William is the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent and Herleva, who is most likely the daughter of a local tanner named Fulbert. William was born in either 1027 or 1028 in Falaise, Normandy. Queen Emma, wife of King Ethelred the Unready and later King Canute, was his Grand Aunt.
In 1035 at age 7 William succeeded to his father’s Duchy of Normandy and was known as Duke William II of Normandy. He was knighted at age 15 by King Henry I of France. He was dealing with threats of rebellion and invasion by the time he turned 19. In 1047 at Caen in the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes William, with the assistance of King Henry defeated the rebel Norman barons. This secured control of Normandy for William.
William was 26 when he married his cousin Matilda of Flanders against the wishes of the pope. They were married in 1053 at the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Eu, Normandy.
When Williams’ cousin King Edward the Confessor of England died in January 1066, William claimed the throne of England. William claimed that Edward had names him his heir, since Edward had no children, during a visit in 1052. King Edward the Confessor’s brother-in-law, Harold Godwinson, gave his support while shipwrecked in Normandy. Harold was in captivity and was tricked into swearing on a saint’s bones that he would give the throne to William. By making this promise under duress Harold probably felt free to break it.
On January 5, 1066 Harold became King Harold II of England. William received support from Pope Alexander II to pursue his own claim. On September 28, 1066 with an army of 7,000 men and a fleet of 600 ships landed at Pevensey in Sussex. William assembled a castle near Hastings as a base. This area was Harold’s personal estate and William laid waste to the land.
King Harold Godwinson just defeated rival, Harald III of Norway. He marched an army 250 miles in 9 days to challenge William in the battle of Senlac. This battle took place on Oct 14, 1066 and later became known as the Battle of Hastings. Some accounts say Harold was killed by an arrow through the eye. The English forces fled giving William victory. This was known as the Norman Conquest.
William couldn’t enter London so he traveled to Wallingford. In Wallinford, Wigod, who supported William, welcomed him. “This is where the first submissions took place including that of the Archbishop of Canterbury.” At Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire the remaining Anglo-Saxon noblemen surrendered to William and he was acclaimed King of England. On December 25, 1066, in Westminster Abbey William was crowned.
The south of England submitted quickly to Norman rule, but resistance continued in the North until 1072. Harold’s illegitimate sons attempted to invade the south-west peninsula and other uprisings occurred in the Welsh Marches and at Stafford. The Danes and the Scots also attempted separate invasions. “William’s defeat of these led to what became known as The Harrying of the North (sometimes called Harrowing) in which Northumbria was laid waste as revenge and to deny his enemies its resources.” In 1075 the last serious resistance came with the Revolt of the Earls. During these years it’s estimated that one fifth of the people of England were killed by war, massacre, and starvation.
William commissioned the compilation of the Domesday Book, in 1085, in order to ascertain the extent of his new dominions and maximize taxation. The Domesday Book is a survey of England’s productive capacity similar to a modern census. He ordered many castles, keeps, and mots to be built across England. Among them was the Tower of London. This was to ensure that the rebellions by the English people and his own followers would not succeed. For nearly 300 years, Norman replaced English as the language of the ruling classes because of his conquest.
On September 9, 1087, at age 59, at the Convent of St. Gervais, near Rouen, France, William died from abdominal injuries received from his saddle pommel when he fell off a horse at the Siege of Mantes. He was buried in the church of St. Stephen in Caen, Normandy. “In a most unregal postmortem, his corpulent body would not fit in the stone sarcophagus, and burst after some unsuccessful prodding by the assembled bishops, filling the chapel with a foul smell and dispersing the mourners.”
In 1087 William was succeeded by his youngest son William Rufus as King of England and by his elder son Robert Curthose as Duke of Normandy. “This led to the Rebellion of 1088.” William’s youngest son Henry became King of England later after William II died without a child to succeed him.
Sources:
Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. William I of England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror.