William I

William I was the King of England for 20 years and made great changes to the county during his reign. But his story begins before he was crowned on the 25th December 1066.

William was born and grew up in France. He had been the Duke of Normandy for many years. He was used to fighting battles and trying to increase his power.

The King of England, Edward the Confessor, died on the 6th January 1066. He had no children and so there was no heir to the throne. William and other men all believed they were the rightful heir to the throne. This led to a battle for the crown between three main contenders, Harold Godwinson, Harold Hardrada and William, Duke of Normandy.

Harold Godwinson was crowned Harold II after Edward the Confessors death but he ruled for less than a year. He first fought Harold Hardrada to keep the crown in the Battle of Stanford Bridge. Harold Hardrada was killed in this battle.

Immediately after Harold Godwinson then had to fight William in a battle called the Battle of Hastings. In this battle William won, and Harold Godwinson was killed on the 14th October 1066.

This meant that William became King of England and was called William the Conqueror. He had conquered England!

Part of the Bayeux Tapestry representing the Battle of Hastings which William won to become King of England.

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The people living in England at the time were not happy about William becoming king and William had to work quickly to control the county and stay in power.

Straight way William had wooden motte and bailey castles built to help control the areas the castles were in. Then he had lots of stone castles built all around the country to show the English how powerful he was. The White Tower (in the middle of what is now the Tower of London) was built to control London. He also had castles built in Hastings, Dover, Windsor, Warwick and York, just to name a few!

He also had many cathedrals built as the Normans were Christian. The cathedrals also showed how rich and important he was because they were so big and beautiful.

In the years after 1066 there were rebellions against the Normans, with the people trying to fight back, as well as invasions from others to deal with too. More battles had to be fought to maintain power. Eventually though people began to accept William as King.

William made many changes to the way of life in England. He put lots of laws in place to try to control the English, imposed taxes and took land off the English and gave it to his Norman soldiers as a thank you for helping him gain control of England.

In 1086 William ordered a survey of all his new land, which we now call the Domesday Book. It was the first time a survey like this had been done in England. William wanted to know how many people lived in England and how big properties were for example so he knew everyone was paying the correct amount of taxes. This is now an important source of evidence for us now as it gives historians so much information about what England was like just after the Norman Conquest.

William I was King of England for 20 years and 8 months. He died in another battle in France on the 9th September 1087. When he died his eldest son Robert became Duke of Normandy and his second son William became King of England.

Part of the Bayeux Tapestry showing a wooden motte and bailey castle built by the Normans at Hastings.

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The White Tower in London

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