Middle Ages: William the Conqueror

William the Conqueror (William I of England)
1028–1087
William the Conqueror was the Duke of Normandy, and already recognised as the greatest warrior of his age when he landed a fleet at Hastings, and conquered the Saxon kingdom of England.

William is credited with kick-starting England into the phase known as Medieval England; William was the victor at the Battle of Hastings; he introduced modern castle building techniques into Medieval England and by his death in 1087, he had financially tied down many people with the Domesday Book.

The laws introduced by William the Conqueror after his victory at Hastings in 1066, had an impact on everybody in England. These laws were introduced by William to control the English. William has gained a reputation of being nothing more than a tyrant in England.

The archaeology, the texts, and the administrative records all show that the Conquest was a cataclysmic and traumatic event. The people of England were dispossessed and the old ruling class displaced.

Was the Norman invader a great leader who ushered in a new civilised era for England – or a greedy brute who terrorised the Anglo-Saxons? Nicholas Vincent offers his interpretation of the Conqueror’s true character…

A HISTORIAN has claimed William the Conqueror’s ruthless reputation for a genocidal campaign in northern England may be due to an accounting blunder.

The cheerful and generous nature many chroniclers ascribed to the victor of the battle of Hastings in fact belonged to someone else, says historian.