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'William I of England' ('William the Conqueror'; c. 1028 –
9 September 1087) was a
mediæval monarch. He ruled as the
Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 and as
King of England from 1066 to 1087. As Duke of Normandy, William was known as ''William II'', and, as King of England, as ''William I''. He is commonly referred to as ''William the Conqueror'' (''Guillaume le Conquérant'') or ''William the Bastard'' (''Guillaume le Bâtard'').
In support of his claim to the English crown, William invaded
England in
1066, leading an army of
Normans to victory over the
Anglo-Saxon forces of
Harold Godwinson at the
Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English
revolts in what has become known as the
Norman Conquest.
[1]
His reign brought Norman culture to England, which had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of
England in the Middle Ages. In addition to political changes, his reign also saw changes to
English law, a programme of building and fortification, changes in the
English language and the introduction of continental European
feudalism into England.
Physical appearance
No authentic portrait of William has been found, but he was described as a muscular man, balding in front.
[2] In later life, William grew fat, causing King
Philip of
France to comment that he looked pregnant.
[3]
Early life
William was born in
Falaise,
Normandy (now Northern France), the
illegitimate and only son of
Robert II, Duke of Normandy. His mother,
Herleva (among other names), who later had two sons to another father, was the daughter of
Fulbert, most likely a local
tanner. William's birth is believed to have been in either 1027 or 1028, and more likely in the autumn of the latter year.
[4] He was born the
grandnephew of Queen
Emma of Normandy, wife of King
Ethelred the Unready and later of King
Canute the Great.
[5]
William succeeded his father as
Duke of Normandy at the young age of seven in 1035 and was known as Duke William II of Normandy (). Plots to usurp his place cost William three guardians, though not Count
Alan of Brittany, who was a later guardian. William was knighted by King
Henry I of France at the age of 15. By the time he turned 19 he was successfully dealing with threats of rebellion and invasion. With the assistance of King Henry, William finally secured control of Normandy by defeating rebel Norman barons at
Caen in the
Battle of Val-ès-Dunes in 1047.
Against the wishes of
Pope Leo IX, William married his cousin
Matilda of Flanders in 1053 in the Cathedral of Notre Dame at
Eu, Normandy (in
Seine-Maritime). At the time, William was aged about 26 and Matilda aged 22. Their marriage produced four sons and six daughters. In repentance for what was a consanguine marriage (as in "same blood"), William founded St-Stephen's church (l'
Abbaye-aux-Hommes) and Matilda founded Sainte-Trinité church (
Abbaye aux Dames).
His half-brothers
Odo of Bayeux and
Robert, Count of Mortain played significant roles in his life. He also had a sister,
Adelaide of Normandy.
Conquest of England
Main articles: Norman Conquest
William believed that once
Edward the Confessor was dead, he would be the rightful king of England. It is probable that Edward had promised him the throne, and it is known that in 1064,
Harold Godwinson had pledged his allegiance to William under duress while his guest after being shipwrecked on the coast of
Ponthieu.
[6]
Upon the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066, Harold Godwinson was crowned King of England. Harold raised a large fleet of ships and mobilized a force of
militia. He then arranged these around the coasts, anticipating attack from several directions. The first would-be attacker was
Tostig Godwinson, Harold's brother, but he was successfully defeated by
Edwin, Earl of Mercia at a battle on the south bank of the
Humber. During this time, William submitted his claim to the English throne to
Pope Alexander II, who sent him a consecrated banner in support, and openly began assembling an army in Normandy, consisting of his own army, French mercenaries, and numerous foreign knights anticipating plunder or English land. Despite gaining the support from many knights and gathering a considerable army, due to the heavy militia presence on the south coast of England and the fleet of ships guarding the
English Channel, it looked as if he might fair little better than Tostig.
Once the
harvest season arrived, Harold ordered the militia home due to falling morale and dwindling supplies, and consolidated the ships in London, leaving the channel unguarded. Then came the news that
Harald III of Norway had landed ten miles from
York with Tostig, which forced Harold and his army to head north. After a victory against the forces of earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria at the
Battle of Fulford, Harald and Tostig were defeated by Harold's army at the
Battle of Stamford Bridge. Three days after the battle, William arrived with his army in
Pevensey Bay, and then moved to
Hastings, a few miles to the East, where he built a castle. On the 13 of October, he received news that an army led by Harold was approaching from London, and at dawn the next day, William left the castle with his army and advanced towards the English army, which had taken a defensive position atop a ridge around seven miles from
Hastings.
The
Battle of Hastings lasted all of that day, resulting in the deaths of Harold and two of his brothers,
Gyrth and
Leofwine Godwinson. At dusk, the English army made their last stand. By that night, the battle was over, and the English army was defeated. William's next target was London, which he approached via
Dover and
Canterbury. However, London was in control of supporters of
Edgar Ætheling. Despite William's advance guard beating back a
sortie on
London Bridge, William marched westward, crossing the
Thames at
Wallingford and forced the surrender of Archbishop
Stigand, one of Edgar's lead supporters. When William reached
Berkhamstead a few days later, the city authorities in
London surrendered, and William was crowned king of England on
Christmas day (
December 25)
1066.
Although the south of England submitted quickly to Norman rule, resistance continued in the North for six more years until 1072. Harold's illegitimate sons attempted an invasion of the south-west peninsula. Uprisings occurred in the
Welsh Marches and at
Stafford. Separate attempts at
invasion by the
Danes and the
Scots also occurred. William's defeat of these led to what became known as the
harrying of the North, in which
Northumbria was laid waste as revenge and to deny his enemies its resources. The last serious resistance came with the
Revolt of the Earls in 1075.
William's reign
William initiated many major changes. In 1085, in order to ascertain the extent of his new dominions and maximize taxation, William commissioned the compilation of
Domesday Book, a survey of England's productive capacity similar to a modern
census. He also ordered many
castles,
keeps, and
mottes, among them the
Tower of London, to be built across England to ensure that the rebellions by the English people or his own followers would not succeed. His conquest also led to
Norman (and
French) replacing
English as the language of the ruling classes for nearly 300 years.
[7]
The signatures of William I and Matilda are the first two large crosses on the
Accord of Winchester from 1072.
William is said to have eliminated the native aristocracy in as little as four years. While many fled to
Flanders and
Scotland, others may have been sold into
slavery, as their properties and titles were given to Normans. By 1070, the indigenous nobility had ceased to be an integral part of the English landscape, and by 1086, it maintained control of just 8 percent of its original land-holdings.
[8]
Death, burial, and succession
William died at the age of 59, at the Convent of St Gervais, near
Rouen, France, on
9 September 1087 from abdominal injuries received from his saddle pommel when he fell off a horse at the Siege of
Mantes. William was
buried in the church of St. Stephen in
Caen,
Normandy.
According to some sources, a fire broke out during the funeral; the original owner of the land on which the church was built claimed he had not been paid yet, demanding 60
shillings, which William's son Henry had to pay on the spot; and, in a most unregal postmortem, William's now
corpulent body would not fit in the stone
sarcophagus. Whether or not it burst after some unsuccessful prodding by the assembled
bishops, filling the chapel with a foul smell and dispersing the mourners is a matter of some speculation.
[9]
William's grave is currently marked by a marble slab with a Latin inscription, the slab dates from the early 19th century. The grave was defiled twice, once during the
French Wars of Religion, when his bones were scattered across the town of
Caen and again during the
French Revolution. Following those events, only William's left femur remains in the tomb.
William was succeeded in 1087 as King of England by his younger son
William Rufus and as Duke of Normandy by his elder son
Robert Curthose. This led to the
Rebellion of 1088. His youngest son
Henry also became King of England later, after William II died without issue.
Ancestors
Descendants
Family tree
William is known to have had nine children, though Agatha, a tenth daughter who died a virgin, appears in some sources. Several other, unnamed daughters are also mentioned as being betrothed to notable figures of that time. Despite rumors to the contrary, there is no evidence that he had any illegitimate children.
[10]
#
Robert Curthose (
1054–
1134), Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano.
# Richard (c.
1055 – c.
1081), Duke of Bernay, killed by a stag in
New Forest.
# Adeliza (or Alice) (c.
1055 – c.
1065), reportedly betrothed to
Harold II of England.
# Cecilia (or Cecily) (c.
1056–
1126), Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen.
#
William "Rufus" (c.
1056–
1100), King of England.
#
Gundred (c.
1063–
1085), married
William de Warenne (c.
1055–
1088), Also called "Matilda". Some scholars question whether Gundred was an illegitimate child of William I or merely a step-daughter, foundling or adopted daughter.
# Agatha (c.
1064–
1079), betrothed to (1) Harold of
Wessex, (2)
Alfonso VI of Castile.
# Constance (c.
1066–
1090), married
Alan IV Fergent,
Duke of Brittany; poisoned, possibly by her own servants.
#
Adela (c.
1067–
1137), married
Stephen, Count of Blois
#
Henry "Beauclerc" (
1068–
1135), King of England, married (1)
Edith of Scotland, daughter of
Malcolm III, King of the Scots, (2)
Adeliza of
Louvain.
Every English monarch down to
Queen Elizabeth II is a descendant of
William the Conqueror.
[11]
References
1. 1066 Dr. Mike Ibeji
2. Based on William of Malmesbury's ''Historia Anglorum''.
''He was of just stature, ordinary corpulence, fierce countenance; his forehead was bare of hair; of such great strength of arm that it was often a matter of surprise, that no one was able to draw his bow, which himself could bend when his horse was in 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; so given to the pleasures of the chase, that as I have before said, ejecting the inhabitants, he let a space of many miles grow desolate that, when at liberty from other avocations, he might there pursue his pleasures.''
See English Monarch: The House of Normandy.
3. Spartacus Schoolnet, retrieved 17 July 2007.
4. The official web site of the British Monarchy puts his birth at "around 1028", which may reasonably be taken as definitive.
The frequently encountered date of 14 October 1024 is likely spurious. It was promulgated by Thomas Roscoe (1791–1871) in his 1846 biography ''The life of William the Conqueror''. The year 1024 is apparently calculated from the fictive deathbed confession of William recounted by Ordericus Vitalis (who was about twelve when the Conqueror died); in it William allegedly claimed to be about sixty-three or four years of age at his death in 1087. The birth day and month are suspiciously the same as those of the Battle of Hastings. This date claim, repeated by other Victorian historians (e.g. Jacob Abbott), has been entered unsourced into the LDS genealogical database, and has found its way thence into countless personal genealogies. Cf. ''The Conqueror and His Companions'' by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874.
5. Powell, John, ''Magill's Guide to Military History'', Salem Press, Inc., 2001, p. 226. ISBN 0893560197.
6. English History: A Survey, , George, Clark, Oxford University Press/Book Club Associates, 1978,
7. While English emerged as a popular vernacular and literary language within one hundred years of the Conquest, it was only in 1362 that King Edward III abolished the use of French in Parliament. See Alexander Herman Schutz and Urban Tigner Holmes, ''A History of the French Language'', Biblo and Tannen Publishers, 1938. pp. 44-45. ISBN 0819601918.
8. Douglas, David Charles. ''English Historical Documents'', Routledge, 1996, p. 22. ISBN 0415143675.
9. http://historyhouse.com/in_history/william/
10. William "the Conqueror" (Guillaume "le Conquérant").
11. Humphrys, Mark. Royal Descents of famous people. Retrieved 18 July 2007.
★
William the Conqueror, by E. A. Freeman at Project Gutenberg
Further reading
★
Bates, David (1989) ''William the Conqueror'', London : George Philip, 198 p. ISBN 978-0-7524-1980-0
★ Douglas, David C. (1999) ''William the Conqueror; the Norman impact upon England'', Yale English monarchs series, London : Yale University Press, 476 p., ISBN 0-300-07884-6
★
Howarth, David (1977) ''1066 The Year of the Conquest'', London : Collins, 207 p., ISBN 0-00-211845-9
★
Prescott, Hilda F.M. (1932) ''Son of Dust'', reprinted 1978: London : White Lion, 288 p. ISBN 0-85617-239-1
★
Savage, Anne (transl. & coll.) (2002) ''
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', London : Greenwich Editions, 288 p., ISBN 0-86288-440-3
External links
★
Illustrated biography of William the Conqueror
★
William I of England at Find a Grave
★
History House: William the Conqueror
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