William I the Conqueror has been King of England since 1066. Born approximately 1027/1028 - death on September 9, 1087.
Illegitimate
His father, Duke Robert of Normandy, was nicknamed Robert the Devil for his indomitable passion. According to legend, once returning from a hunt, he met a girl from Falaise by the stream, washing clothes with her friends. The Duke was amazed at her beauty. He wished her love and sent one of his trusted people with an offer to her family. The girl's father (her name was Garlev) was at first insulted by Robert's claims, but then, on the advice of a hermit, he still sent his daughter to the duke. Robert was very fond of her, and the son of Harleva, Wilhelm, was raised with such care, as if he were his legitimate child.
After 7 years, Robert went to Jerusalem and appointed Wilhelm as his heir. He passed away during a pilgrimage. After that, the proud Norman barons began to rebel against the election that had taken place, saying that the illegitimate one could not rule over the sons of the Danes.
For several years, Wilhelm's opponents and supporters waged a stubborn war among themselves, in which he could not take part because of his childhood. Finally, in 1042, after the capture of Ark Castle, peace was restored. But the complete pacification of Normandy was still far away.
Conspiracy against Wilhelm
Promotional video:
1044 - Wilhelm almost fell victim to a conspiracy, among the participants of which was his childhood friend Guido of Burgon. Wilhelm turned to King Henry I of France for help. In those days, traditional friendship still existed between the Capetian and Norman dukes. The king personally appeared to Argenson at the head of a large army of vassals. The rebels also did not sit idly by and managed to gather 20,000 people under their banner.
A fierce battle took place in 1046 on the Dune plain near the Treasury. The rebels have long repelled the bold attacks of the Duke and his allies. But some of the leaders of the insurgents went over to Wilhelm's side, and this decided the outcome of the battle in his favor.
The marriage of William of Normandy
After the calm was established, Wilhelm began to look for a bride for himself and opted for Matilda, daughter of Baldwin, Count of Flanders. In the beginning, his matchmaking was not successful. Then the duke resorted to the following type of courtship. He secretly arrived in Bruges, where Baldwin was with his family, lay in wait for Matilda on the church porch and, when leaving the church, seized her, threw her into the mud, struck several strong blows, and then jumped on his horse and quickly left. From these beatings, Matilda became ill, but decisively announced to her father that she would marry only William of Normandy. The count succumbed to her persuasion, and the wedding took place in 1056.
War with France
In the same year, relations with the king of France were upset. Henry, worried about the strengthening of the former ally, began to gather forces for a campaign in Normandy. William prudently avoided a decisive battle, but upon learning that the king's brother Ed with a large detachment of French knights had separated from the main army and was under Mortimer, unexpectedly attacked him and inflicted a heavy defeat.
1059 - King Henry invades his country again. Like last time, Wilhelm avoided open combat and bided his time for a surprise strike. Learning that Henry was about to cross the Diva, he secretly approached the place of the crossing. When Henry's vanguard was already on the other side, the Normans suddenly attacked the royal rearguard.
Many Frenchmen were killed, others surrendered to the victor's mercy. According to the chroniclers, there have never been such a huge number of prisoners in Normandy. The king, in impotent rage, watched from the other side of the rout of his army, but could do nothing to help her. He could not bear this defeat and died the following year. After that, Normandy calmed down.
Contender for the English throne
However, Duke Wilhelm was not the kind of person who could live in peace. Having dealt with French affairs, he began to think about the conquest of England. Circumstances were favorable for him. Soon after Edward III the Confessor, a distant relative of the Duke of Normandy, took the throne of England, he received young William. There is a legend that at the same time he promised to transfer to him power over the country after his death. Very few people knew about this agreement.
1065 - In Normandy there was the Earl of Wessex Harald, who enjoyed great authority with Edward. Wilhelm started a conversation with him about his claims to the English throne. Harald, although he was very surprised that the Duke of Norman expects to become king of England, promised to give him every support. A little later, Wilhelm tricked him into swearing this over the holy relics.
Meanwhile, Edward, when he was dying, urged the English nobles to proclaim Harald king. When then Wilhelm demanded that Harald observe this oath, he replied that he gave it under the influence of violence and, in addition, promised something that he had no right to dispose of. Then William proclaimed that in the same year he would come to claim his possessions and would pursue the perjurer on land and at sea.
Hike to England
Wilhelm began to prepare for the campaign with the utmost care. He offered a large salary and participation in the plundering of England to every strong man who decided to serve him with a spear, sword or crossbow. Soon, many knights and adventurers from all over France came to see him.
1066, September 27 - 400 large ships, accompanied by 1000 light transport ships, set out to sea, and on September 28 the Normans landed on the English coast near Hastings.
Harold's body, brought to William the Conqueror
Battle of Hastings
Soon it became known of the approach of Harald and the Anglo-Saxons, who took up a fortified position on the hillside seven miles from the Norman camp. On October 14, a decisive battle began. The duke built his cavalry in three detachments, one of which, consisting of Norman chivalry, he commanded himself. The infantry was upset in front and on the flanks.
The start of the battle was unfortunate for the Normans. The Saxons, hidden behind a high palisade, stood firm and were able to repel all the attacks of the attackers. Then the duke resorted to trickery. To lure the British out of their fortifications and upset their ranks, he ordered one of his troops to attack the Saxons, and then run away. Seeing this disorderly retreat, the Saxons lost their composure and rushed in pursuit.
At some distance, another detachment, specially trained, joined the imaginary fugitives, who immediately turned their horses and from all sides met with blows of spears and swords the incoherently fleeing enemies. At this time, a break was made in the fortification: the Normans broke in there and hand-to-hand combat began. Harald and his brothers were soon killed. The remnants of the British army, without a leader and without a banner, continued to fight until nightfall. With the onset of darkness, the leaders of the Saxons scattered and for the most part died on the road from wounds and fatigue. The Norman horsemen pursued them without giving any mercy.
William the Conqueror - King of England
From Hastings, Wilhelm headed north, devastating everything in his path. He took Dover, seized the coast and turned towards London. Having stopped not far from the capital of the British, the Normans did not undertake an assault, hoping that the mood of the townspeople would change, and they were not mistaken - the Londoners soon became despondent from hunger and internal turmoil. They laid down their arms and submitted to Wilhelm. He was proclaimed king and crowned at Westminster by the Archbishop of York, Eldred.
While stopping at Barking for the time being, he sent out his commissars to all the localities that had already expressed their obedience to him. They have compiled accurate inventories of all kinds of property, public and private. All participants in the Battle of Hastings were declared deprived of their property, and their vast land holdings were divided between the Norman barons and knights who took part in the conquest.
Conquest of England
Having rebuilt a powerful fortress in London - the Tower, which was to become his residence, William the Conqueror set out in 1067 to conquer the rest of the country. The people of Exeter closed the gates for him. The Normans surrounded the city and besieged it for 18 days. The struggle was fought with great ferocity. In the end, the townspeople surrendered to the mercy of the victor.
Norman conquest of England
Then the shores of Somerset and Gloucester were conquered. The north of England became a haven for the disaffected. 1068 - William marched against them, conquering Oxford, Warwick, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham. Then the Normans took Lincoln and approached York. Not far from this city, they were met by a united army of Anglo-Saxons and Scots. Superiority in cavalry and weapons made it possible for Wilhelm to win. In pursuit of the fleeing, the Normans broke into York and exterminated all the inhabitants here, from baby to old.
After that, Chester became the center of the struggle against the conquerors. 240 ships from Denmark arrived to help the rebellious Northumbrians. The Danes landed in Gumber Bay and, supported by the Anglo-Saxons, approached York. After a stubborn assault, they broke into the city and killed several thousand Normans. Learning of this, Wilhelm sent big money to the Danish leader Osbjorn and persuaded him to sail back to Denmark in the spring.
By oaths and concessions, he was able to keep the inhabitants of southern England from revolt, and at the beginning of 1070, with the best troops, he quickly approached York. The city was taken a second time, and the victors moved further north. All of Northumbria was brutally devastated, many people were killed, the rest fled in fear through the forests and mountains.
Further reign
1083 - Wilhelm's wife Queen Matilda, who softened the Conqueror's soul with her advice more than once, died. According to the testimony of ancient historians, after her death, Wilhelm infinitely indulged in his tyrannical inclinations. Perhaps what is meant here is that, having achieved complete possession over the natives, he has since then begun to assert personal dominion over the comrades of his victories.
King William the Conqueror demanded the payment of taxes from each land guide throughout the kingdom, without distinction from all owners - both Saxons and Normans. And in order to substantiate on solid foundations his claims for taxes or, in the language of this century, monetary services, he ordered a great land search and a general register of all changes in property that took place in England as a result of the conquest.
From among his lawyers and custodians of the treasury, Wilhelm chose trusted assistants, whom he instructed to go on a detour around all the counties of England and establish search departments everywhere. The great search lasted for six years. The result of all these works was the so-called "Great Book", which included the names of all owners or holders of land in England with a listing of their property.
The Saxons called it "The Book of the Last Judgment". It kind of summed up the conquest that took place 20 years ago, and legally consolidated the transfer of property from one person to another. The king gained the most from this redistribution. William the Conqueror declared himself the heir and owner of everything that Kings Edward and Harald had, as well as all public lands and cities, except those only which he bestowed with special letters.
All who could not imagine such letters were deprived of their possessions. Further, Wilhelm demanded that each estate pay the same tax to the treasury, which it paid in the time of Edward. This claim particularly resented the Normans, who saw tax exemption as the foundation of their political freedom.
1086 - at the end of the search, William called a general meeting of all the leaders of the conquest. In total, about 60,000 people gathered, each of them owning a piece of land sufficient at least to maintain a war horse and full weapons.
All of them renewed their oath of allegiance to King William I the Conqueror. Having dismissed his vassals, the monarch set out for Normandy in 1087. On the advice of doctors, he did not leave his bed and refrained from eating, trying to get rid of his excessive obesity. But he was soon distracted from worries about his health by the war with the King of France Philip I, who had once seized the county of Vexen in Normandy.
Death of William the Conqueror
Tired of long negotiations, William again seized the disputed lands in the summer of the same year. And when the Normans burst into the city of Mantes-na-Seine, the royal horse, galloping through the conflagration, stepped on the hot coals, overturned and wounded William in the stomach with a hoof. The sick ruler was transferred to Rouen.
For six weeks he languished in pain, and every day his illness intensified. Wilhelm sent money to Mant to rebuild the churches he had burned, released the prisoners, and gave great alms. But these measures did not help. The king died on September 9, 1087. William bequeathed the Kingdom of England to his second son, and the Duchy of Normandy to his eldest, Robert. The conquest of England marked a turning point in the country's history.
K. Ryzhov