| b 14 Oct 1024, , Falaise, Calvados, France | ||||
| d 10 Sep 1087, Hermentruvilleby, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France | ||||
| bur Abbey of St Step, Caen, Calvados, France | Guillaume (William) Duke Normandy | > | 61 19 May 1954, !& | Richard I 'The_Fearless' Normandy, [Duke] | Sporte De Bretagne | > |
| Richard II 'The_Good' Normandy | b 28 Aug 0933 | Herbastus De Crepon | ||
| | b 0962 | Gonnor De Crepon, [Duchess] | Mrs-Herbastus De Crepon | ||
| Robert I Normandy | d 28 Aug 1026 | b 0936 | ||
| |b 0999 | | | Conan I Count Bretagne, [Duke of] | ||
| |d 02 Jul 1035 | Judith Princess Of Brittany_(Bretag | b 0927 | Geoffroy I 'Grisegonnelle' Anjou | > |
| | | b 0956 | Ermangarde D' Anjou, [Duchess] | Adelaide De Countess Vermandois, [Countess] | > |
| William I 'The_Conqueror' England, [Duke] | d 1017 | b 0952 | ||
| |Matilda Countess Of Flanders, [Queen]-2 + | |m 1053 | Fulbert De Falaise | ||
| | | |b 0978 | |||
| Harlette De Falaise | ||||
| b 1003 | | | |||
| Doda | ||||
| b 0980 | ||||
In 1051, William visited England. King Edward the Confessor granted him the succession to the English throne as his nearset adult heir. In 1064, Harold, Edward's brother-in-law, was shipwrecked on the Norman coast and was taken prisoner. He promised to support William's claim to the throne in return for his freedom. But when Edward died in 1066, Harold obtained the succession on the basis of a deathbed grant by Edward and election by the nobles and prelates of England.
William immediately invaded England. His expedition had the pope's blessings, because William was expected to depose the Anglo-Saxon archbishop of Canterbury and introduce ecclesiastical reforms. Before William could sail, the king of Norway invaded northern England. King Harold hurried north and defeated the Norwegian invaders at Stamford Bridge. William landed before Harold could return to defend the coast. The Normans destroyed the Anglo-Saxon army and killed Harold at the Battle of Hastings.
On Christmas Day, 1066, William was crowned king William then suppressed local rebellions. He took lands from those who resisted him, and gave them to his followers to hold in return for their military service to him. To emphasize the legitimacy of his crown, William confirmed the laws of Edward the Confessor and retained all the powers of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy. He levied Danegeld, the only national tax on landed property in all of Europe at that time. At Salisbury in 1086, he made all the landholders, even the vassals of his barons, swear allegiance directly to him as king.
William was devout, firm in purpose, and unchanging in gaining his ends. His greatest monument is Domesday Book, an exhaustive survey of the land, the principal landholders, the farm population, and the material and financial resources of his realm.
Buried in Abbey of St Stephen, Caen, Calvados, France
Source: 'The World Book Encyclopedia', 1968, p W258-259