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William the Conqueror

King of England from 1066 to 1087, Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 (1028–1087)

32 dated entries naming William the Conqueror, drawn from 29 separate years between 1028 CE and 1135 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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11th century

  • 1028William I (the Conqueror), king of England (approximate date) (d. 1087)source
  • 1035c. July 3 – 8-year-old William I becomes duke of Normandy after his father Robert I ("the Magnificent") dies on a pilgrimage at Nicaea (modern Turkey). Robert's death leads to a period of instability in Normandy, as William is too young to take his father's place. The Norman nobles in the region take the opportunity to settle old feuds and to increase their private wealth.source
  • 1047August 10 – Battle of Val-ès-Dunes: Norman duke William I secures control over Normandy with assistance from King Henry I of France by defeating rebel Norman barons at Caen. Later in October, William promulgates the "Truce of God" throughout his duchy.source
  • 1051Spring – William of Normandy consolidates his power in Normandy. He fights over the control of Maine (after the death of Count Hugh IV), and lays siege to the fortresses of Alençon and Domfront (Western France).source
  • 1054Battle of Mortemer: The Normans, led by Duke William the Conqueror, defeat a French army (near Mortemer), as it is caught pillaging and plundering. King Henry I of France withdraws his main army from the Duchy of Normandy as a result. Guy I, Count of Ponthieu, is captured during the course of the battle.source
  • 1054Judith of Lens, niece of William the Conqueror (or 1055)source
  • 1055Judith of Lens, niece of William the Conqueror (or 1054)source
  • 1057August – Battle of Varaville: Norman forces under William the Conqueror defeat a Franco-Angevin army at the mouth of the Dives. King Henry I of France on campaign in Normandy is forced to retreat his army.source
  • 1061Spring – Robert de Grandmesnil, his nephew Berengar, half-sister Judith (future wife of Roger I), and eleven monks of the Abbey of Saint-Evroul, are banished by Duke William II ("the Bastard") of Normandy for violence, and travel to Southern Italy.source
  • 1063Duke William I (the Bastard) claims the province of Maine and betroths his son Robert to Margaret, daughter of late Count Herbert II.source
  • 1064Duke William I (the Bastard) demands the release of Harold Godwinson from Guy I (after a ransom being paid). Harold must swear an oath to aid William to the throne of England.source
  • 1066September 12 – William, Duke of Normandy, assembles a fleet (around 700 warships) at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, in readiness for an invasion of England.source
  • 1066September 27 – William, Duke of Normandy and his army set sail from the mouth of the River Somme, beginning the Norman conquest of England. The following day he lands on the English coast at Pevensey, splits his forces, and sails with the main army to Hastings.source
  • 1067Spring – King William I (the Conqueror) returns to Normandy and takes with him Edgar Ætheling (grandson of Edmund Ironside), Archbishop Stigand, and the brothers Morcar and Edwin.source
  • 1068Siege of Exeter: Norman forces under King William I (the Conqueror) take the city of Exeter after a siege of 18-days.source
  • 1069At Stafford, William the Conqueror swiftly defeats a rebellion led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia.source
  • 1069Winter of 1069–1070 – Harrying of the North: King William the Conqueror quells rebellions made by his English subjects against his rule, campaigning through the north of England with his forces, burning houses, crops, cattle and land from York to Durham, resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 people, mainly from starvation and winter cold.source
  • 1070Harrying of the North: William the Conqueror quells rebellions in the north of his Kingdom of England following the invasion by Sweyn II. Widespread famine follows the devastation wrought.source
  • 1071The English rebels under Hereward the Wake and Morcar, Saxon former earl of Northumbria, are forced to retreat to their stronghold on the Isle of Ely in The Fens. They make a desperate stand against the Norman forces led by King William the Conqueror, but are defeated.source
  • 1072William the Conqueror, King of England, invades Scotland and receives the submission of King Malcolm III. He agrees to sign the Treaty of Abernethy.source
  • 1075Revolt of the Earls: The Earls Ralph de Gael, Roger de Breteuil and Waltheof, begin a revolt against King William I (the Conqueror) in the last serious act of resistance to the Norman Conquest.source
  • 1076May 31 – Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, a participant in the Revolt of the Earls against King William the Conqueror, is beheaded near Winchester.source
  • 1077Robert Curthose instigates his first insurrection against his father, King William the Conqueror in the Normandy.source
  • 1079King William the Conqueror establishes the New Forest in Southern England. He proclaims it as a royal forest, using it for hunting, mainly of deer.source
  • 1080May 14 – Walcher, bishop of Durham, is killed by rebel Northumbrians. King William the Conqueror sends a punitive expedition led by his half-brother Odo of Bayeux to pacify Northumbria.source
  • 1081King William the Conqueror of England orders the creation of a castle at Cardiff during his armed pilgrimage in southern Wales. The first castle on the site would be a motte and bailey type and is built on existing Roman fortifications.source
  • 1083King William the Conqueror imprisons his half-brother Odo of Bayeux for planning a military expedition to Italy.source
  • 1085The Domesday Survey is commissioned by King William the Conqueror, apparently prompted by the abortive invasion of Canute IV, to ensure proper taxation and levies.source
  • 1086August 1 – King William the Conqueror calls for a meeting at Old Sarum, where he invites his major vassals and tenants-in-chief to swear allegiance to him. This is known as the Oath of Salisbury.source
  • 1087September 9 – William the Conqueror dies in Rouen after a fall from his horse. He is succeeded as king of England by his third son William II.source
  • 1088Spring – A rebellion led by William the Conqueror's half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert (2nd Earl of Cornwall), begins against King William II with the aim to remove him from the throne. Odo's revolt in Kent and Sussex is supported by nobles across the country.source

12th century

  • 1135December 1 – King Henry I dies at Lyons-la-Forêt in Normandy after a 35-year reign. He is succeeded by his nephew Stephen of Blois (grandson of William the Conqueror), who asserts his claim to the throne in opposition to claims by Henry's daughter Matilda (prolonged in a civil war known as The Anarchy).source

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