General Notes

!Nickname: "William the Conquerer" Came to England in 1066 from Normandy.
William Moriton was the Duke of Normandy. * The illegitimate son of Robe
rt his
mother was a baker woman.
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Notes: William the Conqueror was the illegitimate son of Robert I, du
ke of Normandy, and Herleva, daughter of a wealthy Falasian; many contempo
rary writers referred to him as "William the Bastard". Robert died in 10
35 while traveling through Asia Minor, and the young William was named Du
ke of Normandy. He married Mathilda, daughter of Count Baldwin of Flander
s, who bore him at least nine children, four of which were boys.
Edward the Confessor, in an effort to gain Norman support while fighting w
ith his father-in-law, Earl Godwin, had promised the throne to William t
he Confessor in 1051. By 1066, however, Edward had reconciled with Godwi
n, and on his deathbed and named the Earl's son Harold as successor to t
he crown. William felt cheated and immediately prepared to invade, insisti
ng that Harold had sworn allegiance to his accession in 1064. He was prepa
red for battle in August of 1066, but the winds were against him througho
ut August and most of September, prohibiting he and his troops from crossi
ng the English Channel. This turned out to be an advantage, however, as Ha
rold Hardrada, the King of Norway, invaded England and met Harold Godwinso
n's forces at Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066. Godwinson emerged vic
torious, but two days after the battle, William was able to land unoppos
ed at Pevensey and spent the next two weeks pillaging the area and strengt
hening his position on the beachhead. The victorious Harold, in an attem
pt to solidify his kingship, took the fight to William and the Norma
ns on October 14, 1066 at Hastings. Harold and his brothers died fighti
ng in the Hastings battle, removing any further organized resistance to t
he Normans. The earls and bishops of the Witan hesitated in supporting Wil
liam, but soon submitted and crowned him William I on Christmas Day 106
The kingdom was immediately besieged by minor uprisings, each one individu
ally crushed by the Normans, until the whole of England was conquered a
nd united in 1071. William punished rebels by confiscating their land a
nd giving it to Normans. The Domesday Book was commissioned in 1085 as a s
urvey of land ownership to assess property and establish a tax base; with
in the regions covered by the Domesday survey, only two native English lan
downers still held their land. All landowners were summoned to pay homa
ge to William in 1086. William imported an Italian, Lanfranc, to take t
he position of Archbishop of Canterbury; Lanfranc reorganized the Engli
sh Church, establishing separate Church courts to deal with infractio
ns of Canon law.
William was a feudal vassal of the king of France (a situation destin
ed to cause great consternation between England and France), and constant
ly found himself at odds with King Philip. In a siege on the town of Mant
es in 1087 he was injured, and he died from complications of the wou
nd on September 9. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gave a favorable review of Wi
lliam's twenty-one year reign, but added, "His anxiety for money is the on
ly thing on which he can deservedly be blamed; ... he would say and do so
me things and indeed almost anything ... where the hope of money allured h
im." He was certainly cruel by modern standards, and exacted a high toll f
rom his subjects, but he laid the foundation for the building of English h
istory.2  SOUR S2081