William the Conqueror, from Duke of Normandy to King of England

William was born in Falaise in 1027. The son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy, and Herleva of Falaise, he inherited the duchy following his father’s death in 1035, when he was just eight years old.

His young age and birth outside marriage weakened his authority. During his childhood and adolescence, several Norman lords challenged his rule.

In 1047, with the support of Henry I, King of the Franks, William faced the rebel barons at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes. His victory allowed him to gradually strengthen his authority over the duchy.

A few years later, he married Matilda of Flanders. This union brought William closer to one of the great princely families of northern Europe. Their marriage, initially opposed by the Church, was eventually recognised. William founded the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen, while Matilda founded the Abbaye aux Dames.

In January 1066, the death of King Edward the Confessor without a direct heir triggered a succession crisis. Harold Godwinson was crowned king, but William also claimed the English crown.

Determined to assert his claim to the throne and extend his power across the English Channel, the Duke of Normandy assembled a large army and fleet to invade England.

On 14 October 1066, the Normans and Anglo-Saxons fought at the Battle of Hastings. Harold was killed and William won the battle.

On 25 December 1066, William was crowned King of England at Westminster.

Victory at Hastings was not enough to secure William’s control of England. Several rebellions broke out across the kingdom, particularly in the south-west, the Midlands and the north of England. William responded with particularly violent repression.

In the north of England, the campaign of 1069–1070, known as the Harrying of the North, devastated vast areas: villages and crops were destroyed, while local populations were severely affected.

William also reorganised power to his own advantage: much of the land held by the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy gradually passed into the hands of Norman lords and other supporters of the new king.

To control the territory and assert his authority, William and the Norman lords had numerous castles and fortifications built throughout England. The Tower of London became one of the best-known symbols of this new power.

Towards the end of his reign, William faced renewed tensions, particularly with King Philip I of France.

In 1087, he led a final campaign in the Vexin and ordered the town of Mantes to be burned. Weakened and ill, William died in Rouen on 9 September 1087. He was buried at the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen.

His eldest son, Robert Curthose, inherited the Duchy of Normandy, while his son William Rufus succeeded him on the English throne.

Nearly a thousand years later, the story of William the Conqueror remains deeply embedded in the heritage of Normandy and England. In 2027, to mark the thousandth anniversary of his birth, Millenium invites visitors to rediscover his story, as well as that of the Normans and the legacy they left across Europe.