring county of Maine by 1062. In the 1050s and early 1060s, William became a contender for the throne of England held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, whom Edward named as king on his deathbed in January 1066. Arguing that Edward had previously promised the throne to him and that Harold had sworn to support his claim, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066. He decisively defeated and killed Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066, in London. He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but William's hold on England was mostly secure by 1075, allowing him to spend the greater part of his reign in continental Europe. William's final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his son, Robert, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086, he ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all of the land-holdings in England along with their pre-Conquest and current holders. He died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, settling a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his domains into one empire but continued to administer each part separately. His lands were divided after his death: Normandy went to Robert, and England went to his second surviving son, William Rufus.

Infobox

Reign
3 July 1035 – 9 September 1087
Coronation
25 December 1066
Predecessor
Robert I
Successor
Robert II
Born
c. 1028Falaise, Duchy of Normandy
Died
9 September 1087 (aged about 59)Priory of Saint Gervase, Rouen, Duchy of Normandy
Burial
Saint-Étienne de Caen, Normandy
Spouse
Matilda of Flanders (m. 1051/2; d. 1083)
IssueDetail
Robert II, Duke of Normandy Richard Adeliza Cecilia William II, King of England Constance, Duchess of Brittany Adela, Countess of Blois Henry I, King of England
House
Normandy
Father
Robert the Magnificent
Mother
Herleva of Falaise

Tables

· References
Regnal titles
Regnal titles
William the Conqueror House of NormandyBorn: 1028 Died: 9 September 1087
Regnal titles
Preceded byEdgar Ætheling
Preceded byEdgar Ætheling
William the Conqueror House of NormandyBorn: 1028 Died: 9 September 1087
Preceded byEdgar Ætheling
William the Conqueror House of NormandyBorn: 1028 Died: 9 September 1087
King of England 1066–1087
William the Conqueror House of NormandyBorn: 1028 Died: 9 September 1087
Succeeded byWilliam II
Preceded byRobert I
Preceded byRobert I
William the Conqueror House of NormandyBorn: 1028 Died: 9 September 1087
Preceded byRobert I
William the Conqueror House of NormandyBorn: 1028 Died: 9 September 1087
Duke of Normandy 1035–1087
William the Conqueror House of NormandyBorn: 1028 Died: 9 September 1087
Succeeded byRobert II
William the Conqueror House of NormandyBorn: 1028 Died: 9 September 1087
Regnal titles
Preceded byEdgar Ætheling
King of England 1066–1087
Succeeded byWilliam II
Preceded byRobert I
Duke of Normandy 1035–1087
Succeeded byRobert II

References

  1. French: Guillaume; Latin: Guillelmus; Old Norman: Williame; Old English: Willelm
  2. He was regularly described as bastardus (bastard) in non-Norman contemporary sources.
  3. Although the chronicler William of Poitiers claimed that Edward's succession was due to Duke William's efforts, this is
  4. The exact date of William's birth is confused by contradictory statements by the Norman chroniclers. Orderic Vitalis has
  5. This made Emma of Normandy his great-aunt and Edward the Confessor his cousin.
  6. This daughter later married William, lord of La Ferté-Macé.
  7. Walter had two daughters. One became a nun, and the other, Matilda, married Ralph Tesson.
  8. How illegitimacy was viewed by the church and lay society was undergoing a change during this period. The Church, under
  9. The reasons for the prohibition are not clear. There is no record of the reason from the Council, and the main evidence
  10. The exact date of the marriage is unknown, but it was probably in 1051 or 1052, and certainly before the end of 1053, as
  11. The two monasteries are the Abbaye-aux-Hommes (or St Étienne) for men which was founded by William in about 1059, and th
  12. Ætheling means "prince of the royal house" and usually denoted a son or brother of a ruling king.
  13. Edgar the Ætheling was another claimant, but Edgar was young, likely only 14 in 1066.
  14. The Bayeux Tapestry may depict a papal banner carried by William's forces, but this is not named as such in the tapestry
  15. William of Malmesbury states that William did accept Gytha's offer, but William of Poitiers states that William refused
  16. Medieval chroniclers frequently referred to 11th-century events only by the season, making more precise dating impossibl
  17. The historian Frank Barlow points out that William had suffered from his uncle Mauger's ambitions while young and thus w
  18. Edgar remained at William's court until 1086 when he went to the Norman principality in southern Italy.
  19. Although Simon was a supporter of William, the Vexin was actually under the overlordship of King Philip, which is why Ph
  20. The seal shows a mounted knight and is the first extant example of an equestrian seal.
  21. Between 1066 and 1072, William spent only 15 months in Normandy and the rest in England. After returning to Normandy in
  22. In Domesday Book, the king's lands were worth four times as much as the lands of his half-brother Odo, the next largest
  23. The thigh bone currently in the tomb is assumed to be the one that was reburied in 1642, but the Victorian historian E.
  24. William of Poitiers relates that two brothers, Iberian kings, were competitors for the hand of a daughter of William, wh
  25. Bates William the Conqueror p. 33
  26. Bates "William I" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  27. Potts "Normandy, 911–1144" p. 31
  28. Collins Early Medieval Europe pp. 376–377
  29. Williams Æthelred the Unready pp. 42–43
  30. Williams Æthelred the Unready pp. 54–55
  31. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 80–83
  32. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 83–85
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  35. Douglas William the Conqueror p. 417
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  37. van Houts "Les femmes" Tabularia "Études" pp. 19–34
  38. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 31–32
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  40. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 35–37
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  43. Crouch Birth of Nobility pp. 132–133
  44. Given-Wilson and Curteis Royal Bastards p. 42
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  51. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 45–46
  52. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 47–49
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  84. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 46–47
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  87. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 89–91
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  96. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 107–109
  97. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 115–116
  98. Huscroft Ruling England pp. 12–13
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  100. Thomas Norman Conquest p. 18
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  102. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 118–119
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  104. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 120–123
  105. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery p. 72
  106. Marren 1066 p. 93
  107. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 124
  108. Lawson Battle of Hastings pp. 180–182
  109. Marren 1066 pp. 99–100
  110. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 126
  111. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery p. 73
  112. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 127–128
  113. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 129
  114. Williams "Godwine, earl of Wessex" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  115. Walker Harold p. 181
  116. Rex Harold II p. 254
  117. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 131
  118. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 131–133
  119. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 138–139
  120. Douglas William the Conqueror p. 423
  121. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery pp. 75–76
  122. Huscroft Ruling England pp. 57–58
  123. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery pp. 76–77
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  126. Barlow English Church 1066–1154 p. 59
  127. Turner "Richard Lionheart" French Historical Studies p. 521
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  135. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 230–231
  136. Pettifer English Castles pp. 161–162
  137. Williams "Ralph, earl" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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  142. Douglas and Greenaway, p. 158
  143. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 238–239
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  154. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 152–153
  155. Young Royal Forests pp. 7–8
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  160. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 151–152
  161. Bates William the Conqueror p. 150
  162. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 198–202
  163. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 202–205
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  165. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 362–363
  166. Douglas William the Conqueror p. 363 footnote 4
  167. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 208–209
  168. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 210–211
  169. Clanchy England and its Rulers pp. 31–32
  170. Searle Predatory Kinship p. 232
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  172. Thompson "Robert, duke of Normandy" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  173. Barlow "William II" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  174. Fryde, et al., Handbook of British Chronology, p. 35
  175. Van Houts "Adelida" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  176. Salazar y Acha "Contribución al estudio" Anales de la Real Academia pp. 307–308
  177. Reilly Kingdom of Leon-Castile p. 47
  178. Canal Sánchez-Pagín "Jimena Muñoz" Anuario de Estudios Medievales pp. 12–14
  179. Given-Wilson and Curteis Royal Bastards p. 59
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