uke of Normandy and one of the greatest English kings, William I, b. c. 1028, d. Sept. 9, 1087, led the Norman conquest of England and provided stability and firm government in an age of great disorder. The illegitimate son of the Norman duke Robert I, he inherited Normandy in 1035, consolidating his rule in the face of baronial opposition in about 1042. He successfully faced further rebellions and after 1050 began to take an interest in acquiring land in England - perhaps given some encouragement by the English king Edward the Confessor. After Edward’s death (Jan. 5, 1066), Vikings under King Harold III of Norway moved on England, and William soon followed with an invasion force of his own. The new English king, Harold II, defeated the Vikings and confronted the Normans near Hastings in October 1066 (see Hastings, Battle of). William’s forces achieved a decisive victory, and on Christmas Day 1066, William was crowned king of England, founding the Anglo-Norman monarchy and realm. A highly capable, intelligent, and determined man, William I established a strongly personal monarchy. He imposed Norman institutions and personnel both on the state and on the church, and he brought England into the mainstream of continental development. Imposing royal authority directly on courts and other institutions, William ordered the inquests that resulted in the monumental Domesday Book. He revolutionized the social, political, and military structures of England, replacing the English nobility with French nobles, thus strengthening his authority, and introducing continental feudalism, a structure in which nobles held land in return for service in the royal army. As the Anglo-Saxon state was Normanized, so too was the English church: English bishops and abbots were replaced by noted churchmen from the Continent, including Lanfranc of Bec, who became (1070) archbishop of Canterbury. The Conqueror had been a great reformer of the church in Normandy, and he continued this role in England. He established the archbishop of Canterbury as primate of the English church, held reforming councils (which he attended), and exercised not only his rights but also his responsibilities over the church. The bishops were among his closest advisors and officials. William I kept a close but cool relationship with the papacy, supporting ecclesiastical reform while carefully maintaining his control over the English church. He was succeeded as duke of Normandy by his eldest son, Robert II, and as king of England by his sons, first William II, then Henry I. James W. Alexander Bibliography: Barlow, Frank, William I and the Norman Conquest (1965); Douglas, David C., William the Conqueror (1964); Lloyd, A., The Making of the King (1990); Loyn, H. R., Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, 2d ed. (1991). [Grolier’s On-Line Encyclopedia]

William (I) the Conqueror (c. 1027-1087) King of England from 1066. He was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert the Devil and succeeded his father as duke of Normandy 1035. Claiming that his relative King Edward the Confessor had bequeathed him the English throne, William invaded the country 1066, defeating Harold II at Hastings, Sussex, and was crowned king of England. He was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. He completed the establishment of feudalism in England, compiling detailed records of land and property in the Domesday Book, and kept the barons firmly under control. He died in Rouen after a fall from his horse and is buried in Caen, France. He was succeeded by his son William II. © Copyright Helicon Publishing Ltd 1996. [The Hutchinson Encyclopedia]

Notes on King William I "the Conqueror"
He was born at Falaise, the bastard son of Robert III, Duke of Normandy, by Robert’s mistress Arletta, a tanner’s daughter. On his Father’s death in 1035, the Norman nobles accepted him as Duke; but his youth was passed in difficulty and danger. In 1047, the lords of the western part of the duchy rebelled, but King Henry I of France came to his help, and the rebels were defeated at Val-es-dunes. In 1051 he visited his cousin, Edward the Confessor, and received the promise of the English succession. He married Matilda, daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, in 1053. In the In the next ten years William repulsed two French invasions, and in 1063 conquered Maine. Probably in 1064, Harold Hardicanute was at William’s court, and swore to help him to gain the English crown on King Edward’s death. When, however, Edward died, in 1066, Harold became king. William laid his claim before the pope and Western Christendom. The pope approved his claim, and on 14 Oct William defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings or Senlac. Harold was slain, and William was crowned at Winchester on Christmas Day. The west and north of England were subdued in 1068; but next year, the north revolted, and William devastated the country between York and Durham. The constitution under William assumed a feudal aspect, the old Witan (national assembly) becoming a council of the king’s tenants-in-chief. All title to land being derived from the King’s grant. The Domesday Book records the extensive land settlement to Norman nobles throughout England. He brought the English Church into closer relations with Rome. The Conqueror’s rule was stern and orderly. In 1070, there was a rebellion in the Fen country of East Anglia, and under the leadership of Hereward the Wake, the rebels for some time held out in the Isle of Ely. English exiles were sheltered by the Scottish king, Malcolm, who plundered the northern shires. But William in 1072, compelled Malcolm to do him homage at Abernethy. In 1073, William reconquered Maine. He made a successful expedition into South Wales. His eldest son, Robert, rebelled against him in Normandy in 1079. In 1087, having entered on a war with Philip I of France, William burned Nantes. As he rode through the burning town, his horse stumbled, and he received an injury, of which he died at Rouen on September 9. He left Normandy to his son Robert, and England to William Rufus. {Burke’s Peerage and Chamber’s Biographical Dictionary} [GADD.GED]

On reaching England it is recorded that he fell when stepping ashore at Pevensey Bay, an unlucky accident which was greeted with the cry "Mal signe est ci!" This was turned by him to an advantage when he replied "See Seignors, I have grasped England with my two hands!" Family records state that he was helped to his feet by Robert St. Leger (Roman de Rou). His English capital was Winchester but he ruled mainly from Normandy and was buried there in the "Abbaye des Hommes." [THELMA.GED]

William I (of England), called The Conqueror (1027-87), first Norman king of England (1066-87), who has been called one of the first modern kings and is generally regarded as one of the outstanding figures in western European history.

Born in Falaise, France, William was the illegitimate son of Robert I, duke of Normandy, and Arletta, a tanner’s daughter, and is therefore sometimes called William the Bastard. Upon the death of his father, the Norman nobles, honoring their promise to Robert, accepted William as his successor. Rebellion against the young duke broke out almost immediately, however, and his position did not become secure until 1047 when, with the aid of Henry I, king of France, he won a decisive victory over a rebel force near Caen.

During a visit in 1051 to his childless cousin, Edward the Confessor, king of England, William is said to have obtained Edward’s agreement that he should succeed to the English throne. In 1053, defying a papal ban, William married Matilda of Flanders, daughter of Baldwin V, count of Flanders and a descendant of King Alfred the Great, thereby strengthening his claim to the crown of England. Henry I, fearing the strong bond between Normandy and Flanders resulting from the marriage, attempted in 1054 and again in 1058 to crush the powerful duke, but on both occasions William defeated the French king’s forces.

Conquest of England

About 1064, the powerful English noble, Harold, earl of Wessex, was shipwrecked on the Norman coast and taken prisoner by William. He secured his release by swearing to support William’s claim to the English throne. When King Edward died, however, the witenagemot (royal council) elected Harold king. Determined to make good his claim, William secured the sanction of Pope Alexander II for a Norman invasion of England. The duke and his army landed at Pevensey on September 28, 1066. On October 14, the Normans defeated the English forces at the celebrated Battle of Hastings, in which Harold was slain. William then proceeded to London, crushing the resistance he encountered on the way. On Christmas Day he was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey.

The English did not accept foreign rule without a struggle. William met the opposition, which was particularly violent in the north and west, with strong measures; he was responsible for the devastation of great areas of the country, particularly in Yorkshire, where Danish forces had arrived to aid the Saxon rebels. By 1070 the Norman conquest of England was complete.

William invaded Scotland in 1072 and forced the Scottish king Malcolm III MacDuncan to pay him homage. During the succeeding years the Conqueror crushed insurrections among his Norman followers, including that incited in 1075 by Ralph de Guader, 1st earl of Norfolk, and Roger Fitzwilliam, earl of Hereford, and a series of uprisings in Normandy led by his eldest son Robert, who later became Robert II, duke of Normandy.

His Achievements

One feature of William’s reign as king was his reorganization of the English feudal and administrative systems. He dissolved the great earldoms, which had enjoyed virtual independence under his Anglo-Saxon predecessors, and distributed the lands confiscated from the English to his trusted Norman followers. He introduced the Continental system of feudalism; by the Oath of Salisbury of 1086 all landlords swore allegiance to William, thus establishing the precedent that a vassal’s loyalty to the king overrode his fealty to his immediate lord. The feudal lords were compelled to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the local courts, which William retained along with many other Anglo-Saxon institutions. The ecclesiastical and secular courts were separated, and the power of the papacy in English affairs was greatly curtailed. Another outstanding accomplishment was the economic survey undertaken and incorporated in the Domesday Book in 1086.

In 1087, during a campaign against King Philip I of France, William burned the town of Mantes (now Mantes-la-Jolie). William’s horse fell in the vicinity of Mantes, fatally injuring him. He died in Rouen on September 7 and was buried at Caen in Saint Stephen’s, one of the abbeys he and Matilda had founded at the time of their marriage as penance for their defiance of the pope. William was succeeded by his third-born son, William II. [Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia]

Additional information: Britannia.com

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