William Of Normandy ( ) Camille Germain

Map of Normandy

 Born in c1027  Illegitimate son of Robert Duke of Normandy  Inherited is father’s title after his death in 1035 at the age of 8  A group of guardians took responsibility for his title until 1045 when he started governing Normandy  Under his rule there were many rebellions which he kept under control

 Edward was the King of England and William’s cousin  Died in 1066, which lead to a battle for the throne  Harold his advisor and brother in-law was pronounced King of England  William, the duke of Normandy had claimed that Edward had promised him the throne  Along with Harold and William there was a third person claiming the throne, the King of Norway

 The King of Norway was the first to invade England in the quest for the throne, attacking from the northern side of the island which ultimately gave William an advantage for attacking in the south while the English troops were distracted by Norway troops

Harold’s Route

 With the help of nearly 7000 Norman troop William seized Pevensey and continued on to Hastings  William reached Hastings on October 13, and the next day William lead his troops in an all day battle against English troops  King Harold was defeated at the end of the day thus ending the battle  On Christmas day 1066 William was crowned King of England

 William spent much of his time ruling from his home land of Normandy  Because of William’s upbringing in a French-Norman society he integrated many new French regimens, such as encouraging all the upper-class to speak French  William was known to have caused the Anglo-saxon culture of England to become mingled with the Norman society to create an Anglo-Norman society  William was also said to have eliminated the english aristocracy who were replaced by Norman nobles

 After taking the crown William faced opposition to his power and to gain control he decided to share the land of the government with over 200 barons  The barons in return promised to supply military forces in the form of knights  The barons gave land to the knights in return for their services  The knights then provided protection for peasants who then worked the fields for the knights  Thus the feudal system was created in Europe

 To keep the peace William started building castles  The started out made out of wood and eventually became constructed out of stone

 In December 1085, William decided to conduct a survey of England. He had three main reasons for doing this: (1) The information would help William discover how much the people of England could afford to pay in tax. (2) The information about the distribution of the population would help William plan the defence of England against possible invaders. (3) There was a great deal of doubt about who owned some of the land in England. William planned to use this information to help him make the right judgements when people were in dispute over land ownership.  William sent out his officials to every town, village and hamlet in EnglandThey conduct a survey very similar to the modern day census  About a hundred years after it was produced the book became known as the Domesday Book. Domesday means "day of judgement".

c1027 Birth 1035 Father Died, became Duke of Normandy Jan Edward the Confessor dies. Sept William invades England Dec William defeated King Harold 1087 Death

 William’s most significant accomplishment was single handedly responsible for the creation of the Feudal system in England that was used for many years and shaped the country to what it was to become.

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