0
William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror was the first king of England when he conquered England in 1066 during the Battle of Hastings. He was born in 1028 and died on 9th September 1087. He was also the duke of Normandy from 3rd July 1035 until his death in September 1087.
662 Questions
Was William the Conqueror a good or bad man?
He was crowned on Christmas Day which improved the trust between him and his people because the british were very religios
Does William the Conqueror have good leadership qualities?
Not from the view of the English as their language was outlawed and French was forced onto them, ending the use of Old English.
What was William duke of Normandy's trick on the English?
It's usually called a feigned flight.
A feigned flight is when you attack someone, and in the middle of the fight, your troops start to run away. They act like they are fleeing because they are losing- however, it is "feigned" or "faked". The idea is to get the enemy troops to chase you. Then, when they are away from the rest of their army, your troops can stop running and turn around and start fighting again, or other troops (especially fast-moving ones like knights on horses) can come over and kill them. Additionally, when those troops leave the rest of the army, there is now a hole there where they were, and your other troops can rush in and take advantage of that.
When the Normans fought the Saxons at Hastings, the Saxons had their army in a line on the top of a hill. The Normans tried shooting at them, but the Saxons had large shields that could easily block most of the arrows. Then they tried attacking, but attacking up a hill is very difficult. So the Normans started using feigned flights to get parts of the Saxon army to chase them, which made it easier to fight them, and started making holes in the long Saxon line. Eventually the Normans were able to do this enough so that the Saxon army became weak and they could launch a full attack and win.
What problems did William the Conqueror face in 1067?
For illustration and full description of the battle I recommend;
www.englandandenglishhistory.com
Could William the Conqueror read or write?
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle was written in Old English, as was Beowulf, and a variety of other texts. King Alfred the Great instituted a policy on education that all free men and men of higher rank be educated, if possible, in English. Free men were people of peasant class with more freedom than serfs. He also supported the translation of great books into English, including the Bible. There are links below.
Feudalism is said to have started with the defeat of King Harold by William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. With the defeat of King Harold was the defeat of Anglo-saxon rule of England. But originally, it was the Germans and Romans ideas that formed the basis of Feudalism.
Why did the pope support William of Normandy?
The Pope's blessing helped Duke William a lot, because by blessing the invasion the Pope was also giving it is authority, meaning that Christians tended to support the Duke. It also made it easier for him to recruit mercenaries, bolstered the morale of his troops and probably had a negative effect on King Harolds army.
What were Haralds army tactics at the Battle of Hastings?
first, Harold used the shield wall, in which the English used their sheilds to crate a wall, which they held for a long time, while William firstly used his bowmen, which did not do very much damage, then men at arms (infantry) and then a full charge with his knights. after all of this failed, William used the feign retreat tactic, where he pretended to retreat, the English followed and broke their shield wall, then William came back and slaughtered them.
What was William the Conqueror's mum and dad names?
William the Conqueror was the illegitimate son of Robert, 1st Duke of Normandy, and his mistress Herleva of Falaise.
Why would william of normandy make a good king?
Because he wa richer and friendlyer. That is why he was king. Also his dad was king before and allowed him to be king. But his dad died. So it should have rightfully been handed down to him anyway!
Why did William of Normandy wait for the wind to change direction in the battle of hastings?
Because he couldn't sail to England to invade if the wind wasn't heading in the right direction.
Who was the king before William the Conqueror?
wrong it is in fact Harold godwinson. William duke of normandys arm killed Harold so he became king
Why was Harold's oath to William the Conqueror important?
In 1066, Harold was a key candidate to take the throne of England after the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066. Harold was an important noble man in England who had both the support of the Witan and important earls Edwin and Morcar- the sister of whom he had also dinastically married.
Even though the accounts of Harold's oath were sketchy- it was not clear if he had been on a fishing trip (shown by the Bayeux tapestry) and blown ashore by a storm or whether he was going to release his imprisoned relatives (Hakon- Nephew and Wulfnoth- Brother) in 1064, but what we do know is that he met with William and perhaps offered him an oath over holy relics that gave William the claim to the throne (some accounts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say that William had met Edward in 1051 and was promised the throne due to his ties and shown ability to rule his own duchy of Normandy- giving him more reason to claim it) and that he would be his liege in order to have parts of his town fortified and one of the prisoners released.
The importance of the oath is that, Harold was condemned by William to the Pope (as the oath had been made over Holy Relics) as a perjured usurper "whom William was bound to attack and kill" [Howarth] It gave William the right to claim the throne from Harold as he had forcefully taken it and had gone back on the oath that he had made to William in 1064.
Not only did the oath give William an advantageous reason to take the throne- but it also bought him valuable papal support as claiming Harold as the perjurer and a usurper the Pope (Alexander II) offered William the papal banner- turning the conquest of England into a holy war for the throne.
How many times was William the Conqueror married?
William 1 (William th conquerer) married in 1050 to Matilda of flanders , his cousin
Why should William Duke of Normandy should be king of England and why?
He thought he should be king of England because Harold Godwinson made an Oath to William saying that oneday: william will be king. However, Harold Godwinson became king of England and William wasn't very happy. William had the support of the church on his side aswell so he thought he should be king because Oaths were taken very siriously.
How did William win the Battle of Hastings in 1066?
William won the battle of Hastings because he had more Knights than Harold that were on horses with axes, he travels on a boat so he wasn't tired but Harold walked all the way instead of waiting for William's army to come to them and William had more people on his side than Harold did because Harold forgot to pay his army for helping him win the battle so some people left in anger for not getting payed.
Was William the Conqueror a viking?
No, but he was from Normandy in northern France and some of the inhabitants were descended from Norsemen, (Vikings).
When did the Anglo-saxon nobles surrender to William?
After the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, William decided against marching directly north into London. Instead, he headed west and crossed the River Thames at Wallingford. He was met at Berkhamsted Castle by a delegation of Saxon nobles who surrendered to him in November 1066. William was then able to enter London unopposed and was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066.
How many ships did William of Normandy take to the battle of Hastings?
William had prepared a 700 fleet of ships to invade England
Why was William duke of Normandy delayed?
because it was to dangerous to sail to England so they wait until it was safe
What colour hair did William of Normandy have?
What did William of Normandy look like? William of Normandy had a long angular face. He had a long pointed beard at one time. He was a regal and stately looking man.
Who were William the Conqueror's rival contenders?
Harold Godwinson - Powerful English noble and was promised the throne by Edward the Confessor.
Harold Haardrada - Promised the throne by an earlier king and was joined by Harold Godwinson brother tostig.
