By the time William turned 19 he was successfully dealing with threats of rebellion and invasion. William was supported by King Henry I of France, however, he was knighted by Henry at age 15. Plots by rival Norman noblemen to usurp his place cost William three guardians, though not Count Alan III of Brittany, who was a later guardian.

Later in his life, his enemies are reported to have called him 'William the Bastard', and derided him as the son of a tanner's daughter, and the residents of besieged Alençon hung animal skins from the city walls to taunt him.īy his father's will, William succeeded him as Duke of Normandy at age seven in 1035. Nevertheless, when his father died, he was recognized as the heir. One attempt on William's life occurred while he slept at a castle keep at Vaudreuil, when the murderer mistakenly stabbed the child sleeping next to William. As a child, his life was in constant danger from his kinsmen who thought they had a more legitimate right to rule. William's illegitimacy affected his early life. In addition to his two half-brothers, Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, William also had a sister, Adelaide of Normandy, another child of Robert.

His mother, Herleva, who later married and bore two sons to Herluin de Conteville, was the daughter of Fulbert of Falaise. Though illegitimate, his father named him as heir to Normandy. William was the only son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy, as well as the grandnephew of the English Queen, Emma of Normandy, wife of King Ethelred the Unready and then of King Canute the Great. William was born in either 1027 or 1028 in Château de Falaise in Falaise, Normandy, France, and more likely in the autumn of the later year. In addition to the obvious change of ruler, his reign also saw a programme of building and fortification, changes to the English language, a shift in the upper levels of society and the church, and adoption of some aspects of continental church reform.ĭeath of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings The details of that impact and the extent of the changes have been debated by scholars for centuries. His reign, which brought Norman-French culture to England, had an impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. This deeply researched volume is the scholarly biography for our generation.William I (ca 1028 - 1087), also known as William the Conqueror was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. Taking an innovative approach, he argues for a move away from old perceptions and controversies associated with William’s life and the Norman Conquest. Using a framework derived from studies of early medieval kingship, he assesses each phase of William’s life to establish why so many trusted him to invade England in 1066 and the consequences of this on the history of the so-called Norman Conquest after the Battle of Hastings and for generations to come.Ī leading historian of the period, Bates is notable for having worked extensively in the archives of northern France and discovered many eleventh- and twelfth-century charters largely unnoticed by English-language scholars. In this magisterial addition to the Yale English Monarchs series, David Bates combines biography and a multidisciplinary approach to examine the life of William the Conqueror. ' definitive biography of the man who forever changed England with his invasion of 1066.”-Tony Barber, “Best books of 2016,' Financial Times A landmark reinterpretation of the life of William the Conqueror-a pivotal figure in British and European history

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