William I of England

William I (c. 1027 - September 9, 1087), was a King of England, known alternatively as William of Normandy,William the Conqueror and William the Bastard. He was the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy, and Herleva, the daughter of a tanner; he was born in Falaise, Normandy (now in France). William succeeded to the throne of England by right of conquest by winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

No authentic portrait of William exists. In the patriotic print (illustration, right) he is wearing plate armor that was invented generations after his death.

Early Life

William succeeded to his father’s Duchy of Normandy at the young age of 7 in 1035 and was known as Duke William II of Normandy. He lost three guardians to plots to usurp his place. King Henri I of France knighted him at the age of 15. By the time he turned 19 he was himself successfully dealing with threats of rebellion and invasion. With the assistance of King Henri I of France, William finally secured control of Normandy by defeating the rebel Norman barons at Caen in the battle of Val-ès-Dunes in 1047.

He married Matilda of Flanders in 1050 or 1051 at the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Eu, Normandy (now in Seine-, Maritime). He was 23, she was 21. Their marriage produced four sons and six daughters (see list below).

Conquest of England

Upon the death of William's cousin King Edward the Confessor of England (January 1066), William claimed the throne of England, asserting that the childless Edward had named him his heir during a visit by William (probably in 1052) and that Harold Godwinson, England's foremost magnate, had reportedly pledged his support while shipwrecked in Normandy (c. 1064). Harold made this pledge while in captivity and was reportedly tricked into swearing on a saint's bones that he would give the throne to William. Even if this story is true, however, Harold made the promise under duress and may so have felt free to break it.

The assembly of England’s leading notables known as the Witenagemot approved Harold Godwinson’s coronation which took place on January 5, 1066 making him King Harold II of England. In order to pursue his own claim, William assembled an invasion fleet of around 600 ships and an army of 7000 men. He landed at Pevensey Sussex on September 28, 1066 and assembled a prefabricated wooden castle near Hastings as a base. King Harold Godwinson marched an army of similar size 250 miles to challenge William and the crucial battle of Senla, which later became known as the Battle of Hastings took place on October 14, 1066. According to some accounts, perhaps based on an interpretation of the Bayeux Tapestry commemorating the Norman victory, Harold was killed by an arrow through the eye, and the Anglo Saxon forces fled giving William victory.

This was the defining moment of what is now known as the Norman Conquest. The remaining Saxon noblemen surrendered to William at Berkhamsted , Hertfordshire and he was acclaimed King of England there. William was then crowned on December 25, 1066 in Westminster Abbey.

Although the south of England submitted quickly to Norman rule, resistance continued, especially in the North, for six more years until 1072. Harold's sons attempted an invasion of the south-west peninsular. Risings occurred in the Welsh Marches and at Stafford. Most seriously William faced separate attempts at invasion by the Danes and the Scotts. William's defeat of these led to what became known as the harrowing of the North in which the counties of Durham and Northumberland were laid waste to deny his enemies their resources.

William's Reign

William initiated many major changes, amongst them a fundamental review of the prevailing Anglo-Saxon legal system, the "common law", which he fused with Norman law. In 1085, in order to ascertain the extent of his dominion, William commissioned the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of England's productive capacity similar to a modern census. He also ordered the building of a number of castles, among them the Tower of London. His conquest also led to Norman French replacing English as the language of the ruling classes, for nearly 300 years.

He died aged 60 at the Convent of St. Gervais, near Rouen, France, on September 9, 1087 from abdominal injuries received from his saddle pommel when he fell off a horse at the Siege of Mantes. He is buried at St. Stephen's, Caen, Normandy.

William was succeeded in 1087 as King of England by his younger son William II and as Duke of Normandy by his elder son Robert Curthose, who had earlier rebelled. His youngest son Henry also became King of England later, after William II died without any child to succeed him.

Children of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders

Some doubt exists over how many daughters there were. This list includes some entries which are obscure.

1. Robert Curthose (~1054 - 1134), Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano
2. Adelizia (or Alice)(1055- d. ~1065), reportedly betrothed to Harold II of England (Her existence is in some doubt.)
3. Cecilia (~1056 - 1126), Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen
4. William Rufus (1056 - 1100), King of England
5. Richard (1057 - ~1081), killed by a stag in New Forest
6. Adela (~1062 - 1138), married Stephen, Count of Blois
7. Agatha (~1064 - ~1080), betrothed to (1) Harold of Wessex, (2) Alfonso VI of Castile
8. Constance (~1066 - 1090), married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany; poisoned, possibly by her own servants
9. Matilda (very obscure, her existence is in some doubt)
10. Henry Beauclerc (1068 - 1135), King of England, married (1) Matilda (or Edith) of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III, King of Scotland, (2) Adelicia of Louvain, daughter of Geoffrey of Louvain, Duke of Brabant

Further Reading

• David Bates, William the Conqueror ISBN 0752419803

External Links

• History of William I's life and reign at the official web site of the British Monarchy