General Notes

William I, byname WILLIAM The CONQUEROR, or The BASTARD, or WILLIAM ofNORMANDY, French GUILLAUME le CONQUÉRANT, or le BÂTARD, or GUILLAUME deNORMANDIE (b. c. 1028, Falaise, Normandy--d. Sept. 9, 1087, Rouen), dukeof Normandy (as William II) from 1035 and king of England from 1066, oneof the greatest soldiers and rulers of the Middle Ages. He made himselfthe mightiest feudal lord in France and then changed the course ofEngland's history by his conquest of that country.

Early years

William was the elder of two children of Robert I of Normandy and hisconcubine Herleva, or Arlette, the daughter of a burgher from the town ofFalaise. In 1035 Robert died when returning from a pilgrimage toJerusalem, and William, his only son, whom he had nominated as his heirbefore his departure, was accepted as duke by the Norman magnates and hisfeudal overlord, King Henry I of France. William and his friends had toovercome enormous obstacles. His illegitimacy (he was generally known asthe Bastard) was a handicap, and he had to survive the collapse of lawand order that accompanied his accession as a child.

Three of William's guardians died violent deaths before he grew up, andhis tutor was murdered. His father's kin were of little help; most ofthem thought that they stood to gain by the boy's death. But his mothermanaged to protect William through the most dangerous period. These earlydifficulties probably contributed to his strength of purpose and hisdislike of lawlessness and misrule.

Ruler of Normandy.

By 1042, when William reached his 15th year, was knighted, and began toplay a personal part in the affairs of his duchy, the worst was over. Buthis attempts to recover rights lost during the anarchy and to bringdisobedient vassals and servants to heel inevitably led to trouble. From1046 until 1055 he dealt with a series of baronial rebellions, mostly ledby kinsmen. Occasionally he was in great danger and had to rely on Henryof France for help. In 1047 Henry and William defeated a coalition ofNorman rebels at Val-ès-Dunes, southeast of Caen. It was in these yearsthat William learned to fight and rule.

William soon learned to control his youthful recklessness. He was alwaysready to take calculated risks on campaign and, most important, to fighta battle. But he was not a chivalrous or flamboyant commander. His planswere simple, his methods direct, and he exploited ruthlessly anyadvantage gained. If he found himself at a disadvantage, he withdrewimmediately. He showed the same
qualities in his government. He never lost sight of his aim to recoverlost ducal rights and revenues, and, although he developed no theory ofgovernment or great interest in administrative techniques, he was alwaysprepared to improvise and experiment. He seems to have lived a moral lifeby the standards of the time, and he acquired an interest in the welfareof the Norman church. He made his half brother, Odo, bishop of Bayeux in1049 at the age of about 16, and Odo managed to combine the roles ofnobleman and prelate in a way that did not greatly shock contemporaries.But William also welcomed foreign monks and scholars to Normandy.Lanfranc of Pavia, a famous master of the liberal arts, who entered themonastery of Bec about 1042, was made abbot of Caen in 1063.

According to a brief description of William's person by an anonymousauthor, who borrowed extensively from Einhard's Life of Charlemagne, hewas just above average height and had a robust, thick-set body. Though hewas always sparing of food and drink, he became fat in later life. He hada rough bass voice and was a good and ready speaker. Writers of the nextgeneration agree that he was exceptionally strong and vigorous. Williamwas an out-of-doors man, a hunter and soldier, fierce and despotic,generally feared; uneducated, he had few graces but was intelligent andshrewd and soon obtained the respect of his rivals.

New alliances.

After 1047 William began to take part in events outside his duchy. Insupport of his lord, King Henry, and in pursuit of an ambition tostrengthen his southern frontier and expand into Maine, he fought aseries of campaigns against Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou. But in 1052Henry and Geoffrey made peace, there was a serious rebellion in easternNormandy, and, until 1054 William was again in serious danger. Duringthis period he conducted important negotiations with his cousin Edwardthe Confessor, king of England, and took a wife.

Norman interest in Anglo-Saxon England derived from an alliance made in1002, when King Ethelred II of England married Emma, the sister of CountRichard II, William's grandfather. Two of her sons, William's cousinsonce removed, had reigned in turn in England, Hardecanute (1040-42) andEdward the Confessor (1042-66). William had met Edward during thatprince's exile on the Continent and may well have given him some supportwhen he returned to England in 1041. In that year Edward was about 36 andWilliam 14. It is clear that William expected some sort of reward fromEdward and, when Edward's marriage proved unfruitful, began to develop anambition to become his kinsman's heir. Edward probably at timesencouraged William's hopes. His childlessness was a diplomatic asset.

In 1049 William negotiated with Baldwin V of Flanders for the hand of hisdaughter, Matilda. Baldwin, an imperial vassal with a distinguishedlineage, was in rebellion against the Western emperor, Henry III, and indesperate need of allies. The proposed marriage was condemned asincestuous (William and Matilda were evidently related in some way) bythe Emperor's friend, Pope Leo IX, at the Council of Reims in October1049; but so anxious were the parties for the alliance that before theend of 1053, possibly in 1052, the wedding took place. In 1059 Williamwas reconciled to the papacy, and as penance the disobedient pair builttwo monasteries at Caen. Four sons were born to William and Matilda:Robert (the future duke of Normandy), Richard (who died young), WilliamRufus (the Conqueror's successor in England), and Henry (Rufus'successor). Among the daughters was Adela, who was the mother of Stephen,king of England.

Edward the Confessor was supporting the Emperor, and it is possible thatWilliam used his new alliance with Flanders to put pressure on Edward andextort an acknowledgment that he was the English king's heir. At allevents, Edward seems to have made some sort of promise to William in1051, while Tostig, son of the greatest nobleman in England, EarlGodwine, married Baldwin's half sister. The immediate purpose of thistripartite alliance was to improve the security of each of the parties.If William secured a declaration that he was Edward's heir, he was alsolooking very far ahead.

Between 1054 and 1060 William held his own against an alliance betweenKing Henry I and Geoffrey Martel of Anjou. Both men died in 1060 and weresucceeded by weaker rulers. As a result, in 1063 William was able toconquer Maine. In 1064 or 1065 Edward sent his brother-in-law, Harold,earl of Wessex, Godwine's son and successor, on an embassy to Normandy.William took him on a campaign into Brittany, and in connection with thisHarold swore an oath in which, according to Norman writers, he renewedEdward's bequest of the throne to William and promised to support it.

When Edward died childless on Jan. 5, 1066, Harold was accepted as kingby the English magnates, and William decided on war. Others, however,moved more quickly. In May Tostig, Harold's exiled brother, raidedEngland, and in September he joined the invasion forces of Harald IIIHardraade, king of Norway, off the Northumbrian coast. William assembleda fleet, recruited an army, and gathered his forces in August at themouth of the Dives River. It is likely that he originally intended tosail due north and invade England by way of the Isle of Wight andSouthampton Water. Such a plan would give him an offshore base andinterior lines. But adverse winds detained his fleet in harbour for amonth, and in September a westerly gale drove his ships up-Channel.

The Battle of Hastings.

William regrouped his forces at Saint-Valéry on the Somme. He hadsuffered a costly delay, some naval losses, and a drop in the morale ofhis troops. On September 27, after cold and rainy weather, the windbacked south. William embarked his army and set sail for the southeastcoast of England. The following morning he landed, took the unresistingtowns of Pevensey and Hastings, and began to organize a bridgehead withbetween 4,000 and 7,000 cavalry and infantry.

William's forces were in a narrow coastal strip, hemmed in by the greatforest of Andred, and, although this corridor was easily defensible, itwas not much of a base for the conquest of England. The campaigningseason was almost past, and when William received news of his opponent itwas not reassuring. On September 25 Harold had defeated and slain Tostigand Harald Hardraade at Stamford Bridge, near York, and was retracing hissteps to meet the new invader. On October 13, when Harold emerged fromthe forest, William was taken by surprise. But the hour was too late forHarold to push on to Hastings, and he took up a defensive position. Earlythe next day William went out to give battle. He attacked the Englishphalanx with archers and cavalry but saw his army almost driven from thefield. He rallied the fugitives, however, and brought them back into thefight and in the end wore down his opponents. Harold's brothers werekilled early in the battle. Toward nightfall the King himself fell andthe English gave up. William's coolness and tenacity secured him victoryin this fateful battle, and he then moved against possible centres ofresistance so quickly that he prevented a new leader from emerging. OnChristmas Day 1066 he was crowned king in Westminster Abbey. In a formalsense the Norman Conquest of England had taken place.

King of England

William was already an experienced ruler. In Normandy he had replaceddisloyal nobles and ducal servants with his own friends, limited privatewarfare, and recovered usurped ducal rights, defining the feudal dutiesof his vassals. The Norman church flourished under his rule. He wanted achurch free of corruption but subordinate to him. He would not tolerateopposition from bishops and abbots or interference from the papacy. Hepresided over church synods and reinforced ecclesiastical discipline withhis own. In supporting Lanfranc, prior of Bec, against Berengar of Toursin their dispute over the doctrine of the Eucharist, he found himself onthe side of orthodoxy. He was never guilty of the selling of churchoffice (simony). He disapproved of clerical marriage. At the same time hewas a stern and sometimes rough master, swayed by political necessities,and he was not generous to the church with his own property. The reformerLanfranc was one of his advisers; but perhaps even more to his taste werethe worldly and soldierly bishops Odo of Bayeux and Geoffrey of Coutances.

William left England early in 1067 but had to return in December becauseof English unrest. The English rebellions that began in 1067 reachedtheir peak in 1069 and were finally quelled in 1071. They completed theruin of the highest English aristocracy and gave William a distaste forhis newly conquered kingdom. Since his position on the Continent wasdeteriorating, he wanted to solve English problems as cheaply aspossible. To secure England's frontiers, he invaded Scotland in 1072 andWales in 1081 and created special defensive "marcher" counties along theScottish and Welsh borders.

In the last 15 years of his life he was more often in Normandy than inEngland, and there were five years, possibly seven, in which he did notvisit the kingdom at all. He retained most of the greatest Anglo-Normanbarons with him in Normandy and confided the government of England tobishops, trusting especially his old friend Lanfranc, whom he madearchbishop of Canterbury. Much concerned that the natives should not beunnecessarily disturbed, he allowed them to retain their own laws andcourts.

William returned to England only when it was absolutely necessary: in1075 to deal with the aftermath of a rebellion by Roger, earl ofHereford, and Ralf, earl of Norfolk, which was made more dangerous by theintervention of a Danish fleet; and in 1082 to arrest and imprison hishalf brother Odo, bishop of Bayeux and earl of Kent, who was planning totake an army to Italy, perhaps to make himself pope. In the spring of1082 William had his son Henry knighted, and in August at Salisbury hetook oaths of fealty from all the important landowners in England,whosoever's vassals they might be. In 1085 he returned with a large armyto meet the threat of an invasion by Canute IV (Canute the Holy) ofDenmark. When this came to nothing owing to Canute's death in 1086,William ordered an economic and tenurial survey to be made of thekingdom, the results of which are summarized in the two volumes ofDomesday Book.

William was preoccupied with the frontiers of Normandy. The danger spotswere in Maine and the Vexin on the Seine, where Normandy bordered on theFrench royal demesne. After 1066 William's continental neighbours becamemore powerful and even more hostile. In 1068 Fulk the Surly succeeded toAnjou and in 1071 Robert the Frisian to Flanders. Philip I of Franceallied with Robert and Robert with the Danish king, Canute IV. There wasalso the problem of William's heir apparent, Robert Curthose, who, givenno appanage and seemingly kept short of money, left Normandy in 1077 andintrigued with his father's enemies. In 1081 William made a compromisewith Fulk in the treaty of Blancheland: Robert Curthose was to be countof Maine but as a vassal of the count of Anjou. The eastern part of theVexin, the county of Mantes, had fallen completely into King Philip'shands in 1077 when William had been busy with Maine. In 1087 Williamdemanded from Philip the return of the towns of Chaumont, Mantes, andPontoise. In July he entered Mantes by surprise, but while the townburned he suffered some injury from which he never recovered. He wasthwarted at the very moment when he seemed about to enforce his lastoutstanding territorial claim.

Death

William was taken to a suburb of Rouen, where he lay dying for fiveweeks. He had the assistance of some of his bishops and doctors, and inattendance were his half brother Robert, count of Mortain, and hisyounger sons, William Rufus and Henry. Robert Curthose was with the Kingof France. It had probably been his intention that Robert, as was thecustom, should succeed to the whole inheritance. In the circumstances hewas tempted to make the loyal Rufus his sole heir. In the end hecompromised: Normandy and Maine went to Robert and England to Rufus.Henry was given great treasure with which he could purchase an appanage.William died at daybreak on September 9, in his 60th year, and was buriedin rather unseemly fashion in St. Stephen's Church, which he had built atCaen. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD, 1996, WILLIAM I]

[Note: UnLinked FromRobert I, of Normandy and his wife Herleve de Falaise. Line correct.]

Duke of Normandy, 1035-1087; king of England, 1066-1087

Source:  David C Douglas, William the Conqueror:  The Norman Impact Upon England, University of California Press, 1964, p 394-395.: It may therefore be concluded that William and Matilda had four sons, born in the following order:  1. Robert, later duke of Normandy.  Born 1051-1054.  Died 10 February 1134.  2. Richard.  Born before 1056. Died circa 1075?  3. William, later king of Englnd.  Born 1056-1060. Died 2 August 1100.  4. Henry, later king of England.  Born late 1068. Died 1 December 1135.  (P) It would appear also that William and Matilda may have had six daughters who (without reference to seniority) might be enumerated as follows:  1. Agatha, betrothed successively to Harold, earl of Wessex, and to Alphonse of Leon (and possibly previously to Herbert, count of Maine).  Died a virgin.  2. Adeliza.  3. Cecily, born before 1066, subsequently abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen.  Died 1127.  4. Adela, married, 1080, Stephen I, count of Blois.  Died 1137.  5. Constance, married, 1086, Alan IV, count of Brittany.  Died 1090.  6. Matilda.  (P) Dogmatism would here, however, be out of place.  The separate existence of Agatha and Adeliza is not certain, and the evidence about Matilda is less than satisfactory. [Footnote:  The matter is complicated by the fact Ordericus (vol. II, p. 182) says that one of William's daughters was betrothed to Edwin of Mercia..]  The relative ages of the daughters is moreover not known, and one at least of them, Cecily, was born before Henry I. Finally, it may deserve a note of surprise (and admiration) that a lady of such diminutive size as was William's wife should have produced so large a family before her death in 1083 [see below for physical descriptions of William and Matilda]."  p 394-395.  One of the pieces of  *Ordericus Vitalis [vol. II, pp. 189, 391, 392; vol. III, p. 159] mentions five daughters of William's marriage whom he names and describes as follows:  (i) Agatha, who was betrothed successively to Harold of Wessex and Alphonso of Spain.  She protested vigorously against going to Spain, and died a virgin, being buried at Bayeux;  (ii) Adeliza, who undertook religious vows early in life and lived under the protection of Roger of Beaumont;  (iii) Constance, who married Alan IV of Brittany; (iv) Adela, who married Stephen I, count of Blois;  and (v) Cecily, who became abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen. Douglas also observes *Domesday Book* mentions a daughter of William named Matilda.


Source:  Leslie Gilbert Pine, *They Came with the Conqueror*, London (Evans Brothers Limited) 1954, p 23-24,;    "To start our [English] national story at the year 1066 is to split asunder the seamless robe of England's past; we have a thousand years of recorded history before William sailed into Norman's Bay at Pevensey.  A population which by careful research has been estimated (for England) at one million to one million and a half suddenly had imposed on it a ruling class of Normans and other foreigners.  (The Conquest began in 1066, and was not over until 1073.)  By 1065 William had parcelled out most of the land, and for revenue purposes he wanted a complete survey to be made of the whole country.  This which was completed in 1086 is the popularly named Domesday Book.  From this wonderful work we are able to see that the King's chief tenants -- the barons or King's men, as they were called -- numbered about 200!  The land was given to them on condition that they supplied William with soldiers, and the unit of land was a knight's fee. There were about 5, 000 of these knights' fees.  If we reckon that each knight had with him or attached to him not less than ten other fighters and followers, we reach a figure of some 50,000 men; not all were warriors, but perhaps some 30,000 of them were.  We have to remember that these 30, 000 were dispersed through perhaps 50 garrisons, where either the King had built a castle or one of his barons had a stronghold.  On the borders of Wales and Scotland and on the coast-line facing Scandinavia garrisons tended necessarily to be stronger than in parts of the Midlands or in Surrey.  In the harsh north of England a Norman lord needed more retiners than in once-for-all subdued Sussex.  (P) To those 50,000 military and quasi-military persons we muct add many others who had no warlike capacity; Norman clerics, priests, womenm children, tradesmen, workmen and the like  I wuld therefore reckon that by 1086, when the Conquest had been achieved and the new system was settled, some 100,000 persons of Norman or foreign stock had come into England --- one-tenth of the old population, or one-fifteenth if the upper estimate of the English population is accepted.  (P) This estimate does not mean that the old fable of 60,000 men-at-arms at Hastings can be accepted.  Considerations of shipping and provisioning alone make this impossible.  On the other hand estimates which put the Conqueror's army at Hastings as low as 6,000 are not, I think, realistic.  Hastings was won after a hard day's fight against an army which had wiped out Harold Hardrada of Norway and his Vikings.  I do not think that William could have gone into the battle with less than 12,000 effectives and with a camp behind that.  (P) However, after Hasting, when William was accepted by the English as King, no doubt many cautious person came over from Normandy to join in their Duke's good fortune.  No doubt William had many creditors, and where the property is, these vultures are wont to flock.  They were satsified with lands filched from the English and Danish lords on the harsh plea that they were traitors to a King they had never acknowledged. William had much to bestow and was soon surrounded by needy and greedy courtiers.  Every bloodthirsty swashbuckler, every penniless or landless younger son flocked to William at London or Winchester. Every saintly psalm-droner between Rome and Coutance, who saw his chance to cash in on the forfeiture of English sees and abbeys, found his way to England."