1024 - 1087 (62 years)
| Name | William I'the Conqueror' [11, 12, 13] | |
| Suffix | King of England, Duke of Normandy | |
| Nickname | William the Bastard | |
| Born | 14 Oct 1024 | Falaise, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France  [12, 13] |
| Gender | Male | |
| Characteristics | While William I Duke of Normany was illegitimate, his reputation and nickname 'the Bastard' whilst offensive because he was a 'horrible a man', were probably exaggerated by his many enemies. His father may have had an arranged marriage to a nobleman's daughter, probably an official at his Ducal court and maybe closely related and to secure land. William was probably an only son, malicious rumours suggested his father, who never married, had legitimate offspring who were hooligans and murderers and William was selected heir to the Dukedom of Normandy instead. Here-say suggested his maternal grandfather was a Tanner, later in life his enemies would say he stank like a tannery, and the residents of besieged Alençon even hung skins from the city walls to taunt him. | |
| History | 1047 | Caën, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France |
| William I Duke of Normandy was coming of age and after an in-depth warrior's education goes into battle for the first time against one of his cousins and is victorious. Later that year he presides over a a Council at Caen, where he proclaims the Peace of God to the people of his Duchy and war to his neighbours and enemies. | ||
| History | Jul 1066 | Rome (Roma), Lazio (Latium), Italy |
| William I, Duke of Normandy sends an embassy with his 'Standard of St. Peter the Apostle' to the Pope Alexander II for his blessing for an invasion of England, a Christian country. Archdeacon Hildebrand was now the power behind St. Peter's throne and had no doubts that a reformed England was worth fighting for as it was a 'veritable bog of simony that needed draining'. Hildebrand ensures William's banner receives the papal seal o approval. William is in no doubt of his mission, to kill an anointed king and to receive the anointment himself. | ||
| History | 27 Sep 1066 | Normandie, France |
| As the winds that propelled Harald 'Hardrada' to England earlier that month die down, William I, Duke of Normandy gives the order for his invasion fleet to set sail. | ||
| History | 28 Sep 1066 | Pevensey, East Sussex, England |
| William I, Duke of Normandy lands his invasion fleet on an empty coastline near Pevensey, East Sussex, England. His army disembarks and sets about building two makeshift castles, one on an old Roman fort named Pevensey and one beside Hastings, East Sussex, England. A single road leads to London, but William decides to hunker down and await his moment of destiny. He waits for 2 weeks. | ||
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Pevensey Castle Pevensey Castle, originally built around 295 AD by the Romans and called Anderida, was beside the sea but it now inland due to silting. It is surrounded by an oval Roman wall often 12 ft. thick and 25 ft. high occupying ten acres. After the Romans left, invading Anglo-Saxons slaughtered its local inhabitants in 491 then left it derelict. William Duke of Normandy arrived in 1066 they set up a wooden look out tower and following William's subsequent coronation, strengthened the site. |
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| History | 14 Oct 1066 | Battle, Hastings, East Sussex, England [14] |
| Harold II Godwineson, King of England and his army had been spotted the previous evening, six miles out of Hastings. At 8am on the 14 Oct 1066, William I, Duke of Normandy assembles his troops for the Battle of Hastings, a battle expected to last one hour went on all day and into dusk. Only then did Harold, who had been protected by a bodyguard of Varangians, known as 'housecarls' to the English, fatally fall. Much of England's nobility had fallen and no one was left to put up resistance. The carnage was such that even the victors were moved to pity. The Norman Conquest would be the last great foreign invasion of Britain. | ||
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Site of the Battle of Hastings looking West King Harold's men held the ground to the North which was higher then than in this photograph. Duke William's men held the ground to the South Courtesy English Heritage |
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| Occupation | 25 Dec 1066 | Westminster Abbey, Westminster, Middlesex, England |
| King: 25 Dec 1066 to 9 Sep 1087. Coronation on Christmas day. Duke: 1035-1087. In Domesday. Succeeded by William II 'Rufus' | ||
| History | 1069 | Northumbria, England |
| At William I, King of England's coronation, he had swore to uphold the laws and customs of his new kingdom. A few years into his occupation, he abandons his oaths and resorts to more brutal policies. He sets about eliminating the previous ruling class and rewards their lands to his fellow Norman warriors. His chief castle builder William FitzOsbern is particularly busy. Then in the winter of 1069 the Northumbrians rebel and William makes haste to 'harry' the north of England with slaughter, devastation and sale of survivors into slavery. William proves himself a king in the old traditions of the 'Cerdiciangas'. | ||
| History | 1070 | England |
| The first recorded Jewish community in the British Isles was brought to England in 1070 by king William I 'the Conqueror', who believed that their commercial skills and capital would make England more prosperous. Jews were allowed to lend money (christians were not allowed to do this) and practice medicine but were not allowed to own land, employ christians or live in the same house as christians. | ||
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Site of Battle Abbey Church of St. Martin's Only the site of the original Battle Abbey Church of St. Martin's exists. Where its High Altar once stood, there is a commemorative stone which reads: The traditional site of the High Altar of Battle Abbey founded to commemorate the victory of Duke William on 14 October 1066 The High Altar was placed to mark the spot where King Harold died Courtesy of English Heritage |
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| History | Dec 1070 | Battle Abbey Church of St. Martin's, Battle, Hastings, East Sussex, England |
| William was begining to have doubts over his victories. That year Abbot Hugh of Cluny had written to William stating 'if he shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul?'. A papal legate had also imposed a public penance on all those who had fought at Hastings. Even Hildebrand, who had ensured a papal blessing for the invasion was feeling regretful of the slaughter of his fellow Christians. William decides to level the hill where Harold II Godwineson had fallen and place above the same spot an altar within a Battle Abbey. William also sponsored a prodigious campaign of Church building to cleanse his soul. | ||
| History | 1078 | White Tower, Tower of London, City of London, Middlesex, England |
| King William I orders the construction of the White Tower to be built of Caen stone, which he had specially imported from France, inside the south-east angle of The City walls, adjacent to the River Thames. The tower was finished around 1087 by his sons and successors, William Rufus and Henry I. | ||
| History | 1086 | England |
| William I, King of England orders a survey of who holds what to determine taxes liable. The Domesday, or 'day of reckoning' assessors judgement was final with no appeal allowed. | ||
| Died | 9 Sep 1087 | Crypt of the Priory St. Gervais below, St. Gervais, rue Claude-Groulard, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France [12, 13] |
| Buried | 10 Sep 1087 | L'abbaye de Saint-Etienne (Abbey of St. Stephen), Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France |
| Notes |
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| Person ID | I1748533853 | Red1st |
| Last Modified | 15 Nov 2017 | |
| Father | Robert I'the Magnificent', Duke of Normandy, b. Abt 999, Normandie, France , d. 2 Jul 1035, Nicaea (Iznik), Bithynia, Turkey (Age ~ 36 years) | |
| Mother | Herleve (Harlette) de Falaise, b. Abt 1003, Falaise, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France , d. 1050, St. Grestain, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France (Age ~ 47 years) | |
| Family ID | F672151632 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family | Mathilda, Queen consort of England, Countess of Flanders, b. Abt 1031, Flanders, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France , d. 2 Nov 1083, Caën, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France (Age ~ 52 years) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Married | 1053 | Château d'Angi, Normandie, France [15] |
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| Family ID | F672152206 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Photos | | William I the Conqueror Detail of an image of William I by George Vertue (1648-1756) The Royal Collection © 2006, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II |
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