He was the son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, his mother, Herleva, the daughter of a tanner of Falaise. In 1035 William’s father Robert, Duke of Normandy, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in which he died. Before starting the pilgrimage, he presented to the nobles his seven year old child demanding their allegiance. "He is little", the father said, "but he will grow, and, if God please, he will mend." William, after a period of anarchy, became the ruler of Normandy in his father's place at the age of nine. William had a youth of clean life and of much natural piety, while the years of storm and stress through which he passed gave him an endurance of character which lasted to his life's end. During the time of anarchy in Normandy he became a skilled military leader and defeated his enemies, uniting his duchy. Once he began fighting, rumor has it that he never lost a battle. In 1047 a serious rebellion of nobles occurred, and William with the aid of King Henry of France, gained a great victory at Val-ès-Dunes, near Caen. Which led to the capture of the two strong castles of Alençon and Domfront. Using this as his base of operations, the young duke, in 1054 made himself master of the province of Maine and became the most powerful vassal of the French Crown, able on occasion to bid defiance to the king himself. William even married Matilda, the daughter of the Earl of Flanders, in 1053,in spite of the papal prohibition. In 1066 when his claim to the English throne was threatened by Harold Godwinson. Due to the fact that Harold Godwinson overlooked the dead king's wishes. Edward the Confessor, sworn his loyalty to William of Normandy when he died not to Harold. Harold Godwinson promptly had himself proclaimed king. It was only a matter of months before William, Duke of the large and powerful duchy of Normandy in France, paid Harold a visit to bring to his remembrance his own claim to the throne. William raised an army of Normans by promising them land and wealth when he came into his rightful kingship. October 14th 1066 he and William fought at the famous battle of Hastings. William and his army of Normans came, saw, and conquered. True to his promise to his fellow warriors, William systematically replaced the English nobility with Norman barons and noblemen who took control of the land, the people, and the government.
1066: The Year of the Conquest, written by David Howarth, tells of one of the most important dates in the history of England. In 1066, William the Conqueror and William of Orange fought the historical Battle of Hastings. The outcome of this battle lead to many changes to the English people. The Norman people became assimilated into the English way of life. Howarth proceeds to tell the tale of the Battle of Hastings through the eyes on a common Englishman.
..., and William became known as “William the conqueror.” Despite having decent control over his newly claimed territory, he continued to clash with his eldest son during his time as king. William the II was given England after his father’s death, and brought a period of peace and influence throughout England. The battle of Hastings is now regarded as one of history’s most important conflicts, and it completely changed the English way of life and ended a long period of Anglo-Saxon rule over England.
Matilda of Flanders, the wife of William the Conqueror, was not only one of the most influential medieval Queens of England but the first woman to be crowned and titled Queen of England after the Norman Conquest. Matilda was of illustrious descent: her father, Baldwin V, was the Count of Flanders, and her mother Adela, was a daughter of the King of France. On one side or the other, Matilda was related to most of the royal families of Europe. She found the Abbaye-aux-Dames, paid to have the ship, the Mora, built, and most importantly, helped rule a powerful kingdom. She bore William eleven children including two kings, William II and Henry I. Any woman given the task to be a Queen knows they will have many responsibilities but not many could do what Matilda of Flanders did.
William was born in Falaise, France in 1027. William was from Viking origin, and first became duke at age 8. Williams father was Robert I, duke of Normandy and his mother Herleva, the daughter of Fulbert of Falaise. William got the name “William The Bastard” after his father died in 1035 when William was still at a young age. (History.com) Herleva’s father Fulbert of Falaise was known for being a Tanner which was an embalmer. In William’s later years he had loved his mother so much that when people found out that her father was an embalmer, the people started hanging animal skins and furs on their walls to Mock William. This lead to William cutting of the hands and feet to all the people who disrespected his mother. (History.com)
After the Battle of Hastings (1066), descendants of Germanic adventurers, called Normans, took possession of England. They were an enormously adjustable group who had captured a large part of Northern France in the beginning of the 10th century, where they had adopted the French language and its Christian religion. Like barons who held land and castles, Norman bishops wielded both political and spiritual authority. In 1154, when Henry II became king, English monarchy's French territories (southwest France) were greatly expanded through his marriage to the divorced wife of Louis VII of France. During the reign of Henry II, his court was a center of writing and learning (poets, theologians, philosophers,and historians). Moreover, extraordinary opportunities for linguistic and societal conversions arrived in England with the presence of a French-speaking ruling class. In the course of the Anglo-Norman period, French literature dominated Western Europe (Greenblatt 8).
King George I was born in 1660 at Osnabuuck, the eldest son of Ernest Augustus-Duke of Brunswick-Lunchburg and first Elector of Hanover. Because his father was the Elector of Hanover, George was the Electoral Price of the Empire. He was also in the imperial army, who faced battles against the Dutch, the Turks, Nine Years War, and in the War of Spanish Succession. George soon became a talented and experienced General. He went on to command in many wars. He eventually became lector of Hanover in 1698(2001 World Book Encyclopedia).
William I was put into the spotlight from a very early age. He became the Duke of Normandy at the ripe age of eight years old, and pandemonium ensued almost immediately. Throughout his early years of power, a “breakout of authority” occurred all throughout Normandy, leading to many future problems that William would handily deal with (William I 2). Although he had many people seeking to overthrow him, William had support on his side, and was able to use the adversity he faced to his advantage. At a very young age, William was learning the tricks of the trade, and became very logical and rational in making decisions whether they be military or political based. Without his troubled upbringing, it is questionable whether or not he would have been as great of a leader as he turned out to be.
He was also Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Poitiers, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany over his lifetime and during his reign as king. He was the third son of King Henry, and was called Richard the Lionheart as he was a fierce warrior and commander who had fought in several major battles.
Harold established himself as the main preeminent figure in England by the mid 1060's. Harold was elected by the English nobility and crowned and anointed king at Winchester Abbey by
	Taking advantage of the King’s absence in Ireland, Henry landed on July 4, 1399, at Ravenspur, near Bridington, where he was soon joined by the northern nobles who were unhappy with the policies of the monarchy. By the end of the month Henry and his followers had raised an army and marched to Bristol. When Richard returned in August, the royal army started to desert; Henry claimed the throne for himself, and on August 19 he captured Richard near Conway. He then went with his prisoner to London and there, on September 29, Richard abdicated the throne.
William, the Duke of Normandy, led an army into England. He won this battle and
The Norman conquest of England all began in 1002 when King Ethelred II married to Emma; They would have a son named Edward, who would eventually spend most of his entire life in exile in Normandy. He would then eventually become the successor to the English throne in 1042. The Norman practices in England are well known, Edward would count heavily on his past acquaintances to help him. Encouraged, the Duke of Normandy starts to think of invading England.
Once the King of England, Scotland, as well as Ireland, and the second son of James VI and Anne of Denmark, King Charles I was born in Scotland on November 19,1600 and died January 30, 1649 by the hands of execution. Even at a young age King Charles was granted power as Duke of Albany at his own baptism. However he did not stop there soon after in 1605 he was proclaimed Duke of York. King Charles was not perfect though, from and early age he suffered from weak ankle joints which in return affected his physical growth. Not only was King Charles also suffering physically but mentally as well. He was very slow at learning how to speak as a child, however he would some day grow out of all of his small issues and become a powerful King. King Charles was not an only child, he was aided by his older brother and sister who played a huge part in his rise to power. However his power would soon be tested as he engaged in a power tug of war with the Parliament of England which sought out to change his royal ways in which he believed was his divine right.
However, the era is better marked as coming to a conclusion when William the Conqueror (also a descendant of Vikings) successfully took the English throne and became the first Norman king of England in the same year of 1066 AD at the Battle of Hastings.
King Alfred the Great was born at Wantage, in 849, on a royal manor of his father's holding, a family estate which long afterward he himself would leave in legacy to his wife. Alfred was the youngest of five children, four sons and a daughter, born to Ethelwulf by his wife Osburh. When Alfred was four years old, his father, the king, who by now had long despaired of getting to Rome in the present state of things, decided to send Alfred there, to at least receive the blessing of the Holy Father. The pope at the time, Leo the IV, gave Alfred the blessing to become king. Alfred's time came in the year mid-April 871, when King Æthelred died. Only a king of full age could defend the land, and although Æthelred left children, Alfred, his constant companion in the war, was immediately recognized as his successor (Duckett 20).