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William the Conqueror

WILLIAM THE CONQUEEROR

1027-1087 CE

In the year 1066, Duke William of Normandy crossed the English Channel at the head of a small army of a few thousand fighters in northern France in an attempt to become the absolute ruler of England. His bold attempt succeeded, and this was the last foreign invasion to invade Britain and was crowned with success.

The Norman conquest had a greater impact than the issue of the Normans obtaining the crown of Britain, as it had a profound impact on the entire English history in a way that even William the Conqueror could not have imagined.

William was born in the year 1027 in the city of Valaise in Normandy, France, and he was an illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy, Robert I. Robert I died in 1035 after returning from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and before going to the pilgrimage he had appointed William as his successor, and thus William became the Duke of Normandy while he was in Eight years old.

William's position was critical, as he was a young boy who owed him the loyalty of the feudal barons, who were big men and whose ambition was stronger than their loyalty to him. Therefore, his accession to power followed a period of chaos. William was lucky during that he did not lose his life.

In the year 1042, at the age of fifteen, he became a knight and began to play a role in political events. After a series of battles against the feudal barons, he was able to annex the province of (Meissen) and then the neighboring province of (Brittany). The King of England from 1042 to 1066 was Edward the Confessor, and since Edward was without a successor, maneuvers were made to take over the British throne. In fact, in terms of neural kinship, William's claim to his right to the throne of England was not without weakness. Edward's mother was William's grandfather's sister, but in the year 1051 a promise was made by Edward to William to take over the throne after his death.

Son-in-law In 1064, Harold Godwin, the most powerful of the English lords, signed a prisoner under the grip of William, and this was Harold. English King Edward the Confessor. William treated his captive Harold well, but he did not leave him until he swore to him in the firmest faith that he would support him in his claim to the throne of England.

Harold considered that he was forced into this oath, and that oath was not a bond for him, so when Edward the Confessor died and Harold was elected king of Britain, Harold accepted this election with a clear conscience, but William, who was eager to rule new countries, decided to invade Britain and impose his claim by force.

William collected a fleet to invade Britain. In August 1066, although he was ready to set sail, his campaign was delayed by the noisy north winds.

Meanwhile, the King of Norway was launching an attack on Britain, so he was confronted by Ha-Wold, who killed the Norwegian king and defeated his army. Two days after this crushing victory for Harold, the winds changed in the North Sea and the weather cleared, which made William launch his expected attack on Britain. Harold should have relieved his army before confronting the second invasion, but Harold hastened and hurried his army south to meet William • The two armies met on October 14, 1066 in the famous Battle of Hastings.

Before the end of the day, the horsemen and archers of William's army were able to defeat the Anglo-Saxon army, and when night fell, King Harold himself had killed and killed his two brothers before him at the beginning of the battle. There was no longer any English commander who would gather the broken army to resist the army of William the Conqueror. Thus, William was crowned king in London on Christmas morning.