William I King of England^[1]

1024 - 1087  (62 years)

• Name	William I King of England
  Nickname	The Conqueror
  Birth	14 Oct 1024	Falaise, Calvados, Normandy, France
  Christening	1066
  	During Norman conquest, as an adult.
  Gender	Male
  Death	10 Sep 1087	Hermenbraville, Rouen, Normandie, France
  Burial	Abbaye de Saint Etienne, Caen, Normandie, France
  Person ID	I36895	Master
  Last Modified	17 Nov 2021

  
  

  Father	Robert I "The Magnificent" Duke Of Normandy,   b. Abt 1003, , Normandy, France d. 22 Jul 1035, Nicea, Bithynia, Turkey (Age 32 years)
  Mother	Harlette De Falaise,   b. Abt 1003, Falaise, Calvados, Normandy, France
  Marriage	Abt 1023
  Family ID	F8696	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Matilda Countess Of Flanders Queen Of England,   b. 1031, , Flanders, Belgium d. 2 Nov 1083, Caen, Calvados, Normandy, France (Age 52 years)
  Marriage	1050	Castle Of, Angi, Normandy, France
  Children	1. Robert II Prince Of England,   b. Abt 1053, , Normandy, France d. 10 Feb 1134, Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales (Age 81 years)   2. Richard Prince Of England,   b. Abt 1054, , Normandy, France d. 1081, New Forest, Hampshire, England (Age 27 years)   3. Cecilia Princess Of England,   b. Abt 1055, , Normandy, France d. 30 Jul 1126, Caen, Calvados, Normandy, France (Age 71 years)   4. William II King of England,   b. Abt 1056, , Normandy, France d. 1 Aug 1100, New Forest, Hampshire, England (Age 44 years)   5. Alice Or Adbelahide De Normandy,   b. Abt 1057, , Normandy, France d. 1065 (Age 8 years)   6. Mathilda Princess Of England,   b. 1059, , Normandy, France d. 1 May 1118 (Age 59 years)   7. Constance Princess Of England,   b. Abt 1061, , Normandy, France d. 13 Aug 1090, , , , England (Age 29 years)   8. Adaele (Alice) Princess Of England,   b. Abt 1062, , Normandy, France d. 8 Mar 1135, Marsilly, Aquitaine, France (Age 73 years) + 9. Gundred Princess Of England,   b. Abt 1063, , Normandy, France d. 27 May 1085, Castle Acre, Acre, Norfolk, England (Age 22 years)   10. Agatha Princess Of England,   b. Abt 1064, , Normandy, France d. Bef 1086, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France (Age 21 years) + 11. Henry I King of England,   b. 1068, Selby, Yorkshire, England d. 1 Dec 1135, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France (Age 67 years)
  Family ID	F8694	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	16 May 2019

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 14 Oct 1024 - Falaise, Calvados, Normandy, France Marriage - 1050 - Castle Of, Angi, Normandy, France Death - 10 Sep 1087 - Hermenbraville, Rouen, Normandie, France Burial - - Abbaye de Saint Etienne, Caen, Normandie, France  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Histories

  William I of England Ancestor Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Born around 1028, William was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert I of Normandy, and Herleve (also known as Arlette), daughter of a tanner in Falaise. Known as 'William the Bastard' to his contemporaries, his illegitimacy shaped his career when he was young. On his father's death in 1035, 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 until 1037, and his overlord, King Henry I of France, knighted him at the age of 15. 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) and 1057. 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.) William was crowned on Christmas Day 1066 in Westminster Abbey. Three months later, 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 illegitimate 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 and his wife Matilda of Flanders had at least nine children. The birth order of the sons is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters. Robert was born between 1051 and 1054, died 10 February 1134. Duke of Normandy, married Sybilla of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey, Count of Conversano. Richard was born before 1056, died around 1075. William was born between 1056 and 1060, died 2 August 1100. King of England, killed in the New Forest.] Henry was born in late 1068, died 1 December 1135. King of England, married Edith of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. His second wife was Adeliza of Louvain. Adeliza (or Adelida, Adelaide) died before 1113, reportedly betrothed to Harold Godwinson, probably a nun of Saint Léger at Préaux. Cecilia (or Cecily) was born before 1066, died 1127, Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen. Matilda was born around 1061, died perhaps about 1086. Mentioned in Domesday Book as a daughter of William. Constance died 1090, married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany. Adela died 1137, married Stephen, Count of Blois. (Possibly) Agatha, the betrothed of Alfonso VI of León and Castile. There is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William.

  
  

• Sources

  [S23] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), (Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998).