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The Bruce family was of Norman origin, an Adam de Brus had come over to England with the army of William the Conqueror. De Brus had been granted lands in Yorkshire but the family had added to this inheritance by acquiring considerable lands in Huntingdonshire and in Annandale, Scotland. Robert's mother's family was of Scots Gaelic descent.


Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale
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Robert I de Brus (died 1142) was an early 12th century Norman baron and knight, responsible for founding the Bruce dynasty of Britain.
According to early modern historiographical tradition, he was supposedly the son of a Norman noble named Robert de Brus (sometimes Adam de Brus) who came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066 and died in 1094. The latter's existence though is now discredited. Robert seems in fact to have come from Brix, near Cherbourg in the Cotentin Peninsula, and came to Britain after King Henry I of England's conquest of Normandy. David fitz Malcolm (after 1124, King David I of Scotland) was present with King Henry and was given much of the Cotentin Peninsula. Robert's presences and absences at Henry's court seem to coincide with David's, and Robert was undoubtedly present when David forced King Alexander I of Scotland to hand over a large chunk of land in southern Scotland around 1113. David probably made Robert Lord of Annandale sometime soon after this, and when David became King of Scots in 1124, one of his first acts was to confirm Brus in his Annandale possessions.
After the death of King Henry, David turned against Henry's successor Stephen. On this basis Robert and David fell out, and Robert renounced his homage to David before the Battle of the Standard in 1138. Robert had two sons by Agnes, daughter of Geoffrey Bainard, sheriff of York. His older son Adam also allegedly fought against David at the Battle of the Standard, but his younger son Robert chose to remain in David's allegiance, fighting against his own father. It was the younger Robert who was given possession of Annandale. Adam and his descendents continued to hold lands in England as Lord of Skelton. Robert the elder died in 1142.
Robert was also a monastic patron, and is most remembered as the founder of Guisborough Priory in Yorkshire.

[edit] References
Duncan, A.A.M., ‘Brus , Robert (I) de, lord of Annandale (d. 1142)’, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 14 Nov 2006
Oram, Richard, David: The King Who Made Scotland, (Gloucestershire, 2004)
Preceded byNew Creation
Lord of Annandale1113 x 1124-1138
Succeeded byRobert II de Brus
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Brus%2C_1st_Lord_of_Annandale"
Categories: 1142 deaths House of Bruce French nobility Natives of Manche
The Normans

Normans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the people. For other uses, see Norman.

Norman conquests in red.
The Normans (adapted from the name "Northmen" or "Norsemen") were a people who colonized Normandy, conquered most of England, and played a major political, military and cultural role in the northern and Mediterranean parts of medieval Europe for centuries. Their most famous achievement was the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
Originally they derived from the indigenous populations of eastern Brittany and western Flanders, including their Viking lords from Scandinavia. They began to occupy the northern area of France now known as Normandy in the latter half of the 9th century. In 911, Charles the Simple, king of France, granted the invaders the small lower Seine area, which expanded over time to become the Duchy of Normandy. The invaders were under the leadership of Hrolf, who later became known under his latinized name Rollo who swore allegiance to Charles the Simple.
The Norman people adopted Christianity and the Gallo-Romance language and created a new cultural identity separate from that of their Scandinavian forebears and French neighbours. Norman culture, like that of many other migrant communities, was particularly enterprising and adaptable. For a time, it led them to occupy widely dispersed territories throughout Europe.
Contents[hide]
1 Norman characteristics
2 Normans and Normandy
3 Normans in England
4 Normans in Wales
5 Normans in Scotland
6 Normans in Ireland
7 Normans in the Mediterranean
7.1 Architectural heritage
7.2 Rulers
7.3 Other famous Normans of the South
8 Normans in the East
9 Normans on Crusade
10 Bibliography
10.1 Primary sources
10.2 External links
//

[edit] Norman characteristics
Normans should not be confused with other Viking groups, such as the Vikings known as Danes in England and the Vikings known as Rus in Russia.
Geoffrey Malaterra characterized the Normans as "specially marked by cunning, despising their own inheritance in the hope of winning a greater, eager after both gain and dominion, given to imitation of all kinds, holding a certain mean between lavishness and greediness, that is, perhaps uniting, as they certainly did, these two seemingly opposite qualities. Their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the very boys were orators, a race altogether unbridled unless held firmly down by the yoke of justice. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war."
That quick adaptability Geoffrey mentions expressed itself in the shrewd Norman willingness to take on local men of talent, to marry the high-born local women; confidently illiterate Norman masters used the literate clerks of the church for their own purpose. Their success at assimilating was so thorough, few modern traces remain, whether in Palermo or Kiev.

[edit] Normans and Normandy
Geographically, Normandy was approximately the same region as the old church province of Rouen and what was called Brittania Nova as well as western Flanders. It had no natural frontiers and was previously merely an administrative unit. Its population was mostly Gallo-Roman with a small Frankish/Germanic people admixture, plus Viking settlers, who had begun arriving in the 880s, and who were divided between a small colony in Upper (or eastern) Normandy and a larger one in Lower (or western) Normandy.
In the course of the 10th century the initial destructive incursions of Norse war bands into the rivers of Gaul evolved into more permanent encampments that included women and chattel. The pagan culture was driven underground by the Christian faith and Gallo-Romance language of the local people. The small group of Vikings that settled in assimilated to the Gallo-Romance majority. After a generation or two, the Normans were generally indistinguishable from their French neighbours. With the zeal of new converts they set forth in the 11th century from their solid base in Normandy.
In Normandy they adopted the growing feudal doctrines of France, and worked them, both in Normandy and in England, into a logical system.
The Norman warrior class was new and different from the old French aristocracy, many of whom could trace their families back to Carolingian times, while the Normans could seldom cite ancestors before the beginning of the 11th century. Most knights remained poor and land-hungry; by 1066, Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation. Knighthood before the time of the Crusades held little social status, and simply indicated that a man was a professional warrior and wealthy enough to own a war horse. Many Normans of France and Britain would eventually serve as avid Crusaders.
The Norman language forged by the adoption of the indigenous oïl language by a Norse-speaking ruling class developed into the regional language which survives today.

[edit] Normans in England
See also: Norman conquest of England, Anglo-Norman, Norman Yoke, Norman architecture, and Domesday Book

Siege of a motte-and-bailey castle from the Bayeux Tapestry.
The Normans were in contact with England from an early date. Not only were their pagan Viking brethren still ravaging the English coasts, but they occupied most of the important ports opposite England across the Channel. This relationship eventually produced closer ties of blood through the marriage of Emma, sister of Duke Richard II of Normandy, and King Ethelred II of England. Because of this, Ethelred fled to Normandy in 1013, when he was forced from his kingdom by Sweyn Forkbeard. His stay in Normandy (until 1016) influenced him and his sons by Emma, who stayed in Normandy after Canute the Great's conquest of the isle. When finally Edward the Confessor returned from his father's refuge in 1041, at the invitation of his half-brother Hardecanute, he brought with him a very Norman-educated mind. He also brought many Norman counsellors and fighters. He even hired a small number of Normans to train and establish an English cavalry force. This concept never really took root, but it is a typical example of the attitudes of Edward. He appointed Robert of Jumièges archbishop of Canterbury and made Ralph the Timid earl of Hereford. He invited his brother-in-law Eustace II of Boulogne to his court in 1051, an event which resulted in the greatest of early conflicts between Saxon and Norman and ultimately resulted in the exile of Earl Godwin of Wessex.
In 1066, the most famous Norman leader, Duke William II of Normandy, conquered England. The invading Normans and their descendants replaced the Anglo-Saxons as the ruling class of England. After an initial period of resentment and rebellion, the two populations largely intermarried and merged, combining languages and traditions. Normans began to identify themselves as Anglo-Norman; indeed, the Anglo-Norman language was considerably distinct from the "Parisian French", which was the subject of some humour by Geoffrey Chaucer. Eventually, even this distinction largely disappeared in the course of the Hundred Years war, with the Anglo-Norman aristocracy increasingly identifying themselves as English, and the Anglo-Norman and Anglo-Saxon languages merging to form Middle English.

[edit] Normans in Wales
See also: Cambro-Norman

Chepstow Castle in Wales, first built by William fitzOsbern in 1067.
Even before the Norman Conquest of England, the Normans had come into contact with Wales. Edward the Confessor had set up the aforementioned Ralph as earl of Hereford and charged him with defending the Marches and warring with the Welsh. In these original ventures, the Normans failed to make any headway into Wales.
Subsequent to the Conquest, however, the Marches came completely under the dominance of William's most trusted Norman barons, including Roger of Montgomery in Shropshire and Hugh Lupus in Cheshire. These Normans began a long period of slow conquest during which almost all of Wales was at some point subject to Norman interference. Norman words, such as baron (barwn), first entered Welsh at that time.

[edit] Normans in Scotland
See also: Scotland in the High Middle Ages and Scoto-Norman
One of the claimants of the English throne opposing William the Conqueror, Edgar Atheling, eventually fled to Scotland. King Malcolm Canmore of Scotland married Edgar's sister Margaret, and came into opposition to William who had already disputed Scotland's southern borders. William invaded Scotland in 1072, riding as far as the Firth of Tay where he met up with his fleet of ships. Malcolm submitted, paid homage to William, and surrendered his son Duncan as a hostage, beginning a series of arguments as to whether the Scottish Crown owed allegiance to the English King.
Normans came into Scotland, building castles and founding noble families who would provide some future kings such as Robert the Bruce as well as founding some of the Scottish clans in the Highlands. King David I of Scotland was instrumental in introducing Normans and Norman culture to Scotland, having spent time at the court of Henry I of England who was married to David's sister Maud of Scotland, the process was continued under David's successors. The Norman feudal system was applied to the Scottish Lowlands, but the influence on Lowland Scots language was limited.

[edit] Normans in Ireland
See also: Norman Ireland, Castles in the Republic of Ireland, and Hiberno-Norman

Norman keep in Trim, County Meath.
The Normans had a profound effect on Irish culture and history. While initially the Normans in the 12th century kept themselves as a distinct culture and ethnicity, they were quickly subsumed into Ireland, and it is often said that they became more Irish than the Irish themselves. The Normans settled mostly in an area in the east of Ireland, later known as the Pale, and also built many fine castles and settlements, including Trim Castle and Dublin Castle. Both cultures intermixed, borrowing from each other's language, culture and outlook.

[edit] Normans in the Mediterranean
See also: Italo-Norman
Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold far to the south of Normandy. Probably the result of returning pilgrims' stories, the Normans entered the Mezzogiorno as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno, when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar IV begged them to stay, but they refused and instead offered to tell others back home of the prince's request. William of Apulia tells that, in 1016, pilgrims to the shrine of the Archangel Michael at Monte Gargano were met by Melus of Bari, a Lombard freedom-fighter, who persuaded them to return with more warriors to help throw off the Byzantine rule, and so they did.
The two most prominent families to arrive in the Mediterranean were the descendants of Tancred of Hauteville and the Drengots, of whom Rainulf Drengot received the county of Aversa, the first Norman toehold in the south, from Duke Sergius IV of Naples in 1030. The Hautevilles achieved princely status when they proclaimed Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno "Duke of Apulia and Calabria". He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm, with the title of count with his capital of Melfi. Soon the Drengots had attained unto the principality of Capua and the Emperor Henry III had legally ennobled the Hauteville leader, Drogo, as dux et magister Italiae comesque Normannorum totius Apuliae et Calabriae in 1047.

Cathedral at Cefalù, note the combined Arab and Norman influences.
From these bases, the Normans were eventually able to capture Sicily and Malta from the Saracens under the famous Robert Guiscard, a Hauteville, and his young brother Roger the Great Count. Roger's son, Roger II, was crowned king in 1130 (exactly one century after Rainulf was "crowned" count) by Pope Anacletus II. The kingdom of Sicily lasted until 1194, when it fell to the Hohenstaufens through marriage.
The Normans left their mark however in the many castles, such as the Iron Arm's fortress at Squillace, and cathedrals, such as Roger II's at Cefalù, which dot the landscape and give a wholly distinct architectural flavour to accompany its unique history. Institutionally, the Normans combined the administrative machinery of the Byzantines, Arabs, and Lombards with their own conceptions of feudal law and order to forge a completely unique government. Under this state, there was great religious freedom, and alongside the Norman nobles existed a meritocratic bureacracy of Jews, Moslems, and Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox.

[edit] Architectural heritage
Squillace
Monreale Cathedral
Cefalù
Palermo
Venosa
Canosa di Puglia
Salerno

[edit] Rulers
List of Counts and Dukes of Apulia and Calabria
List of Counts of Aversa
List of Princes of Capua
List of Dukes of Gaeta
List of Princes of Taranto
List of Kings of Sicily

[edit] Other famous Normans of the South
Gilbert Buatère
Osmond Drengot
Peter of Trani
Hugh Tubœuf
Tristan of Montepeloso
Asclettin of Acerenza
Mauger of Hauteville
William of the Principate
Geoffrey of Hauteville
Serlo II of Hauteville
Roussel de Bailleul
Guy of Hauteville
Robert Scalio
Bohemond of Taranto
Jordan of Hauteville
Tancred of Hauteville
Jordan of Ariano
Alfonso of Hauteville
Goffredo Malaterra
William of Apulia
Andrew of Rupecanina
Roger of Andria

[edit] Normans in the East
Soon after the Normans first began to enter Italy, they entered the Byzantine Empire and soon thereafter Armenia against the Pechenegs, Bulgars, and especially Seljuk Turks. The Norman mercenaries first encouraged to come to the south by the Lombards to act against the Byzantines were soon fighting in Byzantine service in Sicily. They were prominent alongside Varangian and Lombard contingents in the Sicilian campaign of George Maniaches of 1038-40.
One of the first Norman mercenaries to serve as a Byzantine general was Hervé in the 1050s. By then however there were already Norman mercenaries serving as far away as Trebizond and Georgia. They were based at Malatya and Edessa, under the Byzantine duke of Antioch, Isaac Comnenus. In the 1060s, one Robert Crispin led the Normans of Edessa against the Turks. Roussel de Bailleul even tried to carve out an independent state in Asia Minor and had the support of the local population, but he was stopped by the Byzantine general Alexius Comnenus. From 1073 to 1074, 8,000 of the 20,000 troops of the Armenian general Philaretus Brachamius were Normans led by Raimbaud. They even lent their ethnicity to the name of their castle: Afranji, meaning "Franks."

[edit] Normans on Crusade

Crusader States after 1099. Antioch in orange.
The legendary piety of the Normans was exercised in religious wars long before the First Crusade carved out a Norman principality in Antioch. They were major foreign participants in the Reconquista in Spain. In 1018, Roger de Tony travelled to Spain to carve out a state for himself from Moorish lands, but failed. In 1064, during the War of Barbastro, William of Montreuil led the papal army and took a huge booty.
In 1096, Crusaders passing by the siege of Amalfi were joined by Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred with an army of Italo-Normans. Bohemond was the de facto leader of the Crusade during its passage through Asia Minor. After the successful Siege of Antioch in 1097, Bohemond began carving out an independent principality around that city. Tancred was instrumental in the conquest of Jerusalem and he worked for the expansion of the Crusader kingdom in Transjordan and the region of Galilee.

[edit] Bibliography
David Bates, Normandy before 1066, London 1982
Chalandon, Ferdinand. Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie. Paris, 1907.
Chibnall, Marjorie. The Normans, The Peoples of Europe, Oxford 2000
Crouch, David. The Normans: The History of a Dynasty. Hambledon & London, 2003.
Gillingham, John. The Angevin Empire, end ed., London 2001.
Gravett, Christopher, and Nicolle, David. The Normans: Warrior Knights and their Castles. Osprey Publishing: Oxford, 2006.
Green, Judith A. The Aristocracy of Norman England. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Harper-Bill, Christopher and Elisabeth Van Houts, eds. A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World Boydell Press. 2003
Haskins, Charles H. Norman Institutions, 1918
Maitland, F. W. Domesday Book and Beyond: Three Essays in the Early History of England. 2d ed. Cambridge University Press, 1988. (feudal Saxons)
R. Mortimer, Angevin England 1154—1258, Oxford 1994.
Muhlbergher, Stephen, Medieval England (Saxon social demotions)
Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
Norwich, John Julius. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970.
Robertson, A. J., ed. and trans. Laws of the Kings of England from Edmund to Henry I. AMS Press, 1974. (Mudrum fine)
Painter, Sidney. A History of the Middle Ages 284−1500. New York, 1953.

[edit] Primary sources
Elisabeth van Houts, ed. The Normans in Europe Manchester Medieval Sources, Manchester 2000.
Medieval History Texts in Translation from Leeds University.

[edit] External links
Dudo of St. Quentin's Gesta Normannorum, English translation
The Normans, a European People, by the European Commission
Breve Chronicon Northmannicum (Latin).
The Normans Jersey heritage trust (pdf)
Wales History — The Norman Wars.


William the Conqueror

William I of England
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William I the Conqueror
King of the English; Duke of Normandy (more...)

The Duke of Normandy in the Bayeux Tapestry
Reign
25 December 1066 — 9 September 1087
Coronation
25 December 1066
Predecessor
Harold IINormandy: Robert II the Magnificent
Successor
William II RufusNormandy: Robert III Curthose
Consort
Matilda of Flanders (1031 — 1083)
Issue
Robert III CurthoseWilliam II RufusAdela, Countess of BloisHenry I Beauclercamong others...
Father
Robert II the Magnificent
Mother
Herlette of Falaise
Born
1024-1028Falaise, France
Died
9 September 1087Convent of St. Gervais, Rouen
Burial
Saint-Étienne de Caen, France
William of Normandy (French: Guillaume de Normandie; c. 1028 — 9 September 1087) ruled as the Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 and as King of England from 1066 to 1087. William invaded England, won a victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. No authentic portrait of William has been found but he was described as a muscular man, strong in every sense of the word, balding in front, and of regal dignity.
In the present nomenclature, William was Duke of Normandy as William II and King of England as William I. He is also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant) and William the Bastard (Guillaume le Bâtard).
Contents[hide]
1 Early life
2 Conquest of England
3 William's reign
4 Death, burial, and succession
5 Genealogy
6 Children of William and Matilda
7 Direct descent from William I to Elizabeth II
8 See also
9 Further reading
10 References
11 External links
//

[edit] Early life
The sole son of Robert the Magnificent and Herleva, most likely the daughter of a local tanner named Fulbert, William was born illegitimate in Falaise, Normandy. The exact date of birth is uncertain, but is known to have been either in 1027 or 1028, and more likely in the autumn of the latter year.[1] He was the grandnephew of Queen Emma, wife of King Ethelred the Unready and later of King Canute.
William succeeded to his father's Duchy of Normandy at the young age of seven in 1035 and was known as Duke William II of Normandy (Fr. Guillaume II, duc de Normandie). He lost three guardians to plots to usurp his place. Count Alan of Brittany was a later guardian. King Henry I of France knighted him at the age of 15. By the time he turned 19 he was successfully dealing with threats of rebellion and invasion. With the assistance of King Henry, William finally secured control of Normandy by defeating the rebel Norman barons at Caen in the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes in 1047.
He married his cousin Matilda of Flanders, against the wishes of the pope in 1053 at the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Eu, Normandy (now in Seine-Maritime). At the time, William was 26 and Matilda was 22. Their marriage produced four sons and six daughters (see list below).
His half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain played significant roles in his life. He also had a sister, Adelaide of Normandy.

[edit] Conquest of England
Main article: Norman Conquest
Upon the death of William's cousin King Edward the Confessor of England (January 1066), William claimed the throne of England, asserting that the childless and purportedly celibate Edward had named him his heir during a visit by William (probably in 1052) and that Harold Godwinson, England's foremost magnate and brother-in-law of the late King Edward the Confessor, had reportedly pledged his support while shipwrecked in Normandy (c. 1064). Harold made this pledge while in captivity and was reportedly tricked into swearing on a saint's bones that he would give the throne to William. Even if this story is true, however, Harold made the promise under duress and so may have felt free to break it. More realistically, by the mid 1050s, Harold was effectively ruling England through the weak King Edward and was unlikely to surrender the throne to a foreign noble.
English Royalty
House of Normandy
Image:Norman Arms.png
William I
Robert III Curthose, Duke of Normandy
William II Rufus
Adela, Countess of Blois
Henry I Beauclerc
The assembly of England's leading nobles known as the Witenagemot approved Harold Godwinson’s coronation which took place on 5 January 1066 making him King Harold II of England. In order to pursue his own claim, William obtained the support of the Pope Alexander II for his cause. He assembled a Norman invasion fleet of around 600 ships and an army of 7000 men. He landed at Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September 1066 and assembled a prefabricated wooden castle (Motte-and-bailey) near Hastings as a base. This was a direct provocation to Harold Godwinson as this area of Sussex was Harold's own personal estate, and William began immediately to lay waste to the land. It may have prompted Harold to respond immediately and in haste rather than await reinforcements in London.
King Harold Godwinson was in the north of England and had just defeated another rival, Harald III of Norway, supported by his own brother Tostig. He marched an army of similar size to William's 250 miles in 9 days to challenge him at the crucial battle of Senlac, which later became known as the Battle of Hastings. This took place on 14 October 1066. According to some accounts, perhaps based on an interpretation of the Bayeux Tapestry commemorating the Norman victory, Harold was allegedly killed by an arrow through the eye, and the English forces fled giving William victory.
This was the defining moment of what is now known as the Norman Conquest. Unable to enter London, William travelled to Wallingford, was welcomed in by Wigod who supported his cause. This is where the first submissions took place including that of the Archbishop of Canterbury.[2] The remaining Anglo-Saxon noblemen surrendered to William at Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and he was acclaimed King of England there. William was then crowned on 25 December 1066 in Westminster Abbey.
Although the south of England submitted quickly to Norman rule, resistance continued, especially in the North for six more years until 1072. Harold's illegitimate sons attempted an invasion of the south-west peninsula. Uprisings occurred in the Welsh Marches and at Stafford. Separate attempts at invasion by the Danes and the Scots also occurred. William's defeat of these led to what became known as the harrying of the North, in which Northumbria was laid waste as revenge and to deny his enemies its resources. The last serious resistance came with the Revolt of the Earls in 1075. It is estimated that one-fifth of the population of England was killed during these years by war, massacre, and starvation.

[edit] William's reign
William initiated many major changes. In 1085, in order to ascertain the extent of his new dominions and maximize taxation, William commissioned the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of England's productive capacity similar to a modern census. He also ordered many castles, keeps, and mottes, among them the Tower of London, to be built across England to ensure that the rebellions by the English people or his own followers would not succeed. His conquest also led to Norman replacing English as the language of the ruling classes for nearly 300 years.

The signatures of William I and Matilda are the first two large crosses on the Accord of Winchester from 1072.
William is said to have deported some of the Anglo-Saxon land owning classes into slavery through Bristol.[citation needed] Many of the latter ended up in Umayyad Spain and Moorish lands. Ownership of nearly all land in England and titles to religious and public offices were given to Normans. Many surviving Anglo-Saxon nobles emigrated to other European kingdoms.

[edit] Death, burial, and succession
William died at the age of 59, at the Convent of St Gervais, near Rouen, France, on 9 September 1087 from abdominal injuries received from his saddle pommel when he fell off a horse at the Siege of Mantes. William was buried in the church of St. Stephen in Caen, Normandy. In a most unregal postmortem, his corpulent body would not fit in the stone sarcophagus, and burst after some unsuccessful prodding by the assembled bishops, filling the chapel with a foul smell and dispersing the mourners. [3]
William was succeeded in 1087 as King of England by his younger son William Rufus and as Duke of Normandy by his elder son Robert Curthose. This led to the Rebellion of 1088. His youngest son Henry also became King of England later, after William II died without a child to succeed him.

[edit] Genealogy

Diagram based on the information found on Wikipedia
Every English monarch down to Queen Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of William the Conqueror as well as Alfred the Great and King Coel (Old King Cole of the nursery rhyme.)

[edit] Children of William and Matilda
Some doubt exists over how many daughters there were. This list includes some entries which are obscure.
Robert Curthose (c. 1054–1134), Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano
Adeliza (or Alice) (c. 1055–?), reportedly betrothed to Harold II of England (Her existence is in some doubt.)
Cecilia (or Cecily) (c. 1056–1126), Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen
William Rufus (1056–1100), King of England
Richard (1057-c. 1081), killed by a stag in New Forest
Adela (c. 1062–1138), married Stephen, Count of Blois
Gundred (c. 1063–1085), married William de Warenne (c. 1055–1088) Some scholars question whether Gundred was an illegitimate child of William I or merely a step-daughter, foundling or adopted daughter. See discussion pages for further information.
Agatha (c. 1064–c. 1080), betrothed to (1) Harold of Wessex, (2) Alfonso VI of Castile
Constance (c. 1066–1090), married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany; poisoned, possibly by her own servants
Matilda (very obscure, her existence is in some doubt)
Henry Beauclerc (1068–1135), King of England, married (1) Edith of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III, King of Scotland, (2) Adeliza of Louvain

[edit] Direct descent from William I to Elizabeth II
Main article: Direct descent from William I to Elizabeth II

[edit] See also
Rankilor

[edit] Further reading
David Bates, William the Conqueror (1989) ISBN 978-0-7524-1980-0
David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror; the Norman Impact Upon England (1964) [no ISBN]
David Howarth, 1066 The Year of the Conquest (1977) ISBN 0-14-005850-5
H. F. M. Prescott, Son of Dust (1932)
Anne Savage, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles ISBN 978-1-85833-478-3, pub.CLB, 1997

[edit] References
^ The official web site of the British Monarchy puts his birth at "around 1028", which may reasonably be taken as definitive.The frequently encountered date of 14 October 1024 is likely spurious. It was promulgated by Thomas Roscoe (1791-1871) in his 1846 biography The life of William the Conqueror. The year 1024 is apparently calculated from the fictive deathbed confession of William recounted by Ordericus Vitalis (who was about twelve when the Conqueror died); in it William allegedly claimed to be about sixty-three or four years of age at his death in 1087. The birth day and month are suspiciously the same as those of the Battle of Hastings. This date claim, repeated by other Victorian historians (e.g. Jacob Abbott), has been entered unsourced into the LDS genealogical database, and has found its way thence into countless personal genealogies. Cf. The Conqueror and His Companions by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874.
^ http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/wallingford.html
^ http://historyhouse.com/in_history/william/

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
William I of England
History of William I's life and reign. Official web site of the British Monarchy
Documentary - The Making of England: William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror. by E. A. Freeman (1823-1892). Ebook published via Gutenberg Project.
Illustrated biography of William the Conqueror
William I of England At Find A Grave
History House: William the Conqueror
Preceded byEdgar Ætheling
King of England1066–1087
Succeeded byWilliam II
Preceded byRobert the Magnificent
Duke of Normandy1035–1087
Succeeded byRobert Curthose
v • d • eMonarchs of England[hide]

Pre-conquestAlfred • Edward the Elder • Ælfweard • Athelstan • Edmund I • Edred • Edwy • Edgar I • Edward the Martyr • Ethelred • Sweyn I*† • Edmund II • Canute*† • Harold I • Harthacanute* • Edward the Confessor • Harold II • Edgar IIPost-conquestWilliam I • William II • Henry I • Stephen • Matilda • Henry II • Richard I • John • Henry III • Edward I • Edward II • Edward III • Richard II • Henry IV • Henry V • Henry VI • Edward IV • Edward V • Richard III • Henry VII • Henry VIII‡ • Edward VI‡ • Lady Jane Grey ‡ • Mary I‡ • Elizabeth I‡ • James I‡§ • Charles I‡§ • Interregnum • Charles II‡§ • James II‡§ • William III‡§¶ and Mary II‡§ (as co-monarchs William & Mary) • William III‡§¶ (own reign) • Anne‡§
* also Monarch of Denmark • † also Monarch of Norway • ‡ also Monarch of Ireland • § also Monarch of Scotland • ¶ also Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel and Drenthe




Books on the Normans

Total Items: 194
Page 1 of 8 Next >>

The Deeds of Count Roger of Calabria and Sicily and of His Brother Duke Robert Guisc
by Kenneth Baxter Wolf (Translator)
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The Words of Bernfrieda: A Chronicle of Hauteville : The Chronicle of the Life of Fredesenda Wife Oftancred of Hauteville and Mother of Robert Guiscard Duke of Apulia and rogi
by Gabriella Brooke
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Mosaics of Norman Sicily
by Otto Demus

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The Normans in Sicily: Being a sequel to
by Henry Gally Knight
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Muslims and Christians in Norman Sicily (Culture and Civilisation in the Middle East)
by Dr Ale Metcalfe
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William the Conqueror
by Thomas B. Costain, Jack Coggins (Illustrator)
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A Traveller's Guide to the Scotland of Robert the Bruce
by Nigel G. Tranter

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Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314
by Alan Young
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King Robert the Bruce
by A. F. Murison
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Bannockburn 1314: Robert Bruce's Great Victory (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
by Pete Armstrong
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Robert Bruce, King of Scots
by Agnes Mure Mackenzie

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Robert Bruce: And the Community of the Realm of Scotland
by G. W. S. Barrow
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England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225 (New Oxford History of England)
by Robert Bartlett
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The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium
by Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger
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William Wallace: Brave Heart
by James MacKay
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William Wallace: Guardian of Scotland
by A. F. Murison
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William Wallace
by Andrew Fisher
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On the Trail of William Wallace (On the Trail of)
by David R Ross
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On the Trail of Robert the Bruce (On the Trail of)
by David R Ross
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The Normans in Europe (Manchester Medieval Sources)
by Elizabeth Van Houts
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The Age of Robert Guiscard: Southern Italy and the Northern Conquest (The Medieval World)
by Graham Loud
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The Domesday Inquest
by Adolphus Ballard
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Domesday England (Cambridge Paperback Library)
by H. C. Darby
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William the Conqueror
by E.A. Freeman
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Robert the Bruce
by Colm Mcnamee
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Total Items: 194
Page 1 of 8 Next >>
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Total Items: 194
<< Prev Page 2 of 8 Next >>


The Normans in Sicily: The Normans in the South 1016-1130 and the Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194
by John Julius Norwich
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Norman Kingdom of Sicily, The (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)
by Donald Matthew
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Yale English Monarchs - William the Conqueror (Yale English Monarchs)
by David C. Douglas, Frank Barlow (Foreword)

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William the Conqueror
by Hilaire Belloc
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Norman Knight AD 950-1204 (Warrior)
by Christopher Gravett, Christa Hook (Illustrator)
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The Normans (Elite)
by David Nicolle, Angus Mcbride (Illustrator)
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Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)
by Hubert Houben, et al.
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William the Conqueror (The English Monarchs Series)
by David Bates
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1066: The Year of the Conquest
by David Howarth
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William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England
by David C. Douglas
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William the Conqueror
by David Bates
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Campaigns of the Norman Conquest (Essential Histories)
by Matthew Bennett
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The Normans: Warrior Knights and their Castles (General Military)
by Christopher Gravett
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