William, "a child of chaos" (Time Magazine), was born in 1027/8, the bastard son of Robert I the Devil, duke of Normandy and his mistress, Herleva, the daughter of a tanner in Falaise. Robert I died while on a pilgrammage to the Holy Land, when William was only 7 years of age. Before departing, Robert presented William, whom he had not recognized up to this point, to his nobles and demanded their allegiance to the boy. William's life was not to be an easy one. He had to overcome the obstacle of illegitimacy as well as the collapse of law and order that accomapnied his accession. Most of his life, he was known as William the Bastard. In spite of the murders of three of his guardians, the murder of his tutor, attempts to kidnap him as a child, as well as an assasination attempt which failed only because William fled to his mother's estate, William became the ruler of Normandy, Duke of Normandy. His father's kin were of little or no protection and William found himself protected during this period by his mother. William was only 13 when he fought in his first battle. William was 15 in 1042 when he was knighted. From 1046 trhough 1055, William was absorbed with a series of baronial rebellions, mostly led by his kinsmen. At times, he was forced to rely upon Henry of France for aid. It was this period of diffuculties which taught William to fignt and to rule. In 1047, William fought a series of campaigns against Geoffrey Martel, Count of Anjou.

Castle in Falaise, France

Norman interest in the English crown was established in 1002 when King Ethelred II married Emma, sister of Count Richard II, William's grandfather. Two of her sons, Hardecanute and Edward the Confessor, had ruled in England. Sometime around 1051, William made a visit to England in which his kinsman, King Edward the Confessor promised William the English succession, which William strengthened in 1053 by marrying the tiny 4' tall Matilda of Flanders, daughter of Baldwin V of Flanders, whose ancestor was Alfred the Great. The marriage was opposed by the Pope, but after the promise to build two abbeys, the marriage was legitimized by papal dispensation in 1059. Another possible claimant to the English throne, Harold Godwin, English earl, and brother-in-law of Edward the Confessor, also promised his support to William when in 1064, he found himself in Normandy and was forced to make a solemn oath of allegiance, but betrayed William upon the death of Edward the Confessor 5 Jan 1066, by having himself crowned after being chosen by the witan of England. William had promised Harold the hand of his daughter, Agatha, but after Harold's betrayal, the wedding never took place. It is said that Agatha was in love with Harold and when she was later betrothed to the King of Castile, she died of a broken heart on her way to the wedding. William received a blessing to pursue the crown by Pope Alexander II and believed himself chosen by God to become a champion of the Church in his pursuit of the English crown. Harold marched to meet William, following a battle with the Scandinavians in the north of England and a march to meet William. William gathered about 5,000 knights and defeated Harold with 7,000 men (though many poorly trained) at the Battle of Hastings. William's forces pounded the weary English forces with arrows throught the day of October 14th, 1066 until the English were worn down. "The living marched over the heaps of the dead" (Time Magazine). Late that afternoon, Harold was killed by an arrow and by nightfall the English forces had fled and scattered. William then made a sweep to London, gaining submission from English leaders. William was crowned on Christmas Day at Westminster in the year 1066. William then swept northward, building castles to hold the gains he had made. William I reigned until his death in 1087.

Colchester Castle Built by William the Conqueror

William was described as red-haired, just above average height (5'10") with a thick-set body, "great in body.. but not ungainly." (Time Magazine) It was said that he had a harsh voice. Though he was always sparing of food and drink, he became fat later in life. He was described as a hunter, soldier, fierce and despotic, generally feared, uneducated, intelligent and shrewd.

William's conquest of England was to result in profound political, administrative and social changes. It was an end to Anglo Saxon England as it had existed and the birth of a Normanized England and with it came the birth of military feudalism in England. William was to create the first Bureaucratic state which would sweep western Europe. The English ties with Scandinavia were severed and England became more heavily influenced by western Europe. England was parceled out to 180 Norman nobles and innumerable tenants holding their fiefs through knight service. It was a total replacement of English nobility by one of Normans. Through the Conquest, England was raised to the standard of culture in western Europe. The common law of England continued with some changes. William continued to govern through sheriffs and shire courts and the hundred. William instituted "Forest Laws" which the English considered cruel. In these laws, royal forests were established in which hunting was limited to the nobles. One area which was especially offensive in its new forest was Hampshire. William also separated the secular and spiritual courts. William did protect the freedom of the Church. The English language was superceded by that of Norman in literature, law and administration.

William I introduced feudalism to England in which followers were granted land in return for pledges of support. Though land tenure in exchange for support existed before the Conquest, the introduction of knights into the feudal host would revolutionize English society. William was noted for his effecient, if not harsh, rule. His reign was dependent upon Norman and other foreign nobles. William is responsible for the Domesday Book, which was collected in 1085.

Domesday Book

The conquest of England was an ongoing process, with many rebellions including those of the earls of Hereford, Norfolk and Northumbria. The earl of Northumbria, Gospatric, was the last surviving English earl and was executed for treason. William also laid waste the entire country from York to Durham to such an extent that where there had been 62 villages in the Confessor's time, to 16 at the time of the Domesday Book. William had homes burnt to the ground, animals and crops destroyed and hundreds of people killed. Hundreds died from starvation. William ordered his men to burn the farms and to kill everyone, man, woman and child. William rewarded many of his followers with English lands. For information on this replacement, please see the family list of Knights with William the Conqueror.

Battle of Hastings

In 1086, William met with his councillors at Gloucester and determined to make a survey of England. He sent men into every shire to determine how much land, live stock and value each archbishop, diocesan bishop, abbot and earl held. He then had the results brought to him. Not one cow, nor pig escaped his survey. More than 13,000 places are mentioned in the Domesday book, though Durham and Northumberland were not included in the book. Another missing place was Winchester, which was the capital city of England in 1086. London was also excluded. Domesday shows us that there were very vew towns in England in 1086. Many ot the towns of modern England were, at the time, merely manors. The land was rich in meadows, pastures and woodlands. We also learn that most of the people were villeins (higher class of unfree peasants, they owned land but also worked on the earl's land), bordars (an unfree peasant who had little or no land, probably living in a cottage outside the main manor; most people in England were borders or cottars) or slaves (these people were property of the earl or lord. They did not own land but worked on the earl's land in return for housing and foot. This group included about 10% of the population), who earned their living by farming. The book did not include women, children, monks or nuns. The book consists of 1700 pages which are parchment and are written in Latin. The Domesday Book was then used to establish the tax base. The right to levy a geld was an Anglo Saxon tradition, which William was happy to adopt. A second volume of the Domesday Book "Little Domesday", deals with Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Bayeux Tapestry of the Norman Invasion

William spent his last years concentrating upon his Continental domains and his undutiful sons. There were five to seven years in which William did not visit England at all. He took most of the greatest Norman barons with him to Normandy and left England to the leadership of bishops, especially his old friend Lanfranc, whom he had made archbishop of Canterbury, which had recently been built by the Normans. William returned to Englandin 1075 to deal with the rebellion of Roger, earl of Hereford and Ralf, earl of Norfolk as well as the intervention of a Danish fleet. In 1082, he arrested and imprisoned his half brother, Odo, bishop of Bayeux and earl of Kent. Odo's aspirations seemed to be to gather an army and go to Italy, perhaps to make himself Pope. Odo was to remain in prison for five years. Again, William turned his attention to the borders of Normandy. William's son, Robert Curthose, after William refused to allow Robert to rule Normandy, left Normandy in 1077 and began an intrigue with his father's enemies. In 1079, Robert and his father actually met in combat and Robert wounded William, his father, in the hand. William's favorite son, William Rufus, was also injured in the battle. By 1081, William seems to have compromised with Fulk and Robert Curthose was made count of Maine, though a vassal of Anjou. In July 1077, William entered Mantes and as the town burned, William suffered an injury from which he never recovered. The grossly obese William met an accident on horseback at the Battle of Mantes when he was thrown against the pommel of the saddle so hard that it burst his intestines.. He was taken to a suburb of Rouen where he lay dying for five weeks. He died at daybreak 9 Sep 1087. His servants stripped him bare, stole his silver and furniture and abandoned his body. A kind-hearted knight arranged a funeral for him at Église St.Etienne à Caen, Calvados, Normandy. the funeral was interrupted by a fire and after the fire was extinguished, the pallbearers tried to cram the king's bloated corpse into the small sarcophagus. The body exploded; the smell sending the mourners running from the abbey.

Église St.Etienne à Caen, Calvados, Normandy