William I

1066 - 1087

aka The Conqueror

William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066. He was the first Norman king of England and not a popular choice. During his coronation ceremony, some of the nobles inside cheered. This was so unexpected it alarmed the guards outside who started to attack the crowd and set fire to nearby buildings.

William became king after travelling from Normandy and killing his rival the anglo-saxon King Harold, at the Battle of Hastings. It was an uneven battle. Harold’s army were exhausted having recently fought an invasion to the north, during which he lost a third of his troops. William’s soldiers wore chain mail armour and rode horses, while the anglo-saxons were mainly on foot. One of Harold’s first casualties was his court jester. The unfortunate man was juggling his sword when Williiam’s men killed him. Harold died on the battlefield, quite possibly with an arrow in his eye. Four of William’s knights chopped him to pieces. Harold’s mother wanted to buy his body for burial but William refused, ordering his men to toss him into the sea.

Part of William’s fervent desire to become King of England came from his belief that Edward the Confessor (a distant relative) had named him as his successor rather than Harold Godwinson. In addition, William had temporarily imprisoned Harold when his ship blew off course and made him swear to give up any claim to the throne on Edward’s death. He was also given the blessing of Pope Alexander II, so William truly felt God was on his side. When William arrived in England, he fell head first into the sea as he clambered from the boat. This alarmed his troops who took it as a bad omen. William grabbed some sand as he stood up and said it showed how easily he could take English land. It also showed how quick-witted he was.

William was undoubtedly a warrior king, descended as he was from Rollo the viking. Tall for the time (around 5 foot 10 inches) with a strong body and a violent past. During his childhood his father Robert I ‘the Magnificient’, died when William was around eight years old. William was illegitiimate (his father and mother never married) which meant his claim to power in Normandy was disputed and bitter fighting broke out within the aristocracy. William witnessed some violent scenes, including the death of his servant, who was murdered beside him while he slept.

When he became King of England, William was initially very ruthless. His hold on the throne was enforced by a six year tour of England. During this time he put down revolts stretching from the north to the south of England. Part of this campaign included the ‘harrying of the North’. After his troops reclaimed the land, he burned the rebels alive (including Robert de Comines and almost a thousand of his troops). Almost 150,0000 anglo-saxon people were left to starve across the landscape that William’s men had destroyed. He was known for maiming his enemies, chopping off feet and hands or blinding them rather than killing them outright, This was so that they could serve as a warning to others. He also liked to imprison his enemies for a long time, rather than accepting ransoms for them. His captives included his half-brother, Bishop Odo. It is Bishop Odo who is believed to have commissioned the Bayeux tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings.

In order to maintain order, William built a string of castles, at least 80, paid for through high taxation. The Anglo-Saxon people were forced to pay for their own oppression, reinforcing Wililiam’s position as an unpopular king. The castles were of Motte and Bailey design, originally built from wood and then reinforced in stone.

Wiliam made a speech on his deathbed, according to an Anglo-Saxon chronicler at the time, Orderic Vitalis, in which he claimed to feel remorse for his unreasonable cruelty and starvation of thousands of people. William was undoubtedly cruel in many ways, but he lived in cruel times. Orderic also recorded that the king maintained order, took advice from others and upheld the church. His former tutor, Lanfrenc of Bec, became Archbishop of Canterbury and served as William’s moral compass. During his lifetime, William only ordered one beheading, the Earl Waltheof of Northumbria. Court life was less political and more lenient under his leadership. This set a climate which remained for the following 200 years.

England changed dramatically after William’s Norman conquest. During the period 1070-80, over 95% of English land went from Saxon ownership to Norman barons as a reward for their loyalty to William. Norman and Anglo-Saxon began to inter-marry. The English language was infiltrated by French words, which remain in existence today such as mutton and pork. The slave trade in England was ended.

Very unusually for a monarch, William was a faithful husband. When he sent word to Matilda of Flanders that he wished to marry her, she refused. She came from a good family and didn’t believe that William was high-born enough for her (his parents had never married). William didn’t give up. He rode his black stallion after her one day and pulled her from her horse by her plaits. After that she said she wouldn’t marry anyone but William. They had at least nine children together.

William I Factfile