William the Conqueror

King of England (r. 1066-1087)

• Born: c. 1028
• Birthplace: Falaise, Normandy (now in France)
• Died: September 9, 1087
• Place of death: Rouen, Normandy (now in France)

Through his conquest of the English at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William made it possible for his Anglo-Norman successors to develop a strong feudal monarchy that flourished for several centuries.

Early Life

Very little is known about William the Conqueror’s childhood, though it is reasonable to assume that he spent his infancy in the care of his mother. William was the bastard son of Duke Robert I and Herleve, the daughter of a tanner. On his father’s side, William was the descendant of Vikings who had settled Normandy in the early tenth century. He was destined to become one of the greatest figures in European history. Because of his illegitimate birth, there is no reason to believe that Robert had any special plans for the youth. Robert, however, died in 1035 while returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and William, age seven, was proclaimed duke.

William’s birth and youth made it inevitable that his position would be challenged by ambitious nobles of the realm. There can be no doubt that he grew up in difficult times, and many of those closest to the young duke, including four successive guardians, died violently. Undoubtedly, these tumultuous years left an indelible mark on his young mind, which, in years to come, would manifest itself in a stern, repressive manner of ruling and various acts of cruelty. In 1047, William faced his first major crisis as discontent in western Normandy crystallized into a great revolt. Fortunately, William had the support of his liege lord, King Henry I of France, who crushed the revolt in the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes near Caen.

Life’s Work

The Battle of Val-ès-Dunes was a significant event because it temporarily put an end to the anarchy of the realm, and in a sense, it marked the close of William’s minority. In the years that followed, William’s stature as a baronial leader and warrior grew rapidly. In his twenties, William was physically imposing. He was almost 6 feet (183 centimeters) in height, with long arms and legs. His chroniclers spent much time extolling his great physical strength and military prowess.

In the years after Val-ès-Dunes, William increased his power in various ways. In 1053, he married Matilda, daughter of the count of Flanders, which was a politically advantageous alliance. Matilda, for her part, proved to be a good companion and duchess, an invaluable supporter who, on occasion, ruled Normandy in her husband’s absence. Unfortunately, the union aroused the ire of both the Church, which feared consanguinity, and William’s lord, King Henry of France. Relations deteriorated rapidly after the king formed an alliance with Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou, one of William’s enemies. Henry and Geoffrey twice invaded Normandy, but William, now an accomplished warrior, defeated them decisively in battles at Mortemer in 1054 and Varaville in 1058. These battles, for all practical purposes, allowed William to become independent of his former lord. Thereafter, William assumed the offensive, waging war with Anjou and seizing the district of Maine. In 1060, both Henry and Geoffrey died, allowing William to turn his attention to other matters.

That which now commanded his attention was the rather chaotic state of affairs in England. William first became interested in the English throne when he visited Edward the Confessor’ court in 1051 and supposedly was named as his heir. William’s hopes were further strengthened when, in 1064, Harold Godwinson, the most powerful of the English earls, was shipwrecked and captured in Normandy. In exchange for his freedom, Harold took an oath to support William’s candidacy for the crown on Edward’s death. When Edward died in 1066, however, the Anglo-Saxon Witan chose Harold as his successor. Harold refused to honor his oath, and William prepared for war.

An invasion of England was an enormous task that required both diplomatic and military preparations. In addition to building a fleet, William began to gather mercenaries who were interested in both adventure and booty. Estimates of William’s army, once assembled, range from five thousand to twenty-five thousand men. William also sought the support of the Papacy as an aid in recruiting and to lend an aura of legitimacy to the whole operation. England, he reasoned, must be liberated from Harold, who was an oath-breaker. The pope sent a consecrated banner, and William prepared to launch his holy mission.

William, however, could not at first catch a favorable wind to cross the channel. While he waited, his allies, Harold Hardrada, king of Norway, and Tostig, the English king’s exiled brother, invaded northern England. Harold Godwinson marched north and scored a decisive victory at Stamford Bridge. In the meantime, the winds changed and William crossed to an unopposed southern shore. Harold, in a much-debated move, marched his battle-weary troops rapidly southward and two weeks later, on October 14, faced William’s troops at Hastings. In one of the most important battles in English history, William, adroitly using mounted warriors, defeated the English, who fought on foot. With Hastings, William had control of England, but there was much work still to be done. William moved slowly, but inexorably, toward London, devastating much of the countryside as he terrorized the English. He took London with little opposition and was crowned King William I at Westminster on Christmas Day.

England did not at once come under William’s rule. In the years that followed, there were many revolts that were crushed swiftly and with great savagery. There were uprisings in Northumbria, Dorset, Cornwall, Somerset, and elsewhere. In the north, William found it necessary to devastate large areas with fire and sword; the Durham and Yorkshire region did not recover from William’s depredations until the next century. Once the sparks of rebellion were doused, Norman castles featuring an enclosed mound surmounted by a wooden or stone tower were built throughout the country to keep the peace.

By 1071, William had sufficiently pacified the countryside and could turn his attention to domestic reform. The lands of those who opposed him were confiscated and given to his loyal supporters. Each of his vassals, in turn, owed a certain number of knights for the fiefs they held. These were important elements of Norman feudalism. The Norman magnum concilium, or Great Council, replaced the Anglo-Saxon Witan as the governing body of the realm from which evolved a smaller advisory body called the curia regis. All the great lords of the realm, lay and ecclesiastical, were required to attend the meetings of the Great Council.

The last fifteen years of William’s reign were relatively uneventful. He was the undisputed king of England and duke of Normandy, the most powerful figure in northern Europe. Yet various parts of his empire were always on the verge of fresh rebellion. He was frequently harried by the Scots and the restive nobility of both Maine and Anjou. Within his family, the only serious threat came from his eldest son, Robert, who, aided by the king of France and on one occasion by his mother, Matilda, frequently stood in opposition to his father. In 1087, William, old and corpulent, invaded the French Vexin, a region that existed between central Normandy and the royal domain around Paris. He was thrown from his horse and mortally injured. He was carried to Rouen, where he died on September 9. On his deathbed, he made arrangements for the division of his kingdom. Normandy would pass to Robert, but his successor in England was William, called Rufus.

Significance

William the Conqueror’s life lends credence to the idea that great persons shape history. With some difficulty, he rose above his ignoble beginnings as the bastard son of Duke Robert I to become the greatest warrior and administrator of his age. If the Battle of Hastings had never occurred, William’s accomplishments between 1047 and 1060 would have earned for him a certain measure of fame. The rebellious nobles of his duchy were subjugated while offensives led by powerful enemies were turned back. As a result, he was able to create a far larger and wealthier kingdom in northern Europe from which to launch his invasion of England.

The year 1066 is perhaps the most familiar date in English history. In that year, William gathered his army, crossed the channel, and conquered England. Yet he never regarded himself as a mere conqueror rather, as the rightful successor to the English throne. His approach was, at times, conciliatory, and to that end he retained many features of English administration and society. The courts of the shire, for example, were retained, while the life of the peasantry was not significantly changed.

While William could be magnanimous, he could also be quite harsh, especially to those who opposed him. When the residents of Alençon reminded him of his bastardy, he cut off the hands and feet of thirty-two of them. The many revolts after Hastings may have forced William to become more tyrannical and even avaricious. The introduction of Norman feudalism provided him with both knights and castles to tame an unruly land, while Normans and Norman administrative agencies replaced those of the English. William so completely brought England under his control that in 1086, one year before his death, he was ready to inventory his great wealth. The results were incorporated into the Domesday Book (1086), also called the Domesday Survey, which serves as an invaluable record of baronial and peasant holdings. In church affairs, he was equally dominant. Although he supported and promoted the growth of the Church in both Normandy and England through the appointment of wise counselors such as Lanfranc, he made it very clear that he was not subservient to the pope and that the ecclesiastics of his realm held their positions at his pleasure. In sum, William the Conqueror left no doubt that he was supreme in things both temporal and spiritual.

Norman Kings of England, 1066-1189

Reign

• Monarch

1066-1087

• William I the Conqueror

1087-1100

• William II Rufus

1100-1135

• Henry I Beauclerc

1135-1154

• Stephen

1154-1189

• Henry II (Plantagenet line begins)

Bibliography

Bradbury, Jim. The Battle of Hastings. Stroud, England: Sutton, 1998. Focuses on the tactics and strategies of the battle and discusses the battle in the context of European military events of the eleventh century.

Brooke, Christopher. From Alfred to Henry III, 871-1272. New York: Norton, 1969. Provides a brief sketch of William’s life from his accession as duke of Normandy in 1035 until his death in 1087. It is especially good for the beginning student.

Brooke, Christopher. The Saxon and Norman Kings. 3d ed. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2001. Provides two brief chapters on William, the Norman conquest, and his sons. It is informal in style and at times even entertaining. A select bibliography lists some of the better primary and secondary sources on the subject.

Corbett, W. J. “The Development of the Duchy of Normandy and the Norman Conquest of England.” In The Cambridge Medieval History/Middle Ages, edited by J. R. Tanner et al. Vol. 5. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1926. This is a chapter from still one of the best multivolume surveys of the period. It treats succinctly the chief events of William’s life, Hastings, and the aftermath.

Douglas, David C. William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact upon England. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. A scholarly work that provides a wealth of information about William’s life and especially the many ways in which England was affected by the conquest. Includes a good bibliography.

Freeman, Edward A. The History of the Norman Conquest of England: Its Causes and Results. 5 vols. Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1977. A classic, originally published 1867-1879, with which all students of English history should be familiar. Argues that the Norman conquest did not significantly alter Anglo-Saxon institutions.

Haskins, C. H. Norman Institutions. 1919. Reprint. New York: F. Ungar, 1960. A still-useful work that argues that one must take a look at Norman roots before understanding the full impact of the conquest.

Riley, Brent A., and Joe Bageant. “William from Bastard to Conqueror.” Military History 19, no. 1 (April, 2002). Discusses William’s ancestors, his often-mentioned physical characteristics, and his skills as a warrior and a terrorizer of enemies. Includes a map and illustrations.

Stenton, F. M. Anglo-Saxon England. 3d ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989. This text is the result of many years of specialized work and has been well received by the scholarly community. Several chapters are devoted to William.

Van Houts, Elisabeth. “The Norman Conquest Through European Eyes.” English Historical Review 110, no. 438 (September, 1995). Looks at the coverage of William’s conquest of England in the European press, condemns the rational for extreme Norman violence during the conquest, and analyzes the resultant reform of the English Church.

Walker, David. The Normans in Britain. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1995. An overview of the Anglo-Norman period in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, beginning with the Battle of Hastings.