William’s father was Robert, Duke of Normandy and his mother, Arletta, the daughter of a tanner from Falaise. He was born around 1028 and was known as William the Bastard by his contemporaries, due to his illegitimacy rather than his personality. Despite this and against tradition, when his father died in 1035, William was recognized as his heir. The young duke had the support of and paid homage to, King Henry I of France who knighted William when he was 15.
Duke of Normandy
Not all was well within the duchy for there were those opposed to William as their duke. Not long after he succeeded his father rebellion broke out and it was not until 1047, with the assistance of Henry I, that William won a battle near Caen and secured his position.
In the following years, William would unify Normandy as never before. His military successes and abilities as an administrator led to his becoming feared and respected by his neighbors. One such was his distant cousin Edward the Confessor who is said to have promised William the throne of England upon his death.
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor died in 1065, naming Harold, Earl of Wessex as his successor. When William heard of this he called upon Harold to recognize his claim. The new king of England declined.
William began building an invasion force that by 1066 consisted of 600 transports filled with seven thousand men. The armada landed his army at Pevensey on September 28, 1066 and the soldiers began construction of fortifications as they awaited the arrival of King Harold.
Battle of Hastings
England’s king had just defeated another invasion force under Norway’s King Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Samford Bridge and hurried south to meet the new threat from Normandy. The armies clashed at the Battle of Hastings on October 14. The close fought battle ended in victory for William and death for Harold. The Duke of Normandy then marched on London, crushing any opposition he met on the way. He was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day.
For the next six years William had to fight to consolidate his hold on England. There were uprisings in Devon, Cornwall and the Welsh Marshes and in 1068 the south-west coast was raided by Harold’s sons. These problems were dealt with by William’s appointed earls whose position was recumbent upon their success in maintaining stability in their part of the country. A major invasion in 1069 called for William’s personal intervention when Prince Edgar the Aetheling, in alliance with the Danes, captured the city of York. Responding quickly, William attacked and drove the Danes back to the sea.
Battle of Gerberoi
Trouble was brewing in Normandy when in 1077, William’s eldest son, Robert, attempted to seize Normandy by force and captured the city of Rouen. His rebellion was unsuccessful and by 1080 Robert found himself besieged at Gerberoi by his father and brother, William Rufus. The intervention of William’s wife, Matilda, ended the rebellion and brought an end to the feud between the two men.
The constant revolts and wars had made chaos of England’s finances and William, in an effort to sort order from the mess, brought forth a system to investigate the actual and potential wealth of his conquests. The result was the Domesday Book of 1086 which contained records of over 13,000 English settlements for purposes of taxation
Death and Succession
In 1087 William returned to Normandy to fight against King Philip who had annexed an outlying part of Normandy. Shortly after capturing Mantes, the king fell wounded from his horse and suffered internal injuries. He was taken to the priory of St. Gervase where he died on September 9, 1087. As he lay dying, William had put all his affairs in order, bequeathing his wealth to the poor and the Church and his Normandy holdings to his son Robert. England went to his second son William Rufus. His third son, Henry, was to receive 5,000 pounds in silver, but after the premature death of his brother in a hunting accident in 1100, he became king.
Sources:
David Howarth, 1066 The Year of the Conquest – Collins 1977
Winston S. Churchill, The Birth of Britain – Bantam 1963
David Williamson, Kings and Queens of Britain Webb & Bower – 1991
William Silvester - Most of Bill's writing over the past few years has been for the philatelic press and consists primarily of columns and articles about the ...
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