General Notes

For hundreds of years before 1066, England had been ruled by Anglo-Saxon kings.  When Edward "the Confessor" died in 1066, William of Normandy saw his chance for a successful invation of England.  He built a fleet, attracted many knights, and obtained the pope's blessing.  He gained victory at the Battle of Hastings and was crowned King of England on Christmas of 1066, at Westminster by Aldred, Archbishop of York. During the next few years, William presided over a gradual redistribution of land in England.  Saxon rebellions led to the confiscation of lands, which the Norman Barons received.  As a result of this Norman invasion, the English people today are of both Norman and Anglo-Saxon extraction. He was 59 when he died. His horse had shied, thrownig his fat belly into the pommel of his saddle, thus rupturing his bowels.

William I, the Conqueror.  Illegitmate son of Robert, Duke of Normandy.  When he was a small boy, his father died and he was acknowledged his successor by the Norman barons.  The next 12 years were a period of anarchy, but in 1240, with the help of Henry I of France, he stamped out a serious rising and later recovered the fortress of Alencon from Geoffrey Martel, Count of Anjou. Fearing the close connection of Normandy with Flanders, Henry I joined Geoffrey to invade Normandy, but was twice defeated, and William added to his power by annexing Mayenne and Maine. In 1065 Edward the Confessor, King of England, died and William claimed the succession.  He invaded England and on October 14, 1066, defeated Harold at the battle of Senlac or Hastings.  He was crowned King of England on Christmas Day at Westminster Abbey.  For the next five years he continued military operations, reducing the south and west, and in 1070 completed the conquest by a march to Chester.  To reward his followers, he redistributed land taken from its earlier owners, but in granting it each of his barons received portions in several counties.  His administration was based on Norman feudalism, the barons having close personal relations with the King.  At the same time the old courts of shire and hundred were preserved, as well as the system of governing through sheriffs.  Although his heavy taxation caused complaints, he won th respect of his English subjects, who regarded him as their protector agianst feudal oppression on account of his regard for legal forms and his confirmation of the "laws of Edward."  Two prelates, Lanfranc of Canterbury and Geoffrey of Coutances, were his chief advisers.  Among his later military campaigns was that against Malcolm, King of Scotland, who submitted to him at the Forth; his suppression of two rebellions in Maine; and his invasion of the French Vexin. During the latter he was injured, when his horse plunged on the burning cinders of Nantes, which city he had sacked and burned.  He was carried to Rouen, where he died.
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Royal Lineage
William I The Conqueror, King of England from 1066 to 1087, was a man of remarkable political and military skill and a dominant force in Western Europe. The Domesday Survey of 1086 was a striking illustration of his administrative capabilities. William was the illegitimate son of Robert I of Normandy and Herleve, a Tanner's daughter from Falaise, and became Duke of Normandy as a child in 1035. William the Conqueror died while campaigning to maintain his hold on Maine and was buried in his own monastic foundation of Saint-Etienne at Caen.