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William I of England

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain); Monarchs of Great Britain

                           William I
               King of England, Duke of Normandy
    William shown as Duke of Normandy in the Bayeux Tapestry
   Reign       25 December 1066 - 9 September 1087
   Coronation  25 December 1066
   Born        c. 1028
               Normandy
   Died        9 September 1087
               Convent of Saint Gervais, near Rouen
   Buried      Saint-Pierre Cathedral, Caen, France
   Predecessor Harold Godwinson
   Successor   William II
   Consort     Matilda of Flanders ( 1031– 1083)
   Issue       Robert Curthose (c. 1054– 1134)
               William II ( 1056– 1100)
               Adela of Blois (c. 1062– 1138)
               Henry I ( 1068– 1135)
   Royal House Norman
   Father      Robert the Magnificent (c. 1000– 1035)
   Mother      Herleva ( 1003– 1050)

   William of Normandy (French: Guillaume de Normandie; c. 1027 – 9
   September 1087) ruled as the Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 and as
   King of England from 1066 to 1087. William invaded England, won a
   victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and suppressed subsequent
   English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. No
   authentic portrait of William has been found but he was described as a
   big burly man, strong in every sense of the word, balding in front, and
   of regal dignity.

   In the present nomenclature, William was Duke of Normandy as William II
   and King of England as William I. He is also known as William the
   Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant) and William the Bastard (Guillaume
   le Bâtard).

Early life

   The sole son of Robert the Magnificent and Herleva, most likely the
   daughter of a local tanner named Fulbert, William was born illegitimate
   in Falaise, Normandy. The exact date of birth is uncertain, but is
   known to have been either in 1027 or 1028, and more likely in the
   autumn of the latter year. He was the grandnephew of Queen Emma, wife
   of King Ethelred the Unready and later of King Canute.

   William succeeded to his father's Duchy of Normandy at the young age of
   7 in 1035 and was known as Duke William II of Normandy (Fr. Guillaume
   II, duc de Normandie). He lost three guardians to plots to usurp his
   place. Count Alan of Brittany was a later guardian. King Henry I of
   France knighted him at the age of 15. By the time he turned 19 he was
   successfully dealing with threats of rebellion and invasion. With the
   assistance of King Henry, William finally secured control of Normandy
   by defeating the rebel Norman barons at Caen in the Battle of
   Val-ès-Dunes in 1047.

   He married his cousin Matilda of Flanders, against the wishes of the
   pope in 1053 at the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Eu, Normandy (now in
   Seine-Maritime). He was 26, she was 22. Their marriage produced four
   sons and six daughters (see list below).

   His half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain played
   significant roles in his life. He also had a sister, Adelaide of
   Normandy.

Conquest of England

   Upon the death of William's cousin King Edward the Confessor of England
   (January 1066), William claimed the throne of England, asserting that
   the childless and purportedly celibate Edward had named him his heir
   during a visit by William (probably in 1052) and that Harold Godwinson,
   England's foremost magnate and brother-in-law of the late King Edward
   the Confessor, had reportedly pledged his support while shipwrecked in
   Normandy (c. 1064). Harold made this pledge while in captivity and was
   reportedly tricked into swearing on a saint's bones that he would give
   the throne to William. Even if this story is true, however, Harold made
   the promise under duress and so may have felt free to break it. More
   realistically, by the mid 1050s, Harold was effectively ruling England
   through the weak King Edward and was unlikely to surrender the throne
   to a foreign noble.
                English Royalty
               House of Normandy
                   William I
       Robert III Curthose, Duke of Normandy
      William II Rufus
       Adela, Countess of Blois
      Henry I Beauclerc

   The assembly of England's leading nobles known as the Witenagemot
   approved Harold Godwinson’s coronation which took place on 5 January
   1066 making him King Harold II of England. In order to pursue his own
   claim, William obtained the support of the Pope Alexander II for his
   cause. He assembled a Norman invasion fleet of around 600 ships and an
   army of 7000 men. He landed at Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September 1066
   and assembled a prefabricated wooden castle ( Motte-and-bailey) near
   Hastings as a base. This was a direct provocation to Harold Godwinson
   as this area of Sussex was Harold's own personal estate, and William
   began immediately to lay waste to the land. It may have prompted Harold
   to respond immediately and in haste rather than await reinforcements in
   London.

   King Harold Godwinson was in the north of England and had just defeated
   another rival, Harald III of Norway, supported by his own brother
   Tostig. He marched an army of similar size to William's 250 miles in 9
   days to challenge him at the crucial battle of Senlac, which later
   became known as the Battle of Hastings. This took place on 14 October
   1066. According to some accounts, perhaps based on an interpretation of
   the Bayeux Tapestry commemorating the Norman victory, Harold was
   allegedly killed by an arrow through the eye, and the English forces
   fled giving William victory.

   This was the defining moment of what is now known as the Norman
   Conquest. Unable to enter London, William travelled to Wallingford, was
   welcomed in by Wigod who supported his cause. This is where the first
   submissions took place including that of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
   The remaining Anglo-Saxon noblemen surrendered to William at
   Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and he was acclaimed King of England there.
   William was then crowned on 25 December 1066 in Westminster Abbey.

   Although the south of England submitted quickly to Norman rule,
   resistance continued, especially in the North for six more years until
   1072. Harold's illegitimate sons attempted an invasion of the
   south-west peninsula. Uprisings occurred in the Welsh Marches and at
   Stafford. Separate attempts at invasion by the Danes and the Scots also
   occurred. 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. The
   last serious resistance came with the Revolt of the Earls in 1075. It
   is estimated that one fifth of the people of England were killed during
   these years by war, massacre, and starvation.

William's reign

   William initiated many major changes. In 1085, in order to ascertain
   the extent of his new dominions and maximize taxation, William
   commissioned the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of
   England's productive capacity similar to a modern census. He also
   ordered many castles, keeps, and mottes, 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. His conquest
   also led to Norman replacing English as the language of the ruling
   classes for nearly 300 years.
   The signatures of William I and Matilda are the first two large crosses
   on the Accord of Winchester from 1072.
   Enlarge
   The signatures of William I and Matilda are the first two large crosses
   on the Accord of Winchester from 1072.

   William is said to have deported some of the Anglo-Saxon land owning
   classes into slavery through Bristol. Many of the latter ended up in
   Umayyad Spain and Moorish lands. Ownership of nearly all land in
   England and titles to religious and public offices were given to
   Normans. Many surviving Anglo-Saxon nobles emigrated to other European
   kingdoms.

Death, burial, and succession

   William died at the age of 59, at the Convent of St Gervais, near
   Rouen, France, on 9 September 1087 from abdominal injuries received
   from his saddle pommel when he fell off a horse at the Siege of Mantes.
   William 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.

   William was succeeded in 1087 as King of England by his younger son
   William Rufus and as Duke of Normandy by his elder son Robert Curthose.
   This led to the Rebellion of 1088. His youngest son Henry also became
   King of England later, after William II died without a child to succeed
   him.

Genealogy

   Diagram based on the information found on Wikipedia
   Enlarge
   Diagram based on the information found on Wikipedia

   Every English monarch down to Queen Elizabeth II is a direct descendant
   of William the Conqueror as well as Alfred the Great and King Coel (Old
   King Cole of the nursery rhyme.)

Children of William and Matilda

   Some doubt exists over how many daughters there were. This list
   includes some entries which are obscure.
    1. Robert Curthose (c. 1054– 1134), Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of
       Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano
    2. Adeliza (or Alice) (c. 1055–?), reportedly betrothed to Harold II
       of England (Her existence is in some doubt.)
    3. Cecilia (or Cecily) (c. 1056– 1126), Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen
    4. William Rufus ( 1056– 1100), King of England
    5. Richard ( 1057-c. 1081), killed by a stag in New Forest
    6. Adela (c. 1062– 1138), married Stephen, Count of Blois
    7. Gundred (c. 1063– 1085), married William de Warenne (c. 1055– 1088)
       Some scholars question whether Gundred was an illegitimate child of
       William I or merely a step-daughter, foundling or adopted daughter.
       See discussion pages for further information.
    8. Agatha (c. 1064–c. 1080), betrothed to (1) Harold of Wessex, (2)
       Alfonso VI of Castile
    9. Constance (c. 1066– 1090), married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of
       Brittany; poisoned, possibly by her own servants
   10. Matilda (very obscure, her existence is in some doubt)
   11. Henry Beauclerc ( 1068– 1135), King of England, married (1) Edith
       of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III, King of Scotland, (2) Adeliza
       of Louvain

Direct descent from William I to Elizabeth II

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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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