Individual Details
William I "the Conqueror" "the Bastard"
(1028 - 9 Sep 1087)
thePeerage.com
William I 'the Conqueror', King of England1
M, #102022, b. between 1027 and 1028, d. 9 September 1087
Last Edited=18 Jan 2013
William I 'the Conqueror', King of England was born between 1027 and 1028 at Falise Castle, Falaise, Normandy, France, illegitimately.2,3 He was the son of Robert I, 6th Duc de Normandie and Herleva de Falaise. He married Matihilde van Vlaanderen, daughter of Baldwinus V Graaf van Vlaanderen Comte d'Artois Markgraaf van Ename and Adèle Capet, Princesse de France, in 1053 at Cathedral of Notre Dame d'Eu, Normandy, France.3 He died on 9 September 1087 at Priory of St. Gervais, Rouen, Caux, France, from wounds received while fighting.4 He was buried at St. Stephen Abbey, Caen, Normandy, France.4
William I 'the Conqueror', King of England also went by the nick-name of William 'the Conqueror'.5 William I 'the Conqueror', King of England also went by the nick-name of William 'le Batard' (or in English, the Bastard).5 In 1035 on his father's death, William was recognised by his family as the heir - an exception to the general rule that illegitimacy barred succession. His great uncle looked after the Duchy during William's minority, and his overlord, King Henry I of France, knighted him at the age of 15.6 He succeeded to the title of 7th Duc de Normandie on 22 June 1035.3 He gained the title of Comte de Maine in 1063.3 He fought in the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066 at Hastings, Sussex, England.3 He was crowned King of England on 25 December 1066 at Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England, and styled 'Willielmus Rex Anglorum.7' He gained the title of King William I of England on 25 December 1066.7 He fought in the Siege of Mantes in September 1087.4 From 1047 onwards, William successfully dealt with rebellion inside Normandy involving his kinsmen and threats from neighbouring nobles, including attempted invasions by his former ally King Henry I of France in 1054 (the French forces were defeated at the Battle of Mortemer). William's military successes and reputation helped him to negotiate his marriage to Mathilda, daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders. At the time of his invasion of England, William was a very experienced and ruthless military commander, ruler and administrator who had unified Normandy and inspired fear and respect outside his duchy. William's claim to the English throne was based on his assertion that, in 1051, Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne (he was a distant cousin) and that Harold II - having sworn in 1064 to uphold William's right to succeed to that throne - was therefore a usurper. Furthermore, William had the support of Emperor Henry IV and papal approval. William took seven months to prepare his invasion force, using some 600 transport ships to carry around 7,000 men (including 2,000-3,000 cavalry) across the Channel. On 28 September 1066, with a favourable wind, William landed unopposed at Pevensey and, within a few days, raised fortifications at Hastings. Having defeated an earlier invasion by the King of Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge near York in late September, Harold undertook a forced march south, covering 250 miles in some nine days to meet the new threat, gathering inexperienced reinforcements to replenish his exhausted veterans as he marched.
At the Battle of Senlac (near Hastings) on 14 October, Harold's weary and under-strength army faced William's cavalry (part of the forces brought across the Channel) supported by archers. Despite their exhaustion, Harold's troops were equal in number (they included the best infantry in Europe equipped with their terrible two-handled battle axes) and they had the battlefield advantage of being based on a ridge above the Norman positions. The first uphill assaults by the Normans failed and a rumour spread that William had been killed; William rode among the ranks raising his helmet to show he was still alive. The battle was close-fought: a chronicler described the Norman counter-attacks and the Saxon defence as 'one side attacking with all mobility, the other withstanding as though rooted to the soil'. Three of William's horses were killed under him. William skilfully co-ordinated his archers and cavalry, both of which the English forces lacked. During a Norman assault, Harold was killed - hit by an arrow and then mowed down by the sword of a mounted knight. Two of his brothers were also killed. The demoralised English forces fled. In 1070, as penance, William had an abbey built on the site of the battle, with the high altar occupying the spot where Harold fell. The ruins of Battle Abbey, and the town of Battle, which grew up around it, remain.
Three months after his coronation, he was confident enough to return to Normandy leaving two joint regents (one of whom was his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who was later to commission the Bayeux Tapestry) behind to administer the kingdom. However, it took William six years to consolidate his conquest, and even then he had to face constant plotting and fighting on both sides of the Channel. In 1068, Harold's sons raided the south-west coast of England (dealt with by William's local commanders), and there were uprisings in the Welsh Marches, Devon and Cornwall. William appointed earls who, in Wales and in all parts of the kingdom, undertook to guard the threatened frontiers and maintain internal security in return for land.
In 1069, the Danes, in alliance with Prince Edgar the Aetheling (Ethelred's great-grandson) and other English nobles, invaded the north and took York. Taking personal charge, and pausing only to deal with the rising at Stafford, William drove the Danes back to their ships on the Humber. In a harsh campaign lasting into 1070, William systematically devastated Mercia and Northumbria to deprive the Danes of their supplies and prevent recovery of English resistance. Churches and monasteries were burnt, and agricultural land was laid to waste, creating a famine for the unarmed and mostly peasant population which lasted at least nine years. Although the Danes were bribed to leave the north, King Sweyn of Denmark and his ships threatened the east coast (in alliance with various English, including Hereward the Wake) until a treaty of peace was concluded in June 1070.
Further north, where the boundary with Scotland was unclear, King Malcolm III was encroaching into England. Yet again, William moved swiftly and moved land and sea forces north to invade Scotland. The Treaty of Abernethy in 1072 marked a truce, which was reinforced by Malcolm's eldest son being accepted as a hostage. William consolidated his conquest by starting a castle-building campaign in strategic areas. Originally these castles were wooden towers on earthen 'mottes' (mounds) with a bailey (defensive area) surrounded by earth ramparts, but many were later rebuilt in stone. By the end of William's reign over 80 castles had been built throughout his kingdom, as a permanent reminder of the new Norman feudal order.
William's wholesale confiscation of land from English nobles and their heirs (many nobles had died at the battles of Stamford Bridge and Senlac) enabled him to recruit and retain an army, by demanding military duties in exchange for land tenancy granted to Norman, French and Flemish allies. He created up to 180 'honours' (lands scattered through shires, with a castle as the governing centre), and in return had some 5,000 knights at his disposal to repress rebellions and pursue campaigns; the knights were augmented by mercenaries and English infantry from the Anglo-Saxon militia, raised from local levies. William also used the fyrd, the royal army - a military arrangement which had survived the Conquest. The King's tenants-in-chief in turn created knights under obligation to them and for royal duties (this was called subinfeudation), with the result that private armies centred around private castles were created - these were to cause future problems of anarchy for unfortunate or weak kings. By the end of William's reign, a small group of the King's tenants had acquired about half of England's landed wealth. Only two Englishmen still held large estates directly from the King. A foreign aristocracy had been imposed as the new governing class.
The expenses of numerous campaigns, together with an economic slump (caused by the shifts in landed wealth, and the devastation of northern England for military and political reasons), prompted William to order a full-scale investigation into the actual and potential wealth of the kingdom to maximise tax revenues. The Domesday survey was prompted by ignorance of the state of land holding in England, as well as the result of the costs of defence measures in England and renewed war in France. The scope, speed, efficiency and completion of this survey was remarkable for its time and resulted in the two-volume Domesday Book of 1086, which still exists today. William needed to ensure the direct loyalty of his feudal tenants. The 1086 Oath of Salisbury was a gathering of William's 170 tenants-in-chief and other important landowners who took an oath of fealty to William. William's reach extended elsewhere into the Church and the legal system. French superseded the vernacular (Anglo-Saxon). Personally devout, William used his bishops to carry out administrative duties. Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070, was a first-class administrator who assisted in government when William was absent in France, and who reorganised the Church in England. Having established the primacy of his archbishopric over that of York, and with William's approval, Lanfranc excommunicated rebels, and set up Church or spiritual courts to deal with ecclesiastical matters. Lanfranc also replaced English bishops and abbots (some of whom had already been removed by the Council of Winchester under papal authority) with Norman or French clergy to reduce potential political resistance. In addition, Canterbury and Durham Cathedrals were rebuilt and some of the bishops' sees were moved to urban centres.
At his coronation, William promised to uphold existing laws and customs. The Anglo-Saxon shire courts and 'hundred' courts (which administered defence and tax, as well as justice matters) remained intact, as did regional variations and private Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. To strengthen royal justice, William relied on sheriffs (previously smaller landowners, but replaced by influential nobles) to supervise the administration of justice in existing county courts, and sent members of his own court to conduct important trials. However, the introduction of Church courts, the mix of Norman/Roman law and the differing customs led to a continuing complex legal framework. More severe forest laws reinforced William's conversion of the New Forest into a vast Royal deer reserve. These laws caused great resentment, and to English chroniclers the New Forest became a symbol of William's greed. Nevertheless the King maintained peace and order. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1087 declared 'he was a very stern and violent man, so no one dared do anything contrary to his will ... Amongst other things the good security he made in this country is not to be forgotten.'
William spent the last months of his reign in Normandy, fighting a counter-offensive in the French Vexin territory against King Philip's annexation of outlying Normandy territory. Before his death on 9 September 1087, William divided his 'Anglo-Norman' state between his sons. (The scene was set for centuries of expensive commitments by successive English monarchs to defend their inherited territories in France.) William bequeathed Normandy as he had promised to his eldest son Robert, despite their bitter differences (Robert had sided with his father's enemies in Normandy, and even wounded and defeated his father in a battle there in 1079). His son, William Rufus, was to succeed William as King of England, and the third remaining son, Henry, was left 5,000 pounds in silver.8 He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.9
Children of William I 'the Conqueror', King of England and Matihilde van Vlaanderen
Matilda de Normandie d. b 1112
Robert III 'Curthose', 8th Duc de Normandie+10 b. 1051, d. 10 Feb 1134
Richard of Bernay, Duke of Bernay b. 1054, d. c 1081
Cecilia de Normandie, b. bt 1054 - 1055, d. 3 Jul 1126
Adeliza de Normandie b. c 1055, d. c 1065
William II 'Rufus', King of England b. bt 1056 - 1060, d. 2 Aug 1100
Constance de Normandie b. bt 1057 - 1061, d. 13 Aug 1090
Adela de Normandie+11 b. c 1062, d. 8 Mar 1137
Agatha de Normandie b. c 1064, d. b 1080
Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England+10 b. Sep 1068, d. 1 Dec 1135
Citations
[S106] Royal Genealogies Website (ROYAL92.GED), online http://www.daml.org/2001/01/gedcom/royal92.ged. Hereinafter cited as Royal Genealogies Website.
[S4] C.F.J. Hankinson, editor, DeBretts Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 147th year (London, U.K.: Odhams Press, 1949), page 20, says 1025. Hereinafter cited as DeBretts Peerage, 1949.
[S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 41. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Families.
[S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families, page 44.
[S7] Antonia Fraser, Kings and Queens of England (London, U.K.: Cassell & Co., 1998), page 30. Hereinafter cited as Kings and Queens of England.
[S101] The Official Website of the British Monarchy, online http://www.royal.gov.uk. Hereinafter cited as Official Website of the British Monarchy.
[S4] C.F.J. Hankinson, DeBretts Peerage, 1949, page 20.
[S1] S&N Genealogy Supplies, S&N Peerage CD., CD-ROM (Chilmark, Salisbury, U.K.: S&N Genealogy Supplies, no date (c. 1999)). Hereinafter cited as S&N Peerage CD.
[S18] Matthew H.C.G., editor, Dictionary of National Biography on CD-ROM (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1995). Hereinafter cited as Dictionary of National Biography.
[S38] John Morby, Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 86. Hereinafter cited as Dynasties of the World.
[S45] Marcellus Donald R. von Redlich, Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants, volume I (1941; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002), page 56. Hereinafter cited as Pedigrees of Emperor Charlemagne, I.
******************
Sources for William I, King of England
1 American Society of Genealogists, The Genealogist, Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1989, Vol. 10, No. 1, p. 4.
2 Fraser, ed. Antonia, The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England, New York: Alfred A. Knopf (1975), 24.
3 Hemingway, Patricia S., The Hemingways: Past and Present and Allied Families, Rev. Ed., Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc. (1988), 4-5, 9.
4 Luther, George A., editor and compiler, The Luther Genealogy: A History of the Descendants of Captain John Luther, Who Arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630-1635, Penobscot Press (2001), 80.
5 Morris, Jean, The Monarchs of England, New York: Charterhouse (1975), 15-22.
6 Richardson, Douglas, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Salt Lake City, Utah: Douglas Richardson (2013), Vol. V, p. 481.
7 Roberts, Gary Boyd, The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. (2008), 562-569.
8 Weis, Frederick Lewis, et. al., Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company (2004), 126.
9 Wikipedia, "William I of England", (accessed 02/21/2010).
**************
From Wikipedia
William I (Old Norman: Williame I; Old English: Willelm I; c. 1028[1] – 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard,[2][a] was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. The descendant of Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England in 1066
...
In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, who was named the next king by Edward on the latter's deathbed in January 1066. William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, and that Harold had sworn to support William's claim. William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066, in London. He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 William's hold on England was mostly secure, allowing him to spend the majority of the rest of his reign on the continent.
William's final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, but instead continued to administer each part separately. William's lands were divided after his death: Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert, and his second surviving son, William, received England.
William I 'the Conqueror', King of England1
M, #102022, b. between 1027 and 1028, d. 9 September 1087
Last Edited=18 Jan 2013
William I 'the Conqueror', King of England was born between 1027 and 1028 at Falise Castle, Falaise, Normandy, France, illegitimately.2,3 He was the son of Robert I, 6th Duc de Normandie and Herleva de Falaise. He married Matihilde van Vlaanderen, daughter of Baldwinus V Graaf van Vlaanderen Comte d'Artois Markgraaf van Ename and Adèle Capet, Princesse de France, in 1053 at Cathedral of Notre Dame d'Eu, Normandy, France.3 He died on 9 September 1087 at Priory of St. Gervais, Rouen, Caux, France, from wounds received while fighting.4 He was buried at St. Stephen Abbey, Caen, Normandy, France.4
William I 'the Conqueror', King of England also went by the nick-name of William 'the Conqueror'.5 William I 'the Conqueror', King of England also went by the nick-name of William 'le Batard' (or in English, the Bastard).5 In 1035 on his father's death, William was recognised by his family as the heir - an exception to the general rule that illegitimacy barred succession. His great uncle looked after the Duchy during William's minority, and his overlord, King Henry I of France, knighted him at the age of 15.6 He succeeded to the title of 7th Duc de Normandie on 22 June 1035.3 He gained the title of Comte de Maine in 1063.3 He fought in the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066 at Hastings, Sussex, England.3 He was crowned King of England on 25 December 1066 at Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England, and styled 'Willielmus Rex Anglorum.7' He gained the title of King William I of England on 25 December 1066.7 He fought in the Siege of Mantes in September 1087.4 From 1047 onwards, William successfully dealt with rebellion inside Normandy involving his kinsmen and threats from neighbouring nobles, including attempted invasions by his former ally King Henry I of France in 1054 (the French forces were defeated at the Battle of Mortemer). William's military successes and reputation helped him to negotiate his marriage to Mathilda, daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders. At the time of his invasion of England, William was a very experienced and ruthless military commander, ruler and administrator who had unified Normandy and inspired fear and respect outside his duchy. William's claim to the English throne was based on his assertion that, in 1051, Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne (he was a distant cousin) and that Harold II - having sworn in 1064 to uphold William's right to succeed to that throne - was therefore a usurper. Furthermore, William had the support of Emperor Henry IV and papal approval. William took seven months to prepare his invasion force, using some 600 transport ships to carry around 7,000 men (including 2,000-3,000 cavalry) across the Channel. On 28 September 1066, with a favourable wind, William landed unopposed at Pevensey and, within a few days, raised fortifications at Hastings. Having defeated an earlier invasion by the King of Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge near York in late September, Harold undertook a forced march south, covering 250 miles in some nine days to meet the new threat, gathering inexperienced reinforcements to replenish his exhausted veterans as he marched.
At the Battle of Senlac (near Hastings) on 14 October, Harold's weary and under-strength army faced William's cavalry (part of the forces brought across the Channel) supported by archers. Despite their exhaustion, Harold's troops were equal in number (they included the best infantry in Europe equipped with their terrible two-handled battle axes) and they had the battlefield advantage of being based on a ridge above the Norman positions. The first uphill assaults by the Normans failed and a rumour spread that William had been killed; William rode among the ranks raising his helmet to show he was still alive. The battle was close-fought: a chronicler described the Norman counter-attacks and the Saxon defence as 'one side attacking with all mobility, the other withstanding as though rooted to the soil'. Three of William's horses were killed under him. William skilfully co-ordinated his archers and cavalry, both of which the English forces lacked. During a Norman assault, Harold was killed - hit by an arrow and then mowed down by the sword of a mounted knight. Two of his brothers were also killed. The demoralised English forces fled. In 1070, as penance, William had an abbey built on the site of the battle, with the high altar occupying the spot where Harold fell. The ruins of Battle Abbey, and the town of Battle, which grew up around it, remain.
Three months after his coronation, he was confident enough to return to Normandy leaving two joint regents (one of whom was his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who was later to commission the Bayeux Tapestry) behind to administer the kingdom. However, it took William six years to consolidate his conquest, and even then he had to face constant plotting and fighting on both sides of the Channel. In 1068, Harold's sons raided the south-west coast of England (dealt with by William's local commanders), and there were uprisings in the Welsh Marches, Devon and Cornwall. William appointed earls who, in Wales and in all parts of the kingdom, undertook to guard the threatened frontiers and maintain internal security in return for land.
In 1069, the Danes, in alliance with Prince Edgar the Aetheling (Ethelred's great-grandson) and other English nobles, invaded the north and took York. Taking personal charge, and pausing only to deal with the rising at Stafford, William drove the Danes back to their ships on the Humber. In a harsh campaign lasting into 1070, William systematically devastated Mercia and Northumbria to deprive the Danes of their supplies and prevent recovery of English resistance. Churches and monasteries were burnt, and agricultural land was laid to waste, creating a famine for the unarmed and mostly peasant population which lasted at least nine years. Although the Danes were bribed to leave the north, King Sweyn of Denmark and his ships threatened the east coast (in alliance with various English, including Hereward the Wake) until a treaty of peace was concluded in June 1070.
Further north, where the boundary with Scotland was unclear, King Malcolm III was encroaching into England. Yet again, William moved swiftly and moved land and sea forces north to invade Scotland. The Treaty of Abernethy in 1072 marked a truce, which was reinforced by Malcolm's eldest son being accepted as a hostage. William consolidated his conquest by starting a castle-building campaign in strategic areas. Originally these castles were wooden towers on earthen 'mottes' (mounds) with a bailey (defensive area) surrounded by earth ramparts, but many were later rebuilt in stone. By the end of William's reign over 80 castles had been built throughout his kingdom, as a permanent reminder of the new Norman feudal order.
William's wholesale confiscation of land from English nobles and their heirs (many nobles had died at the battles of Stamford Bridge and Senlac) enabled him to recruit and retain an army, by demanding military duties in exchange for land tenancy granted to Norman, French and Flemish allies. He created up to 180 'honours' (lands scattered through shires, with a castle as the governing centre), and in return had some 5,000 knights at his disposal to repress rebellions and pursue campaigns; the knights were augmented by mercenaries and English infantry from the Anglo-Saxon militia, raised from local levies. William also used the fyrd, the royal army - a military arrangement which had survived the Conquest. The King's tenants-in-chief in turn created knights under obligation to them and for royal duties (this was called subinfeudation), with the result that private armies centred around private castles were created - these were to cause future problems of anarchy for unfortunate or weak kings. By the end of William's reign, a small group of the King's tenants had acquired about half of England's landed wealth. Only two Englishmen still held large estates directly from the King. A foreign aristocracy had been imposed as the new governing class.
The expenses of numerous campaigns, together with an economic slump (caused by the shifts in landed wealth, and the devastation of northern England for military and political reasons), prompted William to order a full-scale investigation into the actual and potential wealth of the kingdom to maximise tax revenues. The Domesday survey was prompted by ignorance of the state of land holding in England, as well as the result of the costs of defence measures in England and renewed war in France. The scope, speed, efficiency and completion of this survey was remarkable for its time and resulted in the two-volume Domesday Book of 1086, which still exists today. William needed to ensure the direct loyalty of his feudal tenants. The 1086 Oath of Salisbury was a gathering of William's 170 tenants-in-chief and other important landowners who took an oath of fealty to William. William's reach extended elsewhere into the Church and the legal system. French superseded the vernacular (Anglo-Saxon). Personally devout, William used his bishops to carry out administrative duties. Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070, was a first-class administrator who assisted in government when William was absent in France, and who reorganised the Church in England. Having established the primacy of his archbishopric over that of York, and with William's approval, Lanfranc excommunicated rebels, and set up Church or spiritual courts to deal with ecclesiastical matters. Lanfranc also replaced English bishops and abbots (some of whom had already been removed by the Council of Winchester under papal authority) with Norman or French clergy to reduce potential political resistance. In addition, Canterbury and Durham Cathedrals were rebuilt and some of the bishops' sees were moved to urban centres.
At his coronation, William promised to uphold existing laws and customs. The Anglo-Saxon shire courts and 'hundred' courts (which administered defence and tax, as well as justice matters) remained intact, as did regional variations and private Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. To strengthen royal justice, William relied on sheriffs (previously smaller landowners, but replaced by influential nobles) to supervise the administration of justice in existing county courts, and sent members of his own court to conduct important trials. However, the introduction of Church courts, the mix of Norman/Roman law and the differing customs led to a continuing complex legal framework. More severe forest laws reinforced William's conversion of the New Forest into a vast Royal deer reserve. These laws caused great resentment, and to English chroniclers the New Forest became a symbol of William's greed. Nevertheless the King maintained peace and order. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1087 declared 'he was a very stern and violent man, so no one dared do anything contrary to his will ... Amongst other things the good security he made in this country is not to be forgotten.'
William spent the last months of his reign in Normandy, fighting a counter-offensive in the French Vexin territory against King Philip's annexation of outlying Normandy territory. Before his death on 9 September 1087, William divided his 'Anglo-Norman' state between his sons. (The scene was set for centuries of expensive commitments by successive English monarchs to defend their inherited territories in France.) William bequeathed Normandy as he had promised to his eldest son Robert, despite their bitter differences (Robert had sided with his father's enemies in Normandy, and even wounded and defeated his father in a battle there in 1079). His son, William Rufus, was to succeed William as King of England, and the third remaining son, Henry, was left 5,000 pounds in silver.8 He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.9
Children of William I 'the Conqueror', King of England and Matihilde van Vlaanderen
Matilda de Normandie d. b 1112
Robert III 'Curthose', 8th Duc de Normandie+10 b. 1051, d. 10 Feb 1134
Richard of Bernay, Duke of Bernay b. 1054, d. c 1081
Cecilia de Normandie, b. bt 1054 - 1055, d. 3 Jul 1126
Adeliza de Normandie b. c 1055, d. c 1065
William II 'Rufus', King of England b. bt 1056 - 1060, d. 2 Aug 1100
Constance de Normandie b. bt 1057 - 1061, d. 13 Aug 1090
Adela de Normandie+11 b. c 1062, d. 8 Mar 1137
Agatha de Normandie b. c 1064, d. b 1080
Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England+10 b. Sep 1068, d. 1 Dec 1135
Citations
[S106] Royal Genealogies Website (ROYAL92.GED), online http://www.daml.org/2001/01/gedcom/royal92.ged. Hereinafter cited as Royal Genealogies Website.
[S4] C.F.J. Hankinson, editor, DeBretts Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 147th year (London, U.K.: Odhams Press, 1949), page 20, says 1025. Hereinafter cited as DeBretts Peerage, 1949.
[S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 41. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Families.
[S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families, page 44.
[S7] Antonia Fraser, Kings and Queens of England (London, U.K.: Cassell & Co., 1998), page 30. Hereinafter cited as Kings and Queens of England.
[S101] The Official Website of the British Monarchy, online http://www.royal.gov.uk. Hereinafter cited as Official Website of the British Monarchy.
[S4] C.F.J. Hankinson, DeBretts Peerage, 1949, page 20.
[S1] S&N Genealogy Supplies, S&N Peerage CD., CD-ROM (Chilmark, Salisbury, U.K.: S&N Genealogy Supplies, no date (c. 1999)). Hereinafter cited as S&N Peerage CD.
[S18] Matthew H.C.G., editor, Dictionary of National Biography on CD-ROM (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1995). Hereinafter cited as Dictionary of National Biography.
[S38] John Morby, Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 86. Hereinafter cited as Dynasties of the World.
[S45] Marcellus Donald R. von Redlich, Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants, volume I (1941; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002), page 56. Hereinafter cited as Pedigrees of Emperor Charlemagne, I.
******************
Sources for William I, King of England
1 American Society of Genealogists, The Genealogist, Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1989, Vol. 10, No. 1, p. 4.
2 Fraser, ed. Antonia, The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England, New York: Alfred A. Knopf (1975), 24.
3 Hemingway, Patricia S., The Hemingways: Past and Present and Allied Families, Rev. Ed., Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc. (1988), 4-5, 9.
4 Luther, George A., editor and compiler, The Luther Genealogy: A History of the Descendants of Captain John Luther, Who Arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630-1635, Penobscot Press (2001), 80.
5 Morris, Jean, The Monarchs of England, New York: Charterhouse (1975), 15-22.
6 Richardson, Douglas, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Salt Lake City, Utah: Douglas Richardson (2013), Vol. V, p. 481.
7 Roberts, Gary Boyd, The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. (2008), 562-569.
8 Weis, Frederick Lewis, et. al., Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company (2004), 126.
9 Wikipedia, "William I of England", (accessed 02/21/2010).
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From Wikipedia
William I (Old Norman: Williame I; Old English: Willelm I; c. 1028[1] – 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard,[2][a] was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. The descendant of Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England in 1066
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In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, who was named the next king by Edward on the latter's deathbed in January 1066. William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, and that Harold had sworn to support William's claim. William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066, in London. He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 William's hold on England was mostly secure, allowing him to spend the majority of the rest of his reign on the continent.
William's final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, but instead continued to administer each part separately. William's lands were divided after his death: Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert, and his second surviving son, William, received England.
Events
| Birth | 1028 | Falaise, Normandy | |||
| Title (Nobility) | 1035 | 7th Duke of Normandy | |||
| Marriage | 1051 | Matihilde van Vlaanderen | |||
| Marriage | 1053 | Cathedral of Notre Dame d'Eu, Normandy, France - Matihilde van Vlaanderen | |||
| Title (Nobility) | 1063 | Comte de Maine | |||
| Title (Nobility) | 25 Dec 1066 | King of England - Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England | |||
| Death | 9 Sep 1087 | Priory of St. Gervais, Rouen, France | |||
| Burial | St. Stephen Abbey, Caen, Normandy, France |
Families
| Spouse | Matihilde van Vlaanderen (1031 - 1083) |
| Child | Matilda de Normandie ( - 1112) |
| Child | Adela de Normandie (1062 - 1137) |
| Child | King Henry I "Beauclerc" (1068 - 1135) |
| Child | Robert III "Curthose" (1051 - 1134) |
| Child | Richard of Bernay (1054 - 1081) |
| Child | King William II "Rufus" (1056 - 1100) |
| Father | Robert I "the Devil or the Magnificen" (1000 - 1035) |
| Mother | Herleva of Falaise (1012 - 1050) |
| Sibling | Adeliza de Normandie (1029 - 1087) |