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Battle of Hastings Date: October 14, 1066 CE Countries Involved: Kingdom of France, Kingdom of England(Anglo-Saxon), Duchy of Normandy People Involved: Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror

Full name: WilliamThe Conqueror Date of Birth: about 1027 (Julian Calender) (985 year ago) Place of Birth: Falaise, Basse-Normandie, France Date of Death: Friday, September 9, 1087 (age 60 years) (924 years ago) Place of Death: Rouen, Haute-Normandie, France

Upon hearing that Harold had been crowned (1066) king of England, William secured the sanction of the pope, raised an army and transport fleet, sailed for England, and defeated and slew Harold at the battle of Hastings (1066). Overcoming what little resistance remained in SE England, he led his army to London, received the city's submission, and was crowned king on Christmas Day. Although William immediately began to build and garrison castles around the country, he apparently hoped to maintain continuity of rule; many of the English nobility had fallen at Hastings, but most of those who survived were permitted to keep their lands for the time being. The English, however, did not so readily accept him as their king. A series of rebellions broke out, and William suppressed them harshly, ravaging great sections of the country. Titles to the lands of the now decimated native nobility were called in and redistributed on a strictly feudal basis (see feudalism ), to the king's Norman followers. By 1072 the adherents of Edgar Atheling and their Scottish and Danish allies had been defeated and the military part of the Norman Conquest virtually completed. In the only major rebellion that came thereafter (1075), the chief rebels were Normans. William undertook church reform, appointed Lanfranc archbishop of Canterbury, substituted foreign prelates for many of the English bishops, took command over the administration of church affairs, and established (1076) separate ecclesiastical courts. In 1085–86 at his orders a survey of England was taken, the results of which were embodied in the Domesday Book. By the Oath of Salisbury in 1086, William established the important precedent that loyalty to the king is superior to loyalty to any subordinate feudal lord of the kingdom. William fought with his factious son Robert II, duke of Normandy, in 1079 and quarreled intermittently with France from 1080 until his death. He invaded the French Vexin in 1087, was fatally injured in a riding accident, and died at Rouen, directing that his son Robert should succeed him in Normandy and his son William (William II) in England.
 * Later Reign **

 Read more: William I, king of England: King of England — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0861957.html#ixzz1sxuDLgg2


 * William I** (//circa// 1028[1@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror] – 9 September 1087), also known as **William the Conqueror** (in French: //Guillaume le Conquérant//), was the first Norman King of England from 1066 until 1087. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name **William II**. Before his conquest of England, he was known as **William the Bastard** (//Guillaume le Bâtard//) because of the illegitimacy of his birth.

To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris and Île-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.

William of Malmesbury reported of William: "He was of just stature, extraordinary corpulence, fierce countenance; his forehead bare of hair; of such strength of arm that it was often a matter of surprise that no one was able to draw his bow, which he himself could bend when his horse was on full gallop; he was majestic whether sitting or standing, although the protuberance of his belly deformed his royal person: of excellent health so that he was never confined with any dangerous disorder except at the last."[2@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror]

William's heavy taxes, together with the exactions of the Norman landlords he put in power, reduced the great mass of Anglo-Saxon freemen to serfdom. By 1086, the Domesday Book showed that England comprised 12% freeholders; 35% serfs or villeins; 30% cotters and borders; and 9% slaves.[3@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror] William was one of the foremost soldiers of the medieval era, conquering a large kingdom from a smaller base. He also created a feudal state with a strong central government.

William's reign, which imposed Norman culture and leadership on England, reshaped England in the Middle Ages. The details of that impact and the extent of the changes have been debated by scholars for centuries. In addition to the obvious change of ruler, his reign also saw a programme of building and fortification, changes to the English language, a shift in the upper levels of society and the church, and adoption of some aspects of continental church reform.

William was the only child of Duke Robert the Magnificent of Normandy and Herleva, who were not married, making William illegitimate, which created some difficulties for him when he succeeded his father in 1035 as duke. Other problems were his young age, and the anarchy which plagued his first years as duke. During his childhood and adolescence, the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke and for their own ends. In 1047, William was able to defeat a rebellion, and begin to establish his authority over the duchy, a process that was not complete until about 1060. His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders aided his efforts, and by the 1050s William was able to appoint his own choices as bishops and abbots in the Norman church. His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and by 1062 William was able to secure control of the neighboring county of Maine. In the 1050s and early 1060s, William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by his childless relative, Edward the Confessor. There were other possible claimants, however, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, who was named the next king by Edward on Edward's deathbed in January 1066. William contested this, and argued that Edward had earlier promised the throne to himself and that Harold had sworn to support William's claim. After building a large fleet, William invaded England in September 1066 and decisively defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, killing Harold and a number of his supporters. After some further military efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066 at London. He then made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. A number of rebellions followed, but William was able to put them down and by 1075 his hold on England was mostly secure. The last years of William's reign were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of //Domesday Book//, a survey listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, instead continuing to administer each part as a separate government. After his death, William's lands were divided, with Normandy going to his eldest son and his second surviving son receiving England.
 * William I** (//circa// 1028[1@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_conqueror] – 9 September 1087), also known as **William the Conqueror** or **William the Bastard**,[2@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_conqueror][a@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_conqueror] was the first Norman King of England, who reigned from 1066 until his death in 1087. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name **William II**. Descended from Viking raiders, William faced a number of difficulties when he became duke at the age of 7 or 8, but by 1060 he had established his hold over Normandy and was able to invade and conquer England in 1066.