Once William was old enough nineteen to twenty, he had to secure his own grip on power. William became the duke of Normandy in 1035.
By 1066, William had crushed all resistance within the duchy, increased ducal power, held his neighbor at bay and dominated the neighboring region of Maine.
On 5 January 1066 Edward the Confessor died childless and the question of the English succession which had for so long loomed over northern Europe immediately entered on its final phase. Since William was the cousin of the Edward, William thought he should become king of England.
Sometime after dawn in September 28, William’s fleet arrived at the south coast of England and entered a sheltered bay at Pevensey.
14 October 1066 undoubtedly was the date the Norman victory at Battle of Hastings. William then advanced to London, the capital.
In the English Kingdom, the Norman Conquest not only initiated the rule of a line of Norman kings, but also entailed the replacement of most of the previous English aristocracy by men whose origins were in Normandy and other parts of northern France.
William became King of England from 1066. He was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1068.
He completed the establishment of feudalism in England and placed Normans in all key administrative position.
He put down rebellions brutally taking, English land and giving to his Norman nobles for them to rules the local areas.
William the Conqueror was succeeded by two of his sons, William II ruled from 1087 – 1100, Henry from 1100 -1135.
William the conqueror (1028 – 9 September 1087)
