William 1 the conqueror biography

William married Matilda in , and together they raised 4 sons and 4 daughters. From henceforth, William succeeded in dealing with rebellion in Normandy that involved his kinsmen. He also dealt with external threats successfully, including the attempted invasion by King Henry I. In , he finished the conquest of Maine, and in the following year, he was acknowledged as overlord of Brittany.

In , Edward had promised William the throne and Harold swore to support that claim. So, when Harold was crowned as the new king, William became very furious. On September 28, , William went to England and established a camp near Hastings. At that time, Harold was in the northern region where he was fighting king Hardrada of Norway, who had invaded England.

Harold defeated Hardrada at Stamford Bridge and then marched quickly south. During the battle, Harold was hit by an arrow and died on the spot. In addition to that, his two brothers were also killed and the English army collapsed. On December 25, , William was crowned in Westminster Abbey. With his victory came many changes. Gilbert was killed within months, and another guardian, Turchetil, was also killed around the time of Gilbert's death.

It was said that Walter, William's maternal uncle, was occasionally forced to hide the young duke in the houses of peasants, [ 24 ] although this story may be an embellishment by Orderic Vitalis. The historian Eleanor Searle speculates that William was raised with the three cousins who later became important in his career — William fitzOsbern , Roger de Beaumont , and Roger of Montgomery.

King Henry continued to support the young duke, [ 27 ] but in late opponents of William came together in a rebellion centred in lower Normandy, led by Guy of Burgundy with support from Nigel, Viscount of the Cotentin, and Ranulf, Viscount of the Bessin. According to stories that may have legendary elements, an attempt was made to seize William at Valognes, but he escaped under cover of darkness, seeking refuge with King Henry.

The period from to saw almost continuous warfare, with lesser crises continuing until William's next efforts were against Guy of Burgundy, who retreated to his castle at Brionne , which William besieged. After a long effort, the duke succeeded in exiling Guy in They succeeded in capturing an Angevin fortress but accomplished little else. Henry's about-face was probably motivated by a desire to retain dominance over Normandy, which was now threatened by William's growing mastery of his duchy.

In February the king and the Norman rebels launched a double invasion of the duchy. The first, which he led, faced Henry. The second, which included some who became William's firm supporters, such as Robert, Count of Eu , Walter Giffard , Roger of Mortemer , and William de Warenne , faced the other invading force. This second force defeated the invaders at the Battle of Mortemer.

In addition to ending both invasions, the battle allowed the duke's ecclesiastical supporters to depose Archbishop Mauger. Mortemer thus marked another turning point in William's growing control of the duchy, [ 40 ] although his conflict with the French king and the Count of Anjou continued until This was the last invasion of Normandy during William's lifetime.

Henry attempted to dislodge William, but the siege of Thimert dragged on for two years until Henry's death. The deaths of Count Geoffrey and the king in cemented the shift in the balance of power towards William. According to a late source not generally considered to be reliable, papal sanction was not secured until , but as papal-Norman relations in the s were generally good, and Norman clergy were able to visit Rome in without incident, it was probably secured earlier.

No authentic portrait of William has been found; the contemporary depictions of him on the Bayeux Tapestry and on his seals and coins are conventional representations designed to assert his authority. He enjoyed excellent health until old age, although he became quite fat in later life. There are records of two tutors for William during the late s and early s, but the extent of his literary education is unclear.

He was not known as a patron of authors, and there is little evidence that he sponsored scholarships or intellectual activities. His marriage to Matilda appears to have been quite affectionate, and there are no signs that he was unfaithful to her — unusual in a medieval monarch. Medieval writers criticised William for his greed and cruelty, but his personal piety was universally praised by contemporaries.

Norman government under William was similar to the government that had existed under earlier dukes. It was a fairly simple administrative system, built around the ducal household, [ 54 ] a group of officers including stewards , butlers , and marshals. This income was collected by the chamber, one of the household departments. William cultivated close relations with the church in his duchy.

He took part in church councils and made several appointments to the Norman episcopate, including the appointment of Maurilius as Archbishop of Rouen. William gave generously to the church; [ 57 ] from to , the Norman aristocracy founded at least twenty new monastic houses, including William's two monasteries in Caen, a remarkable expansion of religious life in the duchy.

In the childless King Edward of England appears to have chosen William as his successor. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , in the "D" version, states that William visited England in the later part of , perhaps to secure confirmation of the succession, [ 60 ] or perhaps to secure aid for his troubles in Normandy. Whatever Edward's wishes, it was likely that any claim by William would be opposed by Godwin, Earl of Wessex , a member of the most powerful family in England.

During this exile, Edward offered the throne to William. Count Herbert II of Maine died in , and William, who had betrothed his eldest son Robert to Herbert's sister Margaret, claimed the county through his son. Local nobles resisted the claim, but William invaded and by had secured control of the area. In William invaded Brittany in a campaign that remains obscure in its details.

Its effect, though, was to destabilise Brittany, forcing the duke, Conan II , to focus on internal problems rather than on expansion. Conan's death in further secured William's borders in Normandy. William also benefited from his campaign in Brittany by securing the support of some Breton nobles who went on to support the invasion of England in Earl Godwin died in Harold succeeded to his father's earldom, and another son, Tostig , became Earl of Northumbria.

Other sons were granted earldoms later: Gyrth as Earl of East Anglia in and Leofwine as Earl of Kent sometime between and It may have been Norman propaganda designed to discredit Harold, who had emerged as the main contender to succeed King Edward. In Northumbria revolted against Tostig , and the rebels chose Morcar , the younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia , as earl.

Harold, perhaps to secure the support of Edwin and Morcar in his bid for the throne, supported the rebels and persuaded King Edward to replace Tostig with Morcar. Edward was ailing, and he died on 5 January It is unclear what exactly happened at Edward's deathbed. The Norman sources do not dispute that Harold was named as the next king, but they declare that Harold's oath and Edward's earlier promise of the throne could not be changed on Edward's deathbed.

Later English sources stated that Harold had been elected as king by the clergy and magnates of England. Harold was crowned on 6 January in Edward's new Norman-style Westminster Abbey , although some controversy surrounds who performed the ceremony. English sources claim that Ealdred , the Archbishop of York , performed the ceremony, while Norman sources state that the coronation was performed by Stigand, who was considered a non-canonical archbishop by the papacy.

Harold's brother Tostig made probing attacks along the southern coast of England in May , landing at the Isle of Wight using a fleet supplied by Baldwin of Flanders. Tostig appears to have received little local support, and further raids into Lincolnshire and near the Humber met with no more success, so he retreated to Scotland. Harold assembled an army and a fleet to repel William's anticipated invasion force, deploying troops and ships along the English Channel for most of the summer.

William of Poitiers describes a council called by Duke William, in which the writer gives an account of a debate between William's nobles and supporters over whether to risk an invasion of England. Although some sort of formal assembly probably was held, it is unlikely that any debate took place: the duke had by then established control over his nobles, and most of those assembled would have been anxious to secure their share of the rewards from the conquest of England.

Henry was still a minor, however, and Sweyn was more likely to support Harold, who could then help Sweyn against the Norwegian king, so these claims should be treated with caution. Although Alexander gave papal approval to the conquest after it succeeded, no other source claims papal support prior to the invasion. To deal with Norman affairs, William put the government of Normandy into the hands of his wife for the duration of the invasion.

Throughout the summer, William assembled an army and an invasion fleet in Normandy. The fleet carried an invasion force that included, in addition to troops from William's territories of Normandy and Maine, large numbers of mercenaries, allies, and volunteers from Brittany , northeastern France, and Flanders, together with smaller numbers from other parts of Europe.

Although the army and fleet were ready by early August, adverse winds kept the ships in Normandy until late September. There were probably other reasons for William's delay, including intelligence reports from England revealing that Harold's forces were deployed along the coast. William would have preferred to delay the invasion until he could make an unopposed landing.

King Harold received word of their invasion and marched north, defeating the invaders and killing Tostig and Hardrada on 25 September at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. William then moved to Hastings , a few miles to the east, where he built a castle as a base of operations. From there, he ravaged the interior and waited for Harold's return from the north, refusing to venture far from the sea, his line of communication with Normandy.

After defeating Harald Hardrada and Tostig, Harold left much of his army in the north, including Morcar and Edwin, and marched the rest south to deal with the threatened Norman invasion. Harold stopped in London for about a week before marching to Hastings, so it is likely that he spent about a week on his march south, averaging about 27 miles 43 kilometres per day, [ 82 ] for the distance of approximately miles kilometres.

The exact events preceding the battle are obscure, with contradictory accounts in the sources, but all agree that William led his army from his castle and advanced towards the enemy. The battle began at about 9 am on 14 October and lasted all day. While a broad outline is known, the exact events are obscured by contradictory accounts.

Some of William's Breton troops panicked and fled, and some of the English troops appear to have pursued the fleeing Bretons until they themselves were attacked and destroyed by Norman cavalry. During the Bretons' flight, rumours swept through the Norman forces that the duke had been killed, but William succeeded in rallying his troops.

Two further Norman retreats were feigned, to draw the English into pursuit and expose them to repeated attacks by the Norman cavalry. The Bayeux Tapestry has been claimed to show Harold's death by an arrow to the eye, but that may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th-century stories in which Harold was slain by an arrow wound to the head.

Harold's body was identified the day after the battle, either through his armour or marks on his body. The English dead, including some of Harold's brothers and his housecarls , were left on the battlefield. Waltham Abbey , which Harold founded, later claimed that his body had been secretly buried there. William may have hoped the English would surrender following his victory, but they did not.

After waiting a short while, William secured Dover , parts of Kent, and Canterbury , while also sending a force to capture Winchester , where the royal treasury was. Next, he led his forces around the south and west of London, burning along the way. He finally crossed the Thames at Wallingford in early December. William then sent forces into London to construct a castle; he was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day William remained in England after his coronation and tried to reconcile the native magnates.

The remaining earls — Edwin of Mercia , Morcar of Northumbria , and Waltheof of Northampton — were confirmed in their lands and titles. Ecclesiastical offices continued to be held by the same bishops as before the invasion, including the uncanonical Stigand. He left his half-brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux, in charge of England along with another influential supporter, William fitzOsbern , the son of his former guardian.

English resistance had also begun, with Eadric the Wild attacking Hereford and revolts at Exeter , where Harold's mother Gytha was a focus of resistance. The town held out for 18 days. After it fell to William he built a castle to secure his control. Harold's sons were meanwhile raiding the southwest of England from a base in Ireland. Their forces landed near Bristol but were defeated by Eadnoth.

By Easter, William was at Winchester, where he was soon joined by his wife Matilda, who was crowned in May Orderic Vitalis states that Edwin's reason for revolting was that the proposed marriage between himself and one of William's daughters had not taken place, but another reason probably included the increasing power of fitzOsbern in Herefordshire, which affected Edwin's power within his own earldom.

The king marched through Edwin's lands and built Warwick Castle. Edwin and Morcar submitted, but William continued on to York, building York and Nottingham Castles before returning south. On his southbound journey, he began constructing Lincoln , Huntingdon , and Cambridge Castles. William placed supporters in charge of these new fortifications — among them William Peverel at Nottingham and Henry de Beaumont at Warwick — then returned to Normandy late in Although William returned to York and built another castle, Edgar remained free, and in the autumn he joined up with King Sweyn.

York was captured by the combined forces of Edgar and Sweyn. Edgar was proclaimed king by his supporters. William responded swiftly, ignoring a continental revolt in Maine, and symbolically wore his crown in the ruins of York on Christmas Day He then bought off the Danes. He marched to the River Tees , ravaging the countryside as he went.

The rebels were defeated and Guy fled to his castle at Brionne. William kept the castle cut off from food or supplies until Guy gave up in William's victory at Val-es-Dunes gave him some control of Normandy. A church council met in October near the battlefield to consider a new Truce of God. Also no such fighting was allowed during Advent , Lent , Easter and Pentecost.

They were allowed to wage war during these times to keep the peace. The battle of Val-es-Dunes was the start of William's rise to power. As the king had stepped in it was more his victory than William's. He could now think about taking a wife. He did not give a reason but the two were cousins. While William was building his power in Normandy things were changing around him.

King Henry had supported him and William had helped the king against the count of Anjou. Just as suddenly the king turned on William. William fought his uncle at the castle at Arques. But Duke William met him in battle and won. In the king again entered Normandy with a large hostile force. He split his army in two and led the southern forces himself.

He had everything that could be used as food removed ahead of the French armies. William also split his soldiers into two armies. William's forces watched the king's armies looking for any chance to attack. This caused his forces to relax and enjoy themselves. When the king got the news that his brother's army had been destroyed his army was struck with panic.

The king and his men left Normandy as fast as they could. But in the king broke the peace and invaded Normandy again. Just as before William kept the king's army close but waited for the best time to strike. This came as the French army was crossing the Dives river at Varaville. He took what remained of his army and left Normandy for good.

William 1 the conqueror biography

The king died a short time later. The new king, his young son Phillip, was under the care of William's father-in-law, Baldwin V. Her two sons by her former marriage fled to Normandy for their own safety. Edward , the older son, stayed in Normandy for many years at the court of the dukes. The last duke who protected him there was his cousin William.

Edward became King of England in While he was there he promised Duke William he would support him as successor to the English throne. But Harold did not respect his oaths. Harold was not royalty himself and had no legal claim on the throne. William began his plans for invasion almost as soon as he received news of the events in England.

His friendship with Brittany, France, and Flanders meant he did not have to rely only on his own army. William asked for and got the support of the pope who gave him a banner to carry into battle. The king of England knew both would be coming but he kept his ships and forces in the south of England where William might land. William may have had as many as 1, ships in his invasion fleet.

The king rested at London for a few days before taking his army to meet William and his French forces. King Harold's army took up a position on an east—west ridge north of Hastings. While Harold had more soldiers, they were tired from the mile kilometre forced march from London. He sent his archers halfway up the slope to attack the English.

Harold's front line simply stood fast and was able to fend off any attacks. While baronial holdings were vast, they were scattered, preventing the formation of large, contiguous estates. William established sheriffdoms, royal officials appointed and directly responsible to the king, to administer counties. He also created palatinates Cheshire, Durham, and Kent but kept them in the hands of churchmen who could not bequeath their authority.

Old English institutions helped balance the influence of feudalism. William strengthened the system of mutual responsibility frankpledge and preserved hundred and county courts. All vassals owed not only an oath to their lord but also to the king. The church also served as a bulwark against feudalism. William deposed Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury, installing Lanfranc in his place.

Norman prelates replaced most English bishops. However, the church's dependence on the king increased, as bishops took the feudal oath and royal vassals could not be excommunicated without royal consent. William asserted his independence from Rome.