General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> William the /Conqueror/
REFN: 1400AN
Alias:<ALIA> The /Conqueor/
REFN: P1400
William I, the Conqueror (1066-1087 A D)
Born: 1027
Died: September 9, 1087
Parents: Robert I, Duke of Normandy an d Herleva of Falasia
Significant Siblings: none
Spouse: Mathilda (daughter of Count Baldwin of Flanders)
Significant Offspring: Robert, William Rufus, Henr y, and Adela
Contemporaries: Edward the Confessor (King of England, 1047-1066) ; Harold
Godwinson (King of England, 1066); Henry I (King of France, 1031-106 0);
Philip I (King of France, 1060-1108); Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085);
Lan franc (Archbishop of Canterbury)
William, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy, spent his first s
ix years with his mother in Falaise and received t he duchy of Normandy up
on his father's death in 1035. A council consisting of noblemen and Willia
m's appointed guardians ruled Normandy but ducal authority waned under t
he Normans' violent nature and the province was wracked with assassinati
on and revolt for twelve years. In 1047, William reasserted himself in t
he eastern Norman regions and, with the aid of France's King Henry I, crus
hed the rebelling barons. He spent the next several years consolidating h
is strength on the continent through marriage, diplomacy, war and savage i
nti midation. By 1066, Normandy was in a position of virtual independen
ce from William's feudal lord, Henry I of France and the disputed successi
on in England offered William an opportunity for invasion. Edward the Conf
essor attempted to gain Norman support while fighting with his father-in-l
aw, Earl Godwin, by purportedly promising the throne to William in 1051. (
This was either a false claim by William or a hollow promise from Edwar
d; at that time, the kingship was not necessarily hereditary but was appoi
nted by the witan, a council of clergy and barons.) Before his death in 10
66, however, Edward reconciled with Godwin, and the witan agreed to Godwin
's son, Harold, as heir to the crown - after the recent Danish kings, t
he members of the council were anxious to keep the monarchy in Anglo-Sax
on hands. William was enraged and immediately prepared to invade, insisti
ng that Harold had sworn allegiance to him in 106 4. Prepared for batt
le in August 1066, ill winds throughout August and most of September prohi
bited him crossing the English Channel. This turned out to be advantageo
us for William, however, as Harold Godwinson awaited William's pending arr
ival on England's south
shores, Harold Hardrada, the King of Norway, invaded England from the nort
h. Harold Godwinson's forces marched north to defeat the Norse at Stamfo
rd Bridge on September 25, 1066. Two days after the battle, William land
ed unopposed at Pevensey and spent the next two weeks pillaging the area a
nd strengthening his position on the beachhead. The victorious Harol
d, in an attempt to solidify his kingship, took the fight south to Willi
am and the Normans on October 14, 1066 at Hastings. After hours of holdi
ng firm against the Normans, the tired English forces finally succumb
ed to the onslaught. Harold and his brothers died fighting in the Hastin
gs battle, removing any further organized Anglo-Saxon resistance to the No
rmans. The earls and bishops of the witan hesitated in supporting Willia
m, but soon submitted and crowned him William I on Christmas Day 1066. T
he kingdom was immediately besieged by minor uprisings, each one individua
lly and ruthlessly crushed by the Normans, until the whole of England w
as conquered and united in 1072. William punished rebels by confiscating t
heir lands and allocating them to the Normans. Uprisings in the northern c
ounties near York were quelled by an artificial famine brought about by No
rman destruction of food caches and farming implements. The arrival and co
nquest of William and the Normans radically alte red the
course of English history.
William of Normandy (French: Guil