William the Conqueror (0)

William the Conqueror
(~ 1028 -1087)

• Was born in Falaise , Normandy.
  

It’s not exactly known when William born but it is is believed to have been born in either 1027 or 1028.He was son of Robert I , the Duke of Normandy. He was known as "William the Bastard" because of the illegitimacy of his birth .

• Duke of Normandy from 1035 .
  

By his father 's will, William succeeded him as Duke of Normandy at age seven . He was knighted by Henry at age 15. By the time William turned 19 he was successfully dealing with threats of rebellion and invasion.

• King of England from 1066 to his death .
  

Upon the death of the childless Edward the Confessor , the English throne was fiercely disputed by three claimants—William, Harold Godwinson, the powerful Earl of Wessex , and the Viking King Harald III of Norway , known as Harald Hardraada.
Battles

• William decides to invade England
  

….because of the contest for the throne. William organized a council of war at Lillebonne and openly began assembling an army in Normandy. Offering promises of English lands and titles, he amassed at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme a considerable invasion force.

• Harold Hardraada invaded northern England.
  

Harold assembled a large army on the south coast and a fleet of ships to guard the English Channel. Then came the news that the other contender for the throne, Harald III of Norway, allied with Tostig Godwinson, had landed ten miles from York ; Harold was forced to march against them .

• Duke William landed at Pevensey
  

Before Harold could return from York to south south William landed his army at Pevensey Bay . Then he decided to move to Hastings , where he built a prefabricated wooden castle for a base of operations. From there, he ravaged the hinterland and waited for Harold's return from the north .

• Harold Godwineson returned to London.
  

William chose Hastings as it was at the end of a long peninsula flanked by impassable marshes. Battle was on the isthmus. Harold had been reconnoitering the south of England for some time and well appreciated the need to occupy this isthmus at once .
Battle of Hastings

• The English army -7,500 men
  

The English army had fought a major battle at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire less than three weeks earlier, which may have affected its battle worthiness at Hastings. The most formidable defence of the English was the shield wall , in which all the men on the front ranks locked their shields together.

• The Norman army -8,400 men
  

William's strategy relied on archers to soften the enemy. The Norman army's power derived from its cavalry -They were heavily armoured, and had a lance and a sword

• Normans won the battle.
  

Facing such odds, Harold had no choice but to fight a defensive battle. He was forced to rely on the much-vaunted English shield-wall. The tactic was a great success. Then came the turning point of the battle and the English wall was defeated. So finally the Normans victory was complete .
English resistance

• The Northumbria was still not surrendered
  

Northumbria is primarily the name of both a medieval petty kingdom of the Angles people, in what is now north east England and southern Scotland. In 1068, with Edgar Etheling, both Mercia and Northumbria revolted.

• William devastated Northumbria
  

William then devastated Northumbria between the Humber and Tees rivers, with his Harrying of the North. After this cruel treatment the land did not recover for more than 100 years . It may have stopped future rebellions, scaring the English people into obedience. In 1071, William defeated the last rebellion of the north. In 1072, he invaded Scotland, defeating Malcolm.
And finally the rebellions were quelled !
(in the picture - English coin of William the Conqueror (1066-1087) )
Reign in England
William initiated many major changes.

• In 1085 the Domesday Book
  

In 1085, in order to ascertain the extent of his new dominionans and maximize taxation, William commissioned the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of England's productive capacity similar to a modern census .

• Precautions for rebellions
  

He ordered many castles, keeps, and mots, among them the Tower of London, to be built across England to ensure that the rebellions by the English people or his own followers would not succeed.

• The ruling classes language - English
  

He wanted English to become the language of ruling classes but it didn’t work . Only after 300 years it worked.
(in the picture- William I built the central White Tower in the Tower of London.)
Williams end

• William divided his succession for his sons
  

William fell off his horse and got horrible injuries. Elder son Robert received the Duchy of Normandy, as Robert II. William Rufus (his third son) was next English king, as William II. William's youngest son Henry received 5,000 silver pounds.

• William died at the Convent of St Gervais in Rouen .
  

Rouen was the capital of Normandy . He died in September at the age of 59.

• William was buried in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes.
  

Which he had erected, in Caen, Normandy.