Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. His birth date is estimated from William of Malmesbury, according to whom Guillaume was born of a concubine and was seven years old when his father left for Jerusalem [2] , and Orderic Vitalis, who states that he was eight years old at the time [3].
It appears that Edward "the Confessor" King of England acknowledged Guillaume as successor to the English throne on several occasions, maybe for the first time during his visit to England in which is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle [7]. Comte de Maine in , after he conquered the county. According to Eadmer of Canterbury, the reason for his visit was to negotiate the release of his brother Wulfnoth and nephew Haakon, both of whom had been hostages in Normandy since After receiving a papal banner in response to his request, William gathered a sizable army during summer in preparation for invasion.
William defeated and killed King Harold at Hastings 14 Oct [10] , marched north to Canterbury, then west to Winchester where he captured the royal treasury.
The latter had received his pallium in from Pope Benedict X, later regarded as anti-Pope, an appointment which had not been regularised by Pope Alexander II. Alexander papa After taking several years to subdue the whole country, he imposed the Norman feudal structure and rule everywhere with methodical and harsh persistence.
He died from wounds received at the siege of Mantes, having been injured internally after being thrown against the pommel of his saddle [13] , leaving Normandy to his eldest son Robert and England to his second surviving son William.
