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Subject: Excerpt Of History
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 18:12:05 EDT


William I of England



King William I of EnglandWilliam I (c. 1027 — September 9, 1087), was 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. 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 in what has become known as
the Norman Conquest.
No authentic portrait of William exists..
Early life
William was born the grandnephew of Queen Emma, wife of King Ethelred the
Unready and later of King Canute.
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 Henry 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).
His half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain played
significant rôles in his life.
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 Northumbria was laid waste
to deny his enemies its 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 was buried in St. Stephen's Church,
Caen, Normandy. In a most unregal postmortem, William's corpulent body would
not fit in a too-small stone sarcophagus, and, after some unsuccessful prodding
by the assembled bishops, exploded, mephitizing the chapel and dispersing the
mourners.
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. This lead to the
Rebellion of 1088. 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.
Robert Curthose (~1054-1134), Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of Conversano,
daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano
Adeliza (or Alice) (1055-~1065), reportedly betrothed to Harold II of England
(Her existence is in some doubt.)
Cecilia (or Cecily) (~1056-1126), Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen
William Rufus (1056 - 1100), King of England
Richard (1057-~1081), killed by a stag in New Forest
Adela (~1062 - 1138), married Stephen, Count of Blois
Agatha (~1064-~1080), betrothed to (1) Harold of Wessex, (2) Alfonso VI of
Castile
Constance (~1066-1090), married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany; poisoned,
possibly by her own servants
Matilda (very obscure, her existence is in some doubt)
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

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