(Begun 22-2-2016, a work in progress) Updated 17-7-2016.
Blah re types of historical problems arising with William's case fix.
Once he had won the Battle of Hastings and begun his conquering of the rest of England, William the Conqueror firstly had to secure his new territorial possessions. How he would do this, or who he would employ to achieve it, has not been so clear from available writings on English aristocratic genealogies such as Burke's Peerage. This article therefore tries to make some extra remarks on matters.
The "strong men" used by William to secure his new English possessions, deliberately or accidentally as an aftermath of a successful invasion, became the basis for a new wave of British aristocracy, albeit an imported breed of "Norman". But just who were they, these Normans, or Norman-French, and were any of them French-but-not-Normans? And should we also ask, who were their wives? Who were their sons and daughters?
About 1066, we find from many British-produced sources on British aristocracy (such as Burke's Peerage) that many notable lineages began with a soldier who had "accompanied" William the Conqueror to England. That is, he was a man who had chosen to become involved in an invasion of England. We have no clear idea what might have happened to such men if William's invasion had been repulsed, been a disaster; such outcomes can live only in the realms of virtual history.
The King of England had been Aethelred the Unready (c.968-1016), whose son Edward (the Confessor (1003-1066) became King of England. (fix note The epithet The Unready refers to "bad-counselled". Aethelred was son of King Edgar and Queen Aelfhryth. Aethelred from 991 had to pay tribute to Danish raiders, and in 1002 he unwisely ordered a massacre of Danish settlers. so that in 1003 Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard invaded England. Aethelrerd fled to Normandy and was replaced as King of England by Sweyn (who died in 1014) so that Aethelred replaced Sweyn in turn in 1014. Edward (later The Confessor) when he repaired to Normandy had become friends with William the bastard, destined to become Duke of Normandy and later the Conqueror of England. Edward promised William that William would inherit the English crown, but later reneged on any such arrangements. The crown of England would go to a brother-in-law of Edward, Harold Godwinson, a right-hand man of Edward. Outraged, William however found that the Pope supported his claim to the English throne, so William prepared an invasion.
The De Conteville family
But let's hold it right there and find another place to start, to see if we can find out anything new or interesting. To start not with William's invasion, but with his extended family. William came from Conteville, a small settlement south of the River Seine in Normandy. Today this area in France seems to have a population as large as somewhat above 80, that is all, 80+ people. Yet in William's times, the De Conteville family was quite large. Several De Conteville's were lost in the White Ship disaster of fix year. They were ... and so, do any tales hang hereby or nearby hereby?
Geoffrey Le Goz d'Avranches, Died in white ship disaster, name is la Blanche-Nef in French, sank in English Channel off Barfeur France on 22 Nov 1120, hit a known rock (it had a name) and capsized, sank. Only two survived, a butcher from Rouen and Geoffrey d l'Aigle. Others dying in white ship disaster included: William Adelin only surv legit son of Henry I of England, his death led to civil war period known as The Anarchy. William Adeline had provided much wine, a lot of people were pissed. White Ship captain was Thomas Fitzstephen son of Stephen Fitzairard who had been captain of Mora for Wm's invasion, ship provided by Duchess Matilda. Also died were Henry I's illegit son Richard of Lincoln, Henry I's ihlegit dr Matilda Fitzroy Countess Perche, It is said the captain surfaced in water but let himself drown rather than face the king's wrath. Henry had been left with only one legit child a dr named Matilda who had married Geoffrey of Anjou the founder of the Plantagenet dynasty. Died also were Richard Avranches Earl2 Chester and his brother Otheur; Geoffrey Ridel, Walter of Everci; Geoffrey archdeacon of Hereford, the Countess of Chester, the king's niece Lucia-Mahaut of Blois,
As a matter of formerly-used historiography, a narrow definition of "Companion" of William the Conqueror has been regarding those who fought with him at The Battle of Hastings, the non-narrow definition sees William involved with other people and other events. This article will follow-up on a non-narrow definition. (The book exists, noted from the Internet: Leslie Gilbert Pine, They Came With The Conqueror: A study of the modern descendants of the Normans. London,. Evans Bros., 1954., which I have not read. (A wikipedia page says that the maximum number of William's "companions" is 35.)
This essay could have become lengthy and ways early-on had to be implemented to ensure it stayed as short as possible. It became faster to check a list of Norman-built castles of England after 1066. Luckily, a website (www.essentiallyengland.com, by Sue Marchant who grew up in East Germany and later moved to live in England) asks this very question: How many castles did the Normans build in England in the years following the conquest of England in 1066?
An answer is that many such "castles" were not really castles at all, they were "hastily erected defences", just an earthen mound(s) with a wooden palisade on top, meant to be discarded when no longer needed. Archaeologists, however, suspect that between 1066 and 1086, the Normans built about 500 motte-and-bailey castles in England. Apart from the Tower of London, which began with The White Tower meant to intimidate London, there are more than 90 Norman castles still standing. These include:
1096: Alnwick Castle: Built in 1096 by Yves de Vescy, destined to become a base for the Percy dukes of Northumberland.
A chronology is necessary ...
980AD: First of the Viking raiders reaches England, at Hampshire. More raids in 981-982, Devon was invaded in 988.
991AD: A treaty arises between Charles (879-929) the Simple (or Straightforward) of France (a Carolingian noble, King of West Franks) and the Norwegian Hrolf Ganger, Rolf the Ganger, or Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy; Wood says this treaty was "brokered by the Pope". (fix note Rollo in the 2015-2016 TV series The Vikings by Michael Hirst is brother of the violent Viking chieftain/king, Ragnar Lothbrock. In fact, from a wikipedia page, Vikings led by Rollo in 911 had besieged Paris and Chartres, France. The Vikings had won at Chartres by 26 August and the result was the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte.) In exchange for future loyalty to the French, the Vikings were given all the land from the river Epte to the sea, plus Brittany, a neighbouring country which France had always been unable to take. Rollo in return agreed to become a Christian and to marry Charles' daughter Gisela. See Harriet Harvey Wood, The Battle of Hastings: The Fall of Anglo-Saxon England. London, Atlantic Books, 2008.
Wood finds that the 991 Battle of Maldon uncannily foreshadows the later Battle of Hastings (between Olaf Tryggvason, later King of Norway, raids Essex and Byrhtnoth an elderly ealdorman of Essex. Byrtnoth falls, some of his men desert, the rest fight on around their fallen leader as by custom ) Had Byrhtnoth been overconfident as he planned where to fight the battle, on a causeway he had let the Vikings have access to?
1001: Emma, sister of Richard II of Normandy, marries Aethelred, King of England, a matter fateful regarding the later invasion of England by William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy.
1002: Unwise counsel: Aethelred the Unready declares that England will massacre all Danes as they are planning to assassinate him. The order is impossible to implement as so many in England were married to Danes.
1003-1004: Protection money: Sweyn, King of Denmark, harries England yet again. He is paid off in 1007 some 36,000 pounds to go away. He returns in 1009 with an army and stays. In 1012 he is paid 48,000 pounds and in 1013 he is accepted as King of England while Aethelered, wife Emma (sister of a Duke of Normandy) and children are exiled to Normandy. . In 1018, the Danish army has again bothered England, which pays 18,500 pounds to Cnut (son of Sweyn), as recompense to his army. Cnut as ruler of England by conquest and not succession, did however permit the existence of many old English laws and customs, let the Church alone and protected England from further Viking raids. He used a group of bodyguards called housecarls, which became the core of an English army loyal to a particular monarch. Cnut, who had married Emma the widow of Aetheldred, died in 1035 and his successor was his son Harold Harefoot (King Harold I). Harold when he died was succeeded by his brother Harthacnut (who shortly dropped dead at a wedding) and who had invited Edward a son of Aethelered to succeed him in 1041 - who became Edward the Confessor and reigned for 24 years.
1033: The father of William the later Conqueror, Robert Duke Normandy, gathers a fleet for the purpose of delivering Aethelred's children back to England, This fleet was awhile at Jersey then sailed to attack Brittany. The gesture was hollow. Alfred, one of Emma's sons by Aetheldred, ended blinded and died at Ely.
1041: Edward (The Confessor) as King of England finds he cannot ignore three earls, Siward Earl of Northumbria (Danish territory, and Siward was a Dane), Leofric Earl of Mercia (comprised of Wales and the Midlands) and Godwin Earl of Essex/Wessex, the south of England, who originally had all been appointed by King Cnut. At this time the royal treasury of England was kept at Winchester, the former capital of England. In company with the three powerful earls, Edward once removed his mother Emma, who lived at Winchester, from connections with the Treasury; she died in 1051. King Edward married Edith a daughter of Godwin Earl of Essex
1051: Exile of Earl Godwin and his family from England. Godwin returned to England by fix year. (Cnut had five pitched battles against Edmund Ironside due to see fix Wood).
1053: Earl Godwin of Wessex dies of a stroke at King Edward's Easter feast and is succeeded by his son Harold Godwineson, who became the richest and most powerful man in England. When Siward the Earl of Northumbria died in 1055 he was replaced by Tostig a brother of Harold. When Leofric died part of Mercia went to his son Aelfgar, part of it also went to the family of Godwin. Edward however had still not produced an heir and some thought he might be succeeded by sons (such as Edward Aetheling) of his half-brother, Edmund Ironside. Wood feels in her book that the system of primogeniture in England was weaker than it was in Normandy. The situation in England was that a king could be elected but once he was consecrated as King, the people had no way left to be rid of him. (In 1066 when King Harold was killed, the English Witan would have preferred to elect Edgar as king, Edgar a grandson of Edmund Ironside, a great-nephew of Edward the Confessor.) Suffice to say, it was unclear who would succeed in England as king if Edward the Confessor died. Worse, there were rumours that the kingship of England had been promised by various English kings to various names, including some Vikings, who became claimants, and one such claimant was William the Bastard who became Duke of Normandy, William de Conteville.
William's claim to the English throne was based on the scenario where his great aunt, Emma de Conteville, daughter of Richard II Duke of Normandy, was wife of England's King Aethelred. (Wood, p. 37). Emma was fix from PAF. Thus William felt he was a kinsman of Edward the Confessor and a cousin at one remove of the king of England. His family moreover had given help to Aethelred's family when Aethelred was exiled from England. In gratitude for this help, Edward (The Confessor) had once promised that William would succeed him (Edward) as king of England. At the time this promise was allegedly made, William would have been aged 13 and Edward a man of 40. Wood wonders also if the throne was indeed in Edward's keeping such that he could bequeath it to William. The present writer fwels that to the extent that it was customary that the King of (Anglo-Saxon) England was elected by the Witan, it was never in Edward's keeping that William could be promised anything substantive at all regarding the English throne. That is, William's claim to the English throne came from cloud cuckoo land.
1062: King Harold of England has war with Welsh king Gruffydd ap Llewellyn who was eventually killed by other Welsh.
1066AD: At this time England (Wood lists) probably traded in coinage, pottery, wood, leather, textiles. Germany took fish, wool and cattle in exchange for silver, and England imported garments in purple or silk, gold for all sorts of adornments, precious stones, vestments, pigments, wine, oil, ivory, brass, tin, sulphur and glass. Books, probably. The main ranks seen in English society were ealdormen (earls), thegns (thanes, some directly holding land from the king, others who held the land of subsidiary lords and were more like gentry/yeomanry, and churls (free peasants, farmers). Land held was measured in terms of hides (a hide was an indeterminate measurement and referred mostly to enough land to support a household. Presumably, a family numerous with children required a larger hide, at least in theory).
English rulers tended to be literate (Harold had been well enough educated for a monarch) but Normans not (William the Bastard was probably illiterate, although Wood says there is no evidence he was or was not). And we should not forget superstition: on 24 April 1066 was an appearance of Halley's Comet, exciting awe, wonder and varied comment. In the first half of 1066, William's activities are difficult to chronologise, but increasingly he was moving to his decision to invade England, his work included diplomatic activity, some of it to justify his causes for action. By 1066 William had reinforced his southern borders by taking better possession of Vexin and Maine and he was secure with Ponthieu to the east of Normandy. William controlled enough of the French coast for his purposes, but Brittany to William's west was less secure however. Importantly, while William was working on his invasion, and after the Battle of Hastings, he met no threats to his powers over Normandy, his home territory remained loyal to him. Diplomatically, William sent messages to the Pope, to the Holy Roman Emperor (fix name), to the King of Denmark (fix name). Sweyn Estrithson sent soldiers to help Harold, his cousin, and not to William. Evidence is slim but it is thought that William conveyed to the Pope, views on king Edward's promise that William would inherit the English throne, and about Harold's oath and perjury. It is thought that the Pope (Pope Alexander II, who was replaced in 1073 by Gregory VII) took William's side in arguments. Further, Wood feels (pp. 133ff), that one factor influencing Alexander's decisions to support the Norman William in England (as long as he bowed to Christendom) was a wish not to annoy the Normans of Southern Italy, as they had become the military protectors of the Papacy in Italy. The cultural spirits that inspired the Crusades against Muslims after 1095 was well alive by 1066, and Wood feels that they should not be overlooked in the case of the Papal view of William's invasion. In short, the co-invader with William could enjoy Papal approval of a mission to bring down a ruling usurper/perjurer (Harold), to bring the English Church to greater spiritual health, even if English land and booty was taken. (Papal envoys had inspected England in 1062 and disapproved relatively little except for Stigand being both archbishop of York and bishop of Worcester, an irregular arrangement.) Wood (p. 135) feels the similarity of the logic approving William's invasion and papal approval of what became the Crusades is "uncanny". Pope Alexander II gave William a papal banner to use while invading, and so the papacy's die was cast, anti-Harold; it was almost a holy war. Wood however, p. 141, cites researchers who have doubted whether William really had papal backing, and that if papal backing was given for William's invasion, it was retrospective (and perhaps not given till 1070?). (It is known that the papacy had given the De Hauteville Normans in Italy a papal banner, it is still not clear, according to Wood, that a papal banner was actually given to William in 1066, signifying papal approval of his activities.)
A wikipedia page on William doubts he had papal backing before his invasion, but fudges the question of whether William displayed a papal banner signifying papal approval of his invasion plan.
William's fleet? The English were more experienced with naval work than the Normans were. William had no standing navy, so for any naval/invasion exercise he had to start from scratch. After his decision to invade he had to order ships be built. Surviving ship lists indicate William had large ships and small as contributed by his backers, some transports for stores and equipment, some horse carriers, about 1000 ships were contributed by his nobles. (A post-invasion writer, Maistre Wace, in Roman de Rou said William had 696 ships). (Wood, pp. 106ff, p. 227)
William had to wait for winds for his ships. He moved his forces from Dives (a rivermouth) to St Valery at the mouth of the Somme, and was at St Valery about 14 days at the same time as the English fleet was at London, Wood (p. 140) suspects because it made for a shorter crossing to England, or was it because William was blown there by prevailing winds? Harold at some point visited the Isle of Wight, and he may have had his forces gathered for up to four months, anticipating an aggressive move by William. At some point, Harold's fleet was sent to London for refits. There were storms on the French coasts which cost William either ships or men.
Historians, says Wood (pp. 96ff), are still vexed by not knowing the sizes of the armies used at Hastings. We still lack knowledge of just how many ships William had used for his invasion. The topography of the actual battle site has changed over time. It has been thought that Harold was obliged to start fighting before all his troops had arrived for battle, or alternatively that he had too many men for the site he had to fight on. William had arrived earlier than Harold and so had more time to use while choosing his battlefield tactics. Wood suspects that the armies were of about 6,000-8,000 men on each side; the Battle of Hastings took all day and the two sides were fairly evenly matched except the Normans used about 2500 cavalry, the English did not. Wood (p. 108) thinks the English had used cavalry to travel to fight William's army but did not fight with them at the Battle of Hastings. The English were not used to fighting with or against horses, their usual enemies the Welsh, and the Vikings, did not use horse routinely or effectively, whereas the Normans used horses specially bred and trained for war use. The English were not amateur forces outclassed by a more professional Norman outfit, both sides were feudal in organisation, that is, landholders had duties to provide military servicemen.
The men of William's army occupied four categories: they fought for pay, some were armed by William, those who armed themselves, some fulfilled feudal obligations. William had decided to pay his army to prevent it ravaging and foraging in Normandy, especially while his shops were waiting for favourable winds, although in England his army was allowed to ravage/forage. The Bretonese fighters involved probably fought for pay and they were later used by William or his sons. Most of William's army ere infantry. The English were defending and many higher-ranking Normans were keen to be rewarded with lands in return for their military efforts to assist William's invasion. Wood p. 116 reports that B. S. Bachrach has estimated that before his invasion sailed, during a month's wait, William's army in their last month in Normandy used 9000 cartloads of grain, straw, wine, firewood, the horses produced 700,000 gallons of urine and dropped 5 million pounds of horseshit. In all, William had to keep his army together for four months.
Alfred the Great and his son Edward the Elder, Wood says, had seen to it that nowhere in England was more than 20 miles from an area (burhs, or towns) fortified against attack from Vikings, and it is folklore that nowhere in England is more than 70 miles from the sea. Englandf also gave good attention to bridge maintenance as an aid to both trade and military work. What of the alleged lack of castles in England? Wood says, that it is said that one reason that William the Conqueror was able to subdue England so quickly was that he build so many castles so quickly (some of the castles are listed below), but it was not so, due to the system of burhs, which were maintained by local initiative, not by regionally-influential nobles. In 1066 when King Harold was killed, the English would gave preferred to elect Edgar as king, Edgar a son of Alfred.)
All in all, William as Conqueror and the new king of England seems quite brutal, but his age was brutal, his neighbours were brutal. The Englisher Earl Tostig , an indirect cause of William's invasion, was brutal and unscrupulous. Borman, p. 72, writing on William's wife Matilda, daughter of Baldwin of Flanders, once a regent of France, sees William as possessing "a naturally violent temperament". Baldwin admired William and induced Henry I of France to think well of the Duke of Normandy.
Harald III was also a claimant to the English throne. Also known as Harald Hardrada, he invaded northern England in pursuit of his claim. In September 1066 he won the Battle of Fulford but he lost the 28 September Battle of Stamford Bridge.
On 24 September, Harald Hardrada (Harald III of Norway) took the leading men of York as hostages and moved his forces to Stamford Bridge. Meanwhile, Harold, King of England, in southern England, had learned of the Norwegian invasion and rushed north, making about 25 miles (40km) per day. On 25 September, Harold took Hardarada's forces by surprise at Stamford Bridge. On 25 September 1066 there occurred the Battle of Stamford Bridge near York. The Viking King Harold Hardrada was killed by an arrow to the eye. His English ally, Harold's own brother, Tostig, was killed. The Norwegian invaders had used 300 ships, but only 24 ships were needed to transport their survivors homes, such had been the battle death rates.
William used troops from Britanny and Flanders. He mustered his forces at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, and was ready to cross the Channel by 12 August, but was held back by contrary winds.
Later, William had the remains of a saint taken out of its tomb, to parade it by way of praying for favourable winds. William was already thinking of his ships being at Pevensey on the English coast. By 28 September a high pressure weather system appeared, giving William fine weather and a southerly wind. He set sail with his invasion forces. William's own ship, the Mora, fix name given him by his wife Matilda, was far ahead of William's navy. (Matilda was pregnant when William began his invasion of England, Borman thinks pregnant with her daughter, Adela.)
The Norman fleet landed at Pevensey on 28 September (says a wikipedia page) or on the morning of the 29th (says a book), except for a few lost ships which landed accidentally at Romney and were attacked by locals, and lost out. It is not known if William by the 29th knew of the coincident Norwegian invasion. What William did was decide that Pevensey (on a lagoon situation) was a poor place for a battle, despite its good harbour, so he wanted to move his army east to Hastings, near a main road to London, Hastings being about 200 miles or 320km from London. (But William could not move directly west, due to salt marshes, he first had to go east, inland, then west to Hastings.) A wikipedia page says that at Hastings. William built a wooden castle he used as a base for ravaging the Hastings area (which was territory held by Earl Godwin). Hastings had a useful harbour plus a better site for a battle. And around Hastings, William let his men ravage the area, to inconvenience Earl Godwin and his forces. An English messenger, Robert FitzWymark, brought William official news that Harold had just won his battle of Stamford Bridge, a battle with Tostig (Harold's own brother), and Vikings as well. William then set to waiting for Harold's army to arrive. Wood thinks Harold was ready to leave the north by 2 October, and that Harold would arrive in London by 6-7 October. Harold however left some of his army about York/in north England, under the command of ??? fix name. In London, Harold rested his men, sent his fleet to cut off the Norman navy, and generally set to co-ordinations. Harold by legend sent another messenger to William, restating Harold's right to the throne and bidding William and his invasion forces to leave. William responded with a lengthy statement of his own claim to the English throne, and offered to submit his claim to either English or Norman Law, or to a trial by personal combat, (Wood, pp. 1644ff) not that the laws of either area were relevant, or that the English particularly respected the outcomes of trials by personal combat. (This legend at least means that neither army took the other by surprise.) (About a fortnight passed between the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings.)
In general, William had a more urgent need than Harold for a quick victory. As well, Harold could retreat and fight again, William could not retreat. Come 14th October 1066. It seems that two matters were necessary for William, he had to choose a battleground best for his cavalry to operate, and once a ground was chosen, his men had to don their armour. (By local legend, just as the Normans had stopped to arm themselves at Hedgeland, Telham Hill, near Hastings, the best ground for fighting, they saw the English army emerging from nearby woods. It is thought the English had higher ground, and massed themselves so tightly that none in their ranks could fall down.) Harold may have lacked archers, Wood suggests. It seems (Wood pp. 175pp) that the armies arrived at the battleground nearly simultaneously, suggesting that neither side had time to fully prepare to meet the other. But the English were well-prepared for the first moves from the Norman archers and infantry. (William later built Battle Abbey on the battleground, the building work changing the topography as work went on.) In a propaganda move for his troops that seems bizarre to the modern mind, before battle began, William made an arrangement about his neck of the bones of the saints he said had been invoked when king Edward had sworn that William would be given the English throne. Scholars have remained divided about the battle tactics used, but in general, it seems that William succeeded by using a series of fake-retreats by the Normans to lure the English into chasing retreating Normans, so breaking ranks and weakening their formations. If the English had not broken up their own formations, they would have remained impregnable, bottling up the Normans. William had a front rank of foot soldiers armed with bows (Wood p. 238 Note xcvii says it is unlikely that crossbowmen were used to Hastings), a second infantry rank carrying hauberks, back with mounted knights plus William himself as battle director. On his left William had put his Breton mercenaries, his Norman/French troops on his right. By legend, William's left wing turned tail. Another story is that a knight named Taillefer went before his own army and juggled his sword in contempt of the English. An Englishmen reacted to this and attacked him, only to be run down by Taillefer using a lance, then to be beheaded by sword-blows, thus opening the battle. The battle began about 9am with trumpet blares from both sides, the Normans downhill, the English massed uphill. Moving uphill, one or two of the Norman infantry ranks attacked the tightly-packed English but made little progress. The tight massing and English weaponry also had the Norman cavalry at a disadvantage, at which point, by legend, William's left flank of Bretons turned tail. It is not impossible that this happened when William was unhorsed and the Bretons thought him killed, he lost three horses in all during the battle. At which point, the English right flank broke ranks to chase seemingly fleeing Normans. Views are that this Norman retreat had been genuine, not a feint, so that Harold should have widened any attack on the Normans. He did not. A series of feigned retreats buy the Normans enabled the Normans to harry the flanks of Harold's army and wear it down. For the English, the next most decisive battle-phase was when King Harold was killed (by an arrow to the eye), after which English fighters lost heart and began to desert into the forest. It seems some of the English made a vain last stand and were cut down. William pitched his tent for the knight where Harold's banners had been. The battles of 1066 had more or less wiped out the cream of English society, so William's way was made easier.
And we next ask here, what happened once William had won? (Borman (p. 99) sees William as needing five years to fully secure his new kingdom.) Above all, what measures did William take to secure his new territorial holding - all of England. William waited awhile at Hastings, expecting to receive submissions to his new regime from various parts of England, The submissions did not come. Insdtead, the remaining English powers-that-were, the archbishops Stigand and Ealdred, plus earls such as Edwin and Morcar, elected "the young atheling Edgar" as king in the stead of the dead Harold. (Wood, p. 199.) William's invasion was seen as insignificant by the English, at which point, William had to remain brutal. He did arrive at receiving submissions from Dover (), Canterbury, Winchester, and the folk of Romney who had slaughtered parts of his invasion force who had accidentally landed there were punished. William devastated all country he moved across, and his army soon encircled London. William soon razed Southwark, which was used as an Anglo-Saxon stronghold. Willaim then ordered tropps to go to Winchester to secure the former Queen Edith, widow of Edward the Confessor. Winchester was also home for the English royal treasury. In early December William marched to Berkhamstead to receive submission from the man who had been defiantly elected King of England, Edgar. William then made his coronation plans. Yet his new subjects viewed him as a foreigner, a bastard and a usurper. William during his coronation was said to be trembling from head to foot. (Borman p. 105.) William shortly wanted to see his wife Matilda recognised as Queen of the English, an idea which the English preferred to downplay, as traditionally they had made little of the female consorts of their kings. As it happened, Matilda did not visit England for two years, despite her enthusiasm about her new domain. William wished to give her up to 25 per cent of his new acquisitions, estates in Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall (which the Domesday Book would have estimated gave her about 1070 pounds per year income and made her the richest woman in England). And is this, he was consistent, he never seemed to give anyone large estates that could be consolidated, he preferred to dole out estates in several counties, in practice, split-up estates which prevented his new landholder was gaining too much power in any single area.
Edgar and his backers finally submitted to William at Berkhamstead, In Westminster Abbey, William was crowned king of England on Christmas Day 1066, archbishop Ealdred placing the crown on his head, the terms the king in turn agreed to being much the same as King Cnut had earlier agreed to. The King would rule well as long as the people in turn were loyal to him - but as it turned out, the people were often disloyal, and so William was often brutal toward them. In northern England especially would appear an anti-Norman coalition of the Saxon ex-king, Edgar Atheling, his brother-in-law the King of Scotland (Malcolm? fix name) and the Danish king Sweyn Estrithson. Putting down their pretensions in 1069-1070 became known as The Harrying of the North. In whole regions north of the Humber River, William's troops burned whatever made for food supplies. Famine struck and killed 100,000 people, defenceless people, chroniclers reported. Wood says (p. 202) that initially, William on his first visit home to Normandy had displayed gold and treasure from England, but in general he never quite felt at home in England and gradually began to spend more time in Normandy. Pointedly, he stopped his attempts to learn to speak England and so his underlings did the same, leading to the Normanization of the English as much as it led to the Anglicization of the Normans. William himself by the way never again led an army or successfully besieged a fortress. Wood sees William (p. 203) as wanting the status of a consecrated king (to assist his rivalry with the King of France) and the right to extract as much loot as he legally could from England, which in turn meant he had to rule according to the laws of Edward the Confessor and Edward's predecessor, the Dane Cnut. (Cnut's rule had done little to interrupt Anglo-Saxon ways, Wood suggests.)
Caldbec, Hill, 14 October 1066: Battle. Did the battle really have the blessings of the Papacy? (Wood, but see fix above.)
Early on, William had made a writ confirming the rights and privileges of the City of London. Some major English landowners were confirmed in their positions, such as earls Edwin and Morcar (They rebelled in 1069 and again in 1071 with the rising of Hereward the Wake). Stigand continued as an archbishop. Edwin ended killed by his own men. Morcar ended imprisoned. By 1086 when the Domesday Book was prepared, only 8 per cent of English land was still owned by English who'd had it before 1066. Eventually, no Englishman was an earl, bishop or abbot, except it seems, St. Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester. England was ruled by foreigners. It seems from Wood that the Papacy wished to use Normal dominance to dominate the English church into fuller obedience to the Papacy. Wood also sees a campaign of intermarriage between Norman men and Englishwomen as being begun, and the new Norman rulers were little interested in the welfare of their English inferiors. Wood sees a good many younger Englishmen emigrating to either Scandinavia or heading to the Byzantine empire for military service. However, a good range of useful English institutions were retained by the Normans. Wood sees the English of higher social standing surviving better in the cities than the countrysides, and in particular, the "moneyers" of English life continued to be the English (which to the mind of the present writer seems a mistake on the part of the Normans, a particular misjudgement). Wood (p. 210) cites a view of a historian of Anglo-Saxon England, Sir Frank Stenton ... the Normans were political masters but themselves had produced little in the way of art, learning, or literature. Perhaps, the Normans were merely jumped-up barbarians?
William remained in England till March 1067, then visited Normandy.
Several factors the Normans institutionalised were less well thought out, the matters of absentee land ownership (or rather, management), feudal obligations to fight (in either England or Normandy), divided loyalties for those either high or low in society, language matters (Latin being used for ecclesiastical and higher-level official or secular matters). England remained victim of family feuds, dynastic feuds, reasons for warfare in France, fights of bloody violence between brothers, for many centuries. (But would be alternative have been much different, (Wood feels that Harold as king would have moved England closer to Scandinavian forms of life and rule.) It is said that after Hastings, William buried his own military dead but left the bodies of any killed English in the open as food for the birds and beasts of carrion. Borman writes p. 99 that William refused a request from Harold's mother that she be given her son's body to be given a fitting burial. She had also list Harold's two brothers, Leofwine and Gyrth.
Back in Normandy once she had heard the good news of William's invasion becoming a success, his wife Matilda emerged from a Benedictine priory where she had taken refuge, and began organizing pro-Norman propaganda about the victory. The legend arose that she commissioned the Tapestry of Bayeux as pro-Norman propaganda. (Borman, pp. 100ff.) Matilda whilst William was in England was regent of Normandy, she could do much as she pleased and seems to have enjoyed doing so. Borman however feels as though the tapestry was made in England, not in Normandy. The tapestry she says contains secretive hints and subversions which contradict Norman propaganda about the whys and wherefores of the Battle of Hastings. Modern reinterpretations of the tapestry have noticed that the military stars of the battle are not the Normans but the French, who were led by Count Eustace II of Boulogne. Modern views (Borman says) are now that the tapestry was made by Englishwomen at Canterbury after Odo had commissioned the tapestry.
His new English subjects had no ways to resist William's brutality, Norman brutality. Routinely, defiant England had eyes gouged out or hands cut off. But i oibnly been some decades since England had earlier been invaded by Danes in 1013-1016. Yet the Normans were churchy, reasonably devout Christians, and they began a building program which would dot England with new churches, a church-building program which preceded the Norman building program of defensive structures. William refused to trust the English and relied on Normans to see his orders obeyed. His most trusted circle of Normans included his half-brother Odo of Bayeux, Rogert Montgomery, Roger Beaumont, Robert Mortain (de Conteville, also a half-brother of William), Alan of Brittany, Geoffrey of Coutances, Earl Hugh of Chester, Richard Fitzgilbert and William Warrene. All told, William's inner circle controlled about 25 per cent of England's land; William personally held a fifth of all lands, the church and various barons had "almost half" writers Borman. The more elite Normans typically used either French or Latin as languages. The use of English was systematically discouraged. Yet William also recognised that some English systems of government were more sophisticated than Norman ways, and he retained their institutions. Paradoxically, albeit slowly, better order persisted within the populace.
There was however, Borman writes (pp. 118ff), a somewhat murky affair of probable-revenge wreaked on behalf of Matilda. Years before, Matilda had been humiluated by a member of the Anglo-Saxon elite, Brihtric. It so happened that after the invasion, when Brihtric was probably in his sixties, she came to own his estates in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and his home county, Gloucestershire, although she later donated such lands. Brihtric had been part of the Exeter Rebellion against William in 1068, and Borman writes (p. 119) that he was one of the Anglo-Saxon elite not punished immediately after the 1066 invasion. He seems to have become a focus-point for a spirit of English rebellion. It so happened that some of Brihtric's lands were finally damaged by one of William's inner circle, William FitzOsbern.
And now we ask, who were William's strong men who most benefited from their "companionship" with William and his invasion? During the Battle of Hastings, not quite an all-day battle, Hugh of Ponthieu, brother of Guy, had fought well at Hastings. So did Eustace of Boulogne (Wood p. 229 reports that while it has been thought that the Tapestry of Bayeux was commissioned by William's half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, some historians now wonder if the tapestry was not commissioned by Eustace of Boulogne, partly as a disgraced Odo was rendered powerless from 1082.) King Harold had been finally cut down by a Norman knight named Giffard (or Gilfard). William made his bishop half-brother Odo the Earl of Kent and based him at the already-existing ecclesiastical centre of Canterbury Kent.
A wikipedia page says that after the Battle of Hastings, William appointed one Copsi or Copsig a supporter of the late Earl Tostig, exided in 1065, as Earl of Bernicia/Northumbria. Copsi in five weeks was killed by Oswulf, a grandson of Uchtred, then within six months Oswulf was killed by bandits. Gospatric of Northumbira was related to Uchtred, and claimed the earldom, giving William a bribe price for it. But in early 1068, William found Gospatric as a rebel-ally of Edgar Aetheling and Edwin Earl of Mercia and Edwin's brother Morcar. William crushed this rebellion and gave confiscated lands to Normans. Gospatric took exile to Scotland, his lands confiscated and given to Robert Comine (fix on his wikipedia page). In 1069 Edgar the Aetheling led a crew of Danes, Scots and Englishmen in rebellion, and for a time had Bamburgh Castle, where William left his without disturbance till 1072, see references to Harrying of The North. In 1072 William stripped Gospatric of Earldom of Northumbria and installed Siward's son Waltheof as Earl1 Northampton. Gospatric saw exile in Scotland then Flanders. Later King Malcolm Canmore of Scotland gave him Dunbar Castle (area became Earldom of Dunbar).
1066: Dane John Mound, a motte-and-bailey style erected at Canterbury by William on his way to London.
1066: A castle was begun by William I himself soon after the Battle of Hastings, one of the three original royal castles William I used. Another royal castle was Corfe Castle, begun in 1066.
1066: Oxford Castle was built soon after Battle of Hastings by Robert d'Oilly.
1066: Pevensey Castle, the first built in England by William I.
1066: Soon after the Battle of Hastings, William I built Dover Castle.
1066: Begun soon after Battle of Hastings, Colchester Castle, the largest Norman keep ever built in England.
1066-1067: Wallingford Castle, motte-and-bailey style, founded by Robert D'Oilly after the Battle of Hastings.
post-1066: Duffield Castle, wooden-built built on land given to Henry de Ferrers by William I after the Battle of Hastings. Henry was mostly based at Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. Destroyed in 1173 by Henry II but later rebuilt by the de Ferrers.
1067: Winchester Castle built as a Norman stronghold. Henry III added a great hall to it.
1066-1067: Ludlow Castle, built by Walter de Lacy as above.
1066-1068: Built soon after the Battle of Hastings was Bolsover Castle, built by Ranulf de Peverel, who had married a former mistress of William I.
Berkhamstead Castle, was founded by a half-brother of William I, Robert of Mortain.
1066-1067: Lydford Castle, built in motte-and-bailey style and later associated with Richard the Lionheart. Today only the eerthworks remain.
post-1066: Elsdon Castle is built by Robert da Umfraville. Only earthworks remain.
post-1066: In 1066 King Harold had Kimbolton Manor. When he died his land went to the de Bohun family, who built the first castle there.
Undated: Launceston Castle built in motte-and-bailey style by Robert, Count of Mortain, half-brother of William I. Rebuilt in C13th by Richard Earl of Cornwall.
William in the spring of 1067 left England for a visit to Normandy. Whereupon he suspected Matilda of infidelity with one of his knights left behind in Normandy, Grimoult du PLessis, and punished her. Matilda ended imprisoned, but finally, William believed her protestations of innocence, whereupon he began to punish Matilda'a alleged lover, who ended drawn and quartered. William's daughter Adeliza (not the recently-born Adela) was betrothed to a distant suitor, Alfonso VI, The Brave, King of Leon by the Pyrenees in Spain, who out of ambition and family squabbles would be making war against his own brothers. Adeliza found the idea of marriage with Alfonso distasteful. She ended married to Alfonso by proxy but died on her way to Spain to meet her new husband, and she was buried in Bayeux. (Although Borman pp. 122-123 tends to doubt this ending for Adeliza's story.) As late 1067 approached, William and Matilda displayed their new wealth and oversaw impressive new church buildings. Any enjoyment was spoiled by the death of Matilda's father. Baldwin V of Flanders, once Regent of France. The upshot was that the old hostilities between Normandy and France were resumed. Rebellions meanwhile had broken out in England, in Kent and Hereford shire, and seemed likely in Exeter (where Harold's mother Gytha still lived), so William needed to return to England. When he did so, his companion Roger of Montgomery went with him. William sailed from Dieppe for England on 6 December 1067 and had crushed rebellion by early 1068. William then commanded his wife Matilda to join him, and leave his son Robert in charge of Normandy. Matilda and her large entourage arrived in England just after Easter 1068, to Winchester, still pregnant with Adela. Matilda failed to prove popular with the English, who regarded a powerful woman as a strange conception even though Matilda's ancestor, Judith, a daughter of Charles the Bold, had earlier been married to a King of the West Saxons, Aethelwulf. Matilda soon had to be crowned as queen, and 11 May (Whitsunday) was the day chosen for the event. Matilda was to be an anointed Queen of England; her powers were to be constitutional, not customary. Shows of loyalty were made to both William and Matilda. Other shows of disloyalty (by elite Anglo-Saxon women including Gytha) managed to escape overseas, ironically, many of them going to Matilda's first home of Flanders. Some Anglo-Saxon women retreated to Scotland. In general, Norman women supplanted Anglo-Saxon women, and during William's reign, only 36 Anglo-Saxon women ended as notable landholders. A good many Anglo-Saxon women retreated into convents.
And while Matilda prepared for the birth of yet another baby, (a son who would be named Henry), William, had to deal with rebellion in England's north. Northumbria and Yorkshire were his least-controlled areas. As well, any rebels might be assisted by the king of Scotland, Malcolm III, and he had given accommodation to the ex-king of England, Edgar Aetheling. The brothers, earls Edwin and Morcar, were disloyal to William and failed to discourage the spirits of rebellion. Legend has it that on his way to York, William fortified key towns on the way, as with a castle built at Nottingham, two castles built about York and in Lincoln as well. New Norman defences made of wood began to dot the Midlands and northern England. (William often employed mercenaries to populate these new defences.) Thousands of existing homes were sacrificed to these new defences, writes Borman (p. 133). And in time, stone defences replaced these wooden structures.William soon decided where to maintain his court, not at Winchester (which had been bequeathed to Edith the widow of Edward the Confessor) but at Westminster in London. Royal Christmas gatherings were made at Gloucester.
The Harrying of the North was the most violent set of William's actions ever committed, so violent even he later lamented what he had done, the punishment he had meted out. The harrying resulted in widespread famine. Free people might have been moved to sell themselves into slavery to survive, allegedly, although other reports are that William's regime abolished slavery. Bodies had lain rotting in streets for lack of people to conduct burials.
1068: Warwick Castle, built by William I. Was rebuilt in stone in C13th by John de Plessis. Added to in C14th and C15th. fix storyline on Earl1 Warwick Henry Beaumont and Robert Beaumont Earl1 Leicester and Roger1 Barbatus Beaumont and William Abbot of Bec.
1067-1068: Arundel Castle (fix storyline), a motte-and-bailey style castle, was built from 1068, and for 850 years was used by the dukes of Norfolk.
1067-1068: A wikipedia page on Hugh Grandmesnil says that Hugh Grandmesnil was one of the companions of Wm the Conq, at one time appointed by William as governor of Winchester. The family had been stud breeders of good warhorses in Normandy, but were not uppermost in baronial rivalries. In 1067 Hugh Grandmesnil was one of William's main men and joined with William Fitzosbern and Bishop Odo in the government of England, William assailed Leicester and took that city in 1068. William gave the government of the destroyed Leicester to Hugh Grandmesnil. And gave him 100 manors, 65 of them in Leicershire. Hugh was appointed High Sheriff of Leicershre and Governor of Hampshire. He married to Adeliza, daughter of Ivo, Count Beaumont-sur-l'Oise. Adeliza died in 1087 in Rouen. She had five sons and about five daughters, including Robert, William, Hugh, Ivo de Grandesmeil, Aubrey and daughters Adeline, Hawise, Rohais, Matilda and Agnes. After 1087 when William died, the Grandmesnils were chewed up in the rivalry between William's sons, the Grandmesnils stuck more with Normandy than with England and ended suffering thereby. By 1090 Hugh had to defend his lands in Normandy. Was friends with Richard de Courci against Robert de Belesme. Hugh in 1094 was back in England, He became a monk but soon died, and was taken for burial in Normandy. See PAF readouts on this family.
William in late summer 1068 was in Yorkshire. Matilda wanted to give birth in York but she only made it fourteen miles south of York, at Selby. The royals spent Christmas 1068 in Normandy. But more troubles broke out in England. Edgar the Aetheling came south from Scotland into Northumbria and sparked rebellions. EDdgar's rebels took York in February 1069. William had retaken York by April 1069 and then spent time wreaking revenge on his rebels, devastating large areas of land, and this went on into 1070. It was called, The Harrying Of the North. Thousands of people were slaughtered.
1070: William de Braose built Bramber Castle in motte-and-bailey style.
In the summer of 1069, the Danish king Sweyn Estrithson invaded Yorkshire, allegedly on behalf of Edgar the Aetheling, but allied to the king of Scotland, Malcolm III. The Danes had captured York by September 1069. Queen Matilda had returned to England by early spring, 1069, and Borman (pp. 140ff) wonders if William did not prefer that his queen remained in southern England while he was harrying the north? But in the end he sent Matilda back to Normandy (the date of her travels is still a matter of conjecture) and so William carried on in England. What happened after The Harrying of the North? Maine as a neighbour of Normandy was in revolt. Later in 1069, the King of France plus Brittany joined forces to attack Normandy. Matilda asked William for help and he sent to her reinforcements under a son of Willaim FitzOsbern. Then Matilda's brother in Flanders, Baldwin VI, died, leaving his role in care of a regent widow who invoked new taxes on her people and so invited revolt. Matilda's own uncle became a rebel in Flanders. Matilda's brother Robert The Frisian. married to Gertrude, a princess of Frisia, was also not without ambitions, and he allied with Henry III the emperor of Germany. Matilda was further distressed by her brother Robert and asked for more help from William, who seen sent William fitzOsbern himself - with only ten knights. And soon William in 1071 had another threat of rebellion from Edwin of Mercia in England. Edwin had been a prospective son-in-law of William (he was to marry Adeliza, who ended in a convent) but William had reneged on the idea. Edwin anyway ended killed by his own men; they brought his severed head to William thinking it would please him, but the sight so moved William to tears their gambit failed. Meantime, Matilda's mother Adela was unimpressed by her son Robert's ambitions and she asked the king of France for assistance. T no avail, for Robert the Frisian prevailed. William fitzOsbern ended killed during proceedings. Robert the Frisian was now Count of Flanders. The king of France opted out. Matilda was mortified to find the amity between Normandy and Flanders was now destroyed. Robert the Frisian married his daughter Adela to King Cnut of Denmark, a decided enemy of William. Flanders became a refuge for English enemies of William. (Who by 1072 included Edgar Aetheling.) Shortly Robert the Frisian married his step-daughter, Bertha of Holland, to Philip King of France, and sought anti-Norman friendship with Geoffrey Martel, Count of Anjou and Conan, Duke of Brittany.
Undated: Bedford Castle, in motte-and-bailey style, was started by Ralf de Tallebosc. Its rebuilding began in the 12th century. In Henry II's time it was held by William de Beaute against Henry, laid to siege in 1224 and destroyed.
As Queen of England, Matilda revisited England in 1072 in time for Easter at Winchester. But soon England risked being invaded by Malcolm III of Scotland. William and Malcolm had made a truce by autumn 1072. And after this, William gradually slid into a mood about England where he became an absentee ruler, spending most of his time in Normandy. (Borman writes, p. 152, 130 of 170 months.) But when they were in England, Matilda and William to advertise their authority took to the use of public display by way of "public crown wearings" at Winchester at Easter, Westminster at Whitsun and Gloucester at Christmas. All the elites of England were obliged to be present at such "public wearings" and loyalty was on agendas, as was higher-level business. Matilda continued as a power-wielding Queen, more active in legal and ecclesiastical affairs than the English were used to. She intervened for example in establishing Canterbury (where the pro-Norman Lanfranc was archbishop) as the centre of ecclesiastical power in England. Matilda due to her wealth was also able to help promote Norman artisanship in English life and to promote Norman figures in cultural life.
Amid wild conjectures, Borman (p. 169) estimates that William's son Richard was accidentally killed while hunting in the New Forest in 1075, probably aged about 19. (An old prophecy had warned Matilda she would lose three sons in the New Forest.) In about 1074, William's daughter Adeliza appeared again in events after various suitors had come and gone, and now aged probaboly in her early 20s, she might marry Simon of Crepy, destined to be a Count of Amiens. Yet she evidently ended her days as a nun. (fix whom Simon of Crepy finally married. It seems Simon became a monk.)
1072: Waltheof Earl of Northumberland builds Durham Castle in motte-and-bailey style. By 1072, William's control of all-England was still insecure till after 1072. Resisting England had their lands confiscated or went into exile. William took all lands into his own royal ownership and then re-doled lands out to those likely to remain loyal to him. However, slavery, which had existed in Anglo-Saxon England, was eliminated.
By 1073, William was preoccupied with trying to re-stabilize Maine as a neighbour to Normandy. Using English and Norman troops he harried Maine into submission much as he had harried the north of England. By March 1073 he had Maine under control, "pacified". William mostly ignored England until autumn 1075 and into 1076, when a revolt by earls had to be put down. Meanwhile, by the 1080s, Odo, William's half-brother, had extended his holdings to lands in 22 English counties, and he had an annual income of 3000 pounds, a large sum for the day. Odo was indeed second only to the king in England. Both Odo and the son of William fitzOsbern oppressed the lesser English folk, some said unmercifully, to the extent that William had to remain watchful about revolts.
During the later 1070s, Matilda and William drifted apart, and she became his enemy, Borman writes pp. 175ff. Rumours are that William neglected his wife's bed and took to wenching; the rumours seem untrue.
1085 if not earlier: Eynesford Castle, firstly a Saxon castle taken over by Normans and enclosed, held by 1085 by Ralph, son of Unspac, for Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury for William I.
1087: Tower of London. White Tower was started soon after William I's coronation, using stone imported from Caen, Normandy. Used variously over time as a royal residence, traitor's prison, zoo and treasury.
1080: Motte-and-bailey castle built by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury. Later by 1120 rebuilt in stone by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury.
Before 1088: Norwich Castle, said to be one of William I's favourites.
Before 1088? Odell Castle, built by Walter de Wahul, count of Flanders. About nine miles south-east of Bedford Castle noted above.
1089: Tutbury Castle, begun by William I's Master of Horse, Henry de Ferrers on land granted by William I. Destroyed in 1264 by Edward I to punish its owners who had become traitors. Later owned by Duchy of Lancaster.
c.1090: Guy de Baliol "probably" began Bywell Castle, later a base for the Neville family. see fix storyline re alianora, shefiff bernard, Hugh, John
In Henry I's time two castles were built at Canterbury.
1091: Berkeley Castle, was "probably" begun by Roger de Berkeley before he became a monk in 1091.
c.1092: Ivo de Taillebois begins Castle Howe outside Kendal. All that remain of it today are earthworks.
1093: Tempe William II, Carlisle Castle was built from about 1093. It was rebuilt in stone from 1122 on orders from Henry II.
1095: Barnard Castle was begun by Guy de Baliol about 1095, to be later owned by the earls of Beauchamp:
1100: Appleby Castle was built by 1100 by Ranulf le Meschin, later to be owned by the Clifford family. Brough Castle was built about 1100 on the site of a former Roman fort.
C11th: Deddington Castle built by Odo, half-brother of William I. Held in the C12th by William de Chesney, Lord of Deddington.
1140: William d'Albini begins Castle Rising, a Norman stone keep with large defensive earthworks.
Undated: Chalgrave Castle, near Toddington, Bedfordshire. Of motte-and-bailey construction but soon abandoned.
1154: (If not earlier): Cartington Castle, ruined from the time of the English civil war, was held by Ralph Fitzmain.
after 1066: Castle Acre, a motte-and-bailey castle built by William de Warrene and made stronger in the times of kings Stephen and Henry II.
Undated-but-early, Chester Castle, built by Hugh de Avranches, Earl of Chester. Only fragments remain today.
c.1100: Christchurch Castle, motte-and-bailey style built by Richard de Redvers, a cousin of Henry I. Had a tower added by 1300 or so.
C11th: Clare Castle. Earthworks, motte-and-bailey, started by Richard Fitzgilbert.
C11th: Clifford Castle, motte-and-bailey begun by William fitz Osbern (fix storyline). Later held by the Clare family.
C11th: Clun Castle: Built against the Welsh, begun by Robert de Say, soon rebuilt all in stone.
1130-1140: Wolvesey Castle. Built by Henry of Blois, brother of King Stephen and a Bishop of Winchester. Pivotal to events in eg 1141 during England first civil war.
1130-1140: Egremont Castle is built by William de Meschines near an earlier Norman mound.
1138: Farnham Castle, built by Bishop of Winchester, Henry of Blois.
C12th: Framlingham Castle, firstly a motte-and-bailey style erection, held by the Bigod family.
Undated: Hedingham Castle, built by Earl of Oxford Aubrey de Vere. Had a central Norman keep.
1120: Helmsley Castle, built by Walter le Espec.
Undated: Kenilworth Castle, today a large set of ruins.
C11th: Morpeth Castle. In motte-and-bailey style, destroyed by 1215.
C11th: Leeds Castle, started by Hamon de Crevecoeur (fix more re dates) and added-to by his son Robert.
C11th: Lewes Castle, begun by William de Warrene. Rebuilt in stone in C12th by Hamelin de Plantagenet.
Undated: Lincoln Castle, founded by William the Conqueror himself on the site of an old Roman fort. Had two moats.
C12th: Longtown Castle, built by Walter de Lacy who answered to the house of William fitz Osbern. Few remains today.
C12th: Ludgershall Castle, sometimes used as a royal hunting lodge. Decayed by C15th.
Early C12th: Norham Castle, earthworks with motte-and-bailey, founded by Ralph de Flambard, Bishop.
Undated: Okehampton Castle, built by Baldwin de Brionne. Largest such castle in Devon.
Old Sarum Castle. Site had been used for defensive purposes since Iron Age times. William I paid off his army here in 1070. Expanded by Roger of Salisbury.
C11th: Peveril Castle built by William Peverel.
Before 1088: Pickering Castle., earthworks with motte-and-bailey, built by William I.
1080s: Pontrefact Castle, built by Ilbert de Lacy on old Saxon foundations. Still held by de Lacy family by C13th. A useful royal castle in north of England.
Undated: Porchester Castle, a stone keep built on an old Roman fort.
Late C11th-earlyC12th: Prudhoe Castle, built by Robert de Umfraville. First had timber fittings later replaced by stone.
Before 1086: Rayleigh Castle: Built by Swein, son of Robert FItzwimarc before Domesday Book was published. One of England's earliest Norman castles.
Undated: Restormel Castle: Built by Robert, Count of Mortain.
1127: Rochester Castle. Possibly the tallest of Norman castles in England.
Before 1088: Rockingham Castle, built by William I.
Undated: Rufus Castle: Built for King William II Rufus.
Early C12th: Sandal Castle: earth, motte-and-bailey built by William de Warrene. Rebuilt as a stone castle by Hamelin de Plantagenet.
1120: Sherborne Old Castle. Built by Roger Bishop of Salisbury and Abbot of Sherborne. Later used by King Stephen's army.
Undated: Shrewsbury Castle. Built first by Roger de Montgomery (fix storyline). Rebuilt in stone in 1164 by Henry II.
Undated: SWkipsea Castle, built by Drogo de Beauvriere. Later held and rebuilt by William le Gros in C12th.
c.1090: Skipton Castle: Had a wooden palisade. Built by Robert de Romille. Failed to prevent incursions by Scots.
St Briavel's Castle. A Norman stronghold, also a hunting lodge as used by the Plantagenet King John in 1205. Today used as a youth hostel.
Undated: Sutton Valence Castle. Norman stone keep built by Baldwin de Bethune, Count of Albemarle.
Late C11th: Thetford Castle: As with Canterbury, had two Norman castles of motte-and-bailey style. Only earthworks/mounds remain.
Before 1088: Tonbridge Castle, wooden not stone. Built to guard a crossing of River Medway.
LateC11th: Totnes Castle. Added to, its shell keep dates from C13th.
C12th: Wark Castle, C12th earthworks, motte-and-bailey castle built by Walter Espec. Made into a stone castle by Henry II in 1157-1161.
Early C12th: Warkworth Castle, actually built by Scots but acquired by England's Normans, and in 1158 Henry II of England gave it to Roger Fitzrichard, who rebuilt it in stone and it was added-to by Roger's son Robert.
C12th: Weeting Castle. Fortified manor house. Abandoned by 1390.
Undated: Wigmore Castle. Probably consists of two Norman castles, maybe rebuilt in C13th.
C12th: Wilton Castle, a fortified manor house. Rebuilt in 1335 by John de Hesleton as a stone castle.
Windsor Castle. Still in use.
1173: Yielden Castle. Two-bailey in style. Abandoned by 1360.
Despite what spokespeople for a good many descendants of a good many aristocratic lineages have said or thought over centuries, (lineages which are from Normandy, or are from Breton or are Flemish or English in some way). The list of William's proven Companions names only 15 men in any reliable way. (The main list can grow to 21 names.) There are however, several hundred likely, probable or possible "companions" of Willam's invasionary adventure who potentially could be named. The three main sources today - one of them is the famous Bayeux Tapestry (which was to be completed in time for the dedication of Bishop Odo's new church/cathedral) - are all seen as "Norman" in origins and therefore presumably biased. These three sources might also overlook the contributions of warriors of Bretonese origins. See wikipedia page on Companions of William the Conqueror. Which says, Before the invasion, Wm and many of his knights heard Mass at Church of Dives-sur-Mer at Normandy France. William was illiterate (as were many nobles of his times).
Rarely do treatments of William's invasion mention regimes of his times in various countries of Europe and areas nearby. fix name a few here, eg, Nordgau-Bayern, matters in Italy, (de Hautevilles and other Normans in Italy). Mention Vikings. Before 1066, England was beset with Viking raiders or tribute-takers and was somewhat unstable. Normandy (north-western France) was in control of former Vikings, now known as Normans. South of the Pyrenees, in Spain, were three newly-appearing kingdoms, including Aragon. Before and during 1000AD, only 66 years before William's invasion of England, it had been thought that 1000 years after His death, Jesus would return as Lord, the end of the world was nigh, a deeply anxiety-provoking thought. The objective observer of Europe noticed a lot of violence in the times. Fix cite book on 100AD.
A chronology is thus: ...
1035: The father of William the Bastard dies, a Duke of Normandy. William the Bastard is a great great grandson of Rollo/Rolf the Ganger, a Viking who became the first Duke of Normandy. (In the TV series Vikings, scripted by Michael Hirst, Rollo is brother of the violent Viking chieftain, Ragnar Lothbrock.)
1063: William has lost the support of King Henry I of France. Nevertheless, William expanded his borders into Maine, to the south of Normandy, France and made his son Robert his heir in Normandy. On the diplomatic front, William had ardently wanted a marriage between his son Robert and Margaret, daughter of Herbert II Count of Maine, but Margaret disappointingly died prematurely, such a marriage was impossible. William's final acquisition of Maine once Herbert II had died (so Borman writes p. 73) meant that if William had in mind any military adventures, Northern France would be unable to stop him.
January 1066: King Edward of England (The Confessor) dies; he was the son of Aetheledred II The Unready of Wessex and Emma-Aelgifu de Conteville, of William's extended family. Edward, a beneficiary of Norman charity in his early years, had somewhat Normanized the elites of England, especially in the Church, and had brought his Norman friends into the orbits of English kingship.
After Edward's death, the English crown went by election to Edward's brother-in-law, Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwine, (who had a brother, Tostig), and William the Bastard, who had been promised the English crown years before by Edward, was miffed. Harold was married to "Swan-neck", Aldgyth-Agatha (c.1030-c.1086) of Mercia, daughter of the rebel Earl Mercia, Alfgar III (1002-1059-1069) and the Countess of Northumbria, Elgive of Wessex, daughter of Aethelred the Unready and Aelgifu of York, of a Wessex family. (Swan-neck later remarried to a King of North Wales, Gruffydd Griffith ap Lewellyn.) Harold was son of an Earl of Wessex (Kent), Godwine (died 1053) and a Danish-Viking woman, Gytha Sveyndottir (Sprakaleg), daughter of Forkbeard, a Viking king of Norway, Denmark and England and a daughter of a Duke of Poland and a sister of King Canute, also a sister of Eilaf Sprakaleg, Earl of Gloucester. (The term and rank "earl" derives from the Norse word "jarl".)
Among Harold's siblings were Svein an earl of the south-west Midlands, Tostig the earl of Northumbria, Leofwine an earl of the south-west midlands and Gyrth, Earl of East Anglia. Harold also had a sister Driella married to a King of Munster in Ireland, and a sister Edith married to the recently deceased king, Edward the Confessor,
For his invasion, William used 700 ships. 100 had come from fix name. 100 had come from fix name? On 28 September, 1066, he landed at Pevensy with 7000 troops and cavalry. William's troops were Normans from Normandy, Bretons (from Brittany), Flemings and Frenchmen various from Paris and Isle de France
13 October 1066: From northern England, Harold (by now aged 44) arrives with his army near Hastings to give battle to the invading William. Sometime before the battle, William ordered the building of a wooden castle at Hastings.
Re Battle of Hastings, time/date of winning the invasion is taken to have been 1066-1071. After the Battle of Hastings, William moved to lay waste to areas of London to intimidate Londoners till their city fathers gave in to him. On Christmas Day 1066, December 25, William was crowned King of England in Westminster Cathedral. Then he withdrew to Barking, Essex. In London's south-east he built strongholds, especially the Tower of London, which was originally a fortress/stronghold. (The first part completed of which was The White Tower.) William then had to subdue the North. He had a series of rebellions to put down. After the Harrying of the North were 100,000 dead, and famine resulted. William later built castles on the Welsh borders. In 1072 William made an arrangement with King Malcolm of Scotland. Named here as "Companions of William" might be Robert de Beaumont, first Earl Leicester (some info to hand). Also, Eustace II Count of Boulogne (some info to hand). William Count of Evreux (some info to hand). Geoffrey of Mortagne, first Earl Hereford (some info to hand). Aimerie, Viscount of Thours (Thouars?). Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville. Hugh de Montfort, Lord of Montfort. Ralph de Tosny, Lord of Conches. Hugh de Grandmesnil. William de Warrene, first Earl Surrey. William Malet, Lord of Granville (who as a kinsman of the slain was given the body of King Harold for burial) (some info on him). Odo (Eude), Bishop of Bayeux (a half-brother of William), later Earl of Kent, (some info on him to hand). Thurstin Fitzrolf. Engenulf de Laigle (some info on him). These names make a list of 15, but some extra names are identified, 16-21, five extra being Geoffrey de Mowbray Bishop of Coutances. Robert, Count of Mortain (some info on him). Wadard (believed to be a follower of the Bishop of Bayeux), plus Vital, the same. Goubert d'Auffoy Seigneur of Auffay. A 21st name can be added, Humphrey of Tilleul-en-Augue (some info on him).
re The 1086 Lists of Knights (as one John Collins once said online) ... who suggested that the list of William's followers, drawn from the Mass-attendees at the Church of Dives-sur-Mer, was not set up till 1866 in that church, and was compiled from Domesday Book sources plus other relevant sources by one Leopold Victor Delisle, who at the time worked at Biblioteque Imperiale (Nationale) in Paris before becoming head of National Library of France in 1874.
Of these named companions, we find interesting the following ... Robert de Beaumont, first Earl Leicester (some info to hand). He died in 1118, and became Count of Meulan, a proven Companion of William. This Robert was son of Roger Beaumont (1015-1094), and his mother was Adeline of Meulan, a daughter of Waleran III, Count of Meulan.
Also, Eustace II Count of Boulogne (some info to hand). He seems to produce a crusader-son Baldwin who became Count of Edessa and Baldwin I King of Jerusalem.
William Count of Evreux (some info to hand). Geoffrey of Mortagne, first Earl Hereford (some info to hand). Aimerie, Viscount of Thours (Thouars?). Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville. Hugh de Montfort, Lord of Montfort fix storyline. Ralph de Tosny, Lord of Conches. Hugh de Grandmesnil. William de Warrene, first Earl Surrey. William Malet, Lord of Granville (who as a kinsman of the slain was given the body of King Harold for burial) (some info on him). Odo (Eude), Bishop of Bayeux (a half-brother of William), later Earl of Kent, (some info on him to hand). Thurstin Fitzrolf. Engenulf de Laigle (some info on him).
Of the "extra" names, we find interesting Geoffrey de Mowbray Bishop of Coutances (fix storyline). Robert, Count of Mortain (some info on him). Wadard (believed to be a follower of the Bishop of Bayeux), plus Vital, the same. Goubert d'Auffoy Seigneur of Auffay. Humphrey of Tilleul-en-Augue (some info on him).
1067: See re Hubert Rie and family (fix storyline), Stewards of Normandy, lodged at Colchester area, founded one abbey in the area.
Item: Emailer says a distant cousin of Wm is William de Warrene the brother of Roger of Mortimer (fix storyline). Warrene became first Earl of Surrey in tempe Wm II. Mortimers became a VIP family. Names on list in database to be examined of "strong men story" include: Alianora Baliol, Bernard Baliol, Hugh Baliol, THurstan Banastre (fix storyline), Robert Beaumont, Roger Barbatus Beaumont ()fix storyline), Hugh Bigod Earl1 Norfolk fix storyline re Hugh Bigod, Hesilia Brionne fix storyline, John Comyn, Cecilia de Conteville fix storyline, Robert de Conteville, Stephen Devereux, Anchitel Grey fix storyline, William Harcourt fix storyline, Turstin Miss Montfort, marcher Lord Ralph Mortimer 322631,
1067: Exeter, population, 2500. The Exeter area fails to recognise the rule of William the Conqueror, who had returned to Normandy. The Normans by now controlled south-east England but not the south-west. William laid waste the towns of Dorset as a warning to Exeter. He ended undermining the East Gate of Exeter to gain entry to it, then he went off west to subdue the Cornish people. Baldwin the Sheriff of Devon was ordered to build a castle; its gate became England's first Norman-built structure. ()See here, W. G Hoskins, Two Thousand Years in Exeter, nd. Hazel Harvey, Exeter Past, nd.)
The first Earl of Shewsbury and technically the first earl of Arundel is Robert de Montgomerie qv fix storyline, who was given all of Sussex, and Robert began to build Arundel Castle in 1067. (2016 updates.)
1067: William bases in south-east England. He imposes Norman rule on the south west, Yorkshire and the Midlands. Saxon Earl Waltheof, submits to Williamd and is made Earl of Bamburgh and Northumbria plus Judith a niece of William in marriage.
1069: William deals with several revolts in the late summer of 1069, in Mercia and Northumbria, while Bishop-warrior Geoffrey of Coutances (surnamed de Mowbray for today's purposes) held London, Winchester and Salisbury and won against rebels at Montacute Castle in Sep 1069. Later he worked with Bishop Odo against the rebel Revolt of the Earls, helped lead an army against the rebel Earl of Norfolk, Ralph de Gauder, who was smitten at his holdout of Norwich. Plus an invasion by Viking Sven II King of Denmark (fix years). William defeats rebels and lays waste to area between Nottingham and York (The Harrying of the North), causing the 1070 famine. In time William dispossesses about 4000 English earls and replaces them with 200 Norman barons and quisling English barons. Later Geoffrey of Coutances had influence about Bristol and built a castle there; he once burned Bath and ravaged Somerset.
1070: Famine in Northern England. The Normans advance into Wales and use castles to subdue the population. The earliest castles were in motte-and-bailey style, but in 1070 the Earl of Hereford (fix name fix storyline re Earl2 Suffolk rin 127185) built a castle at Chepstow.
1070: Stigand an Anglo-Saxon has been Archbishop of Canterbury. He is replaced in 1070 by a Lombard friend of William I, Lanfranc, who was helpful to William I in being an early detector of the rise of the Revolt of the Earls. (Lanfranc died in 1089.)
By about 1075 too, if not before, Robert, son of William, it was said had allowed his court in Normandy to become quite licentious and immoral. Robert was said to have had illegitimate sons. Even by 1072, William had sensed his son's arrogance and tried to keep it down, denying him real authority to exercise in Normandy. William probably had more affection for his other sons, William Rufus, who was generally obedient, and young Henry, who would become learned ("Beauclerc")
Robert, as a soldier respectable-enough if a little rough around his other edges, kept as friends, names such as a son of William fitzOsbern, William of Bretuil. Roger the son of Richard FitzGilbert. and Robert of Belleme, a son of Roger of Montgomery.
1077: Completion of the Bayeux Tapestry, an unreliable guide to the history of proceedings, seen from the Norman perspective only, commissioned by Odo of Bayeux a half-brother of William I. William himself by now was aged 50, become corpulent, and he'd become ruthless and intolerant. William miscalculated on the extent to which his son Robert was aggrieved, and wanted to come into full power as Duke of Normandy. Robert was tempted to advertise that he would take Normandy by force in order to rule it. By early 1087 if not earlier, William and Robert with others were on a southern border of Normandy at L'Aigle, readying to discipline some local lords. In defiance of his family, Robert stayed with a family not the host of his father. Robert's younger brothers visited Robert and insulted him, and there occurred amongst the brothers a fracas so severe that William himself arrived to sort it out. The next night, Robert and his friends left town and attacked a castle at Rouen, an act of treason. Was Robert determined to try to take Normandy from his father? The Rouen castellan beat Robert off, and so Robert was obliged to flee. Robert had followers more notable than William realised, including Odo, William's half-brother and Robert's mother's brother, Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders. Robert of Normandy even visited his uncle in Flanders to seek help, and was quickly given it. Young Robert of Normandy also sought help from Germany, Aquitaine and Gascony, but was given no firm assistance. Matilda it seems had more motherly love for her son Robert than was wise, and felt more dutifulness than love towards her husband William. Possibly, Matilda kep secretly in touch with Robert. In time she provided Robert with funds for his adventures, her loyalty to her brutal husband William was at an end. She had blown the image of family unity apart, and with it, her own image as an obedient and dutiful wife. William when he found out about where Matilda's loyalties really lay was naturally furious; she had committed treason. Matilda offended William a second time. So he determined to humiliate her before the entire court. Whereupon Matilda tried to turn the tables on him by emphasising her maternal virtue, the strength of her love for her eldest son. William reacted with a kind of jealousy that his wife should feel more strongly about her son than her husband, and sought to punish one of her servants, probably the man who had taken her monies to Robert. Matilda managed to save her servant, who was obliged to become a monk, but lost much of her power and probably suffered reactive depression. (She sought assistance for "lethargy".)
Robert Curthose of Normandy, who was perhaps either a bisexual or a homosexual, meantime had holed up in a castle offered by a friend, a brother-in-law of Robert of Belleme, Hugh de Chateauneuf, 25 miles south of L'Aigle. From there, Robert's forces could make quick raids into Normandy. William in retaliation built new fortifications and confiscated the incomes of Robert's friends to buy the services of mercenaries to use against Robert. A good many people living in areas neighbouring of Normandy did not now which way to turn. Robert turned to the King of France for extra help. In 1078 the French king allowed Robert to use a castle, Gerberoy, on the frontier of south-eastern Normandy. Robert and his friends then proceeded to raid into Normandy, bothering William. William ordered all castles he controlled near Gerberoy to be re-fortified. He probably bribed the king of France to stay out of proceedings. Soon after Christmas of 1078, spent at Rouen, William besieged Gerberoy, with his son William Rufus fighting for his father and against his brother Robert. By legend in the battle that followed, William was unhorsed and ended up fighting his son Robert in hand-to-hand combat. Robert once he had realised who his adversary was let William escape on a horse. And so William was beaten by one of his own sons. William retreated to Rouen, and absurdly, historians do not know where Robert went; perhaps to Flanders. (Borman, p. 194.)
A great many observers of this father-son conflict had felt moved to choose sides. Simon of Crepy (who had become a monk) had tried to talk to both William and Matilda, and William and Robert Curthose. The king of France had been asked by William to not get involved. The Pope (Gregory VII) seems to have taken William's side and urged Robert to agree to his father's will. Roger of Montgomery had tried to intervene. Peace was restored with a ceremony at Rouen in early April 1080 (Easter), but the price perhaps was less influence for Matilda. William had grudgingly agreed to pardon his son's treason, and missed no opportunity to denigrate him in public. William's youngest daughter, Adela, was now to marry Stephen, the son of Theobald III, Count of Blois. The Blois region had not been a friend to Normandy, so a renewed friendship was welcome, so William thought. Later in 1080, Malcolm III of Scotland had again invaded Northern England, which William gave to his son Robert to handle. And in Williams' view, in the spring of 1080, rebellion had weakened Northern nobility, something had to be done. And to the end of 1080, William decided to visit England, where he had not been for four years. Strangely, Borman says (p. 201), historians do not know whom William left as regent of Normandy while he away, Matilda or his son William Rufus. William and Matilda spent Christmas at Gloucester. Matilda et al then went with William as usual to Winchester for tyhe Easter and Whitsun crown-wearings in 1081.
In 1082 William and Matilda visited William's half-brother Odo at Grestain, where their mother Heleva was buried. It is possible that by now, Matilda health was declining. The two brothers decided to build an abbey there. William meantime was concerned at the power that Odo (a "secularly-minded bishop") had amassed due to his role as regent of England. Odo for example had probably backed the treasonous rebellion of Robert Curthose. But Borman (p. 203) suspects that Odo's ambitions were not the kingship of England, but something urguably bigger and more important, the Papacy itself. William forbade Odo to puruse the Papacy. Odo shortly prepared to travel to Rome, so William, who wanted to keep Odo's services as William's regent of England, responded by arresting Odo and keeping him imprisoned in the Tower of Rouen, where Odo remained till William died. In the meantime, Robert Curthose and William continued getting on badly and eventually, Roget ended in exile. Matilda's health declined and aged 52, she never left Caen where they had been; although she may have succumbed to plague. It is also thought that Matilda's declined as William and Robert again disagreed. Matildad probably knew she was dying and had her Will drawn up ... conspicuously, she did all with the assent of her husband. Matilda was "gravely ill" by winter 1083 and died on 2 November. It seems that once she died, William lived on haunted by mourning, grief and depression till he too died within four years, in 1087. She had wished to be buried at a nunnery, La Trinite, and had made handsome bequests to the convent, where her daughter Cecilia had been for 17 years, since a child.
Wiliam's grief (Borman feels p. 211) turned to bitterness and he became even more intolerant. His attitudes to England become more tyrannical. William's love of money from his taxes on the English, his pro-Norman outlooks, led to excesses unchecked by Matilda's more benevolent outlook, and unrest grew in England. It was in this mood that William conceived the registration of his assets known as the first rational census of England, The Domesday Book. The year 1087 was regarded by Anglo-Saxons as a "pestiferous" year. Famine roamed, and William as king, with Matilda gone, was despised by his subjects. In William's family, Robert grew furious again as it seemed he would be passed over for the inheritance of England (which he was, William Rufus inherited England). William banished Robert to permanent exile. William Rufus and Henry were both involved in the government of both England and Normandy, an indication that Robert had only lasted as long as he did because of Matilda's intercessions on his behalf. In an interlude, Williams's daughter Constance was married to Alan IV Fergant, Count of Brittany. Celebrations at this wedding had hardly subsided when Robert Curthose with the help once again of Philip, King of France, appeared in Northern France, to be taken seriously by his father William. William fought well for a man his age, now sixty, But his health gave out, and now he was a corpulent old man, probably his great gut had disagreed with the pommel of his saddle as his horse tried to leap a ditch, and William was disabled and had to order a retreat. Later he could not eat or drink, it became evident he was dying. William ordered his son William Rufus to hasten to England to take charge of it. William Rufus departed forthwith with enthusiasm, but Various noble observers were appalled at William so conspicuously overlooking his eldest son Robert. It gave them dishonour as well, since they had sworn some allegiance to Robert. William gave in somewhat, forgave Robert once again and gave him all the duchy of Normandy. William soon died on 9 September, 1087. (Views are that it may have taken six weeks for him to die, with William much complaining that death would interrupt him just as he wished to reform his life and presumably, his rule.) His servants robbed his chamber, he seemed to be almost naked. He had wanted to be buried at the abbey of Saint Etienne in Caen, and a country knight named Herluin tried to do the right thing by Duke William of Normandy. (Herluin may have been a relative, perhaps a step-father or a son of a stepfather, Herluin, who had married Herleva after William's father had died, but this again is the stuff of legend.) William's body was taken by a small boat down the Seine River. William's youngest son Henry took care of a few embarrassing details. A good many ecclesiastics attended William's funeral but few secular nobles or laymen. Of William's sons, only the youngest, Henry, was at the funeral. During the service, a local house caught fire and set other nearby buildings ablaze, spreading chaos. Many funeral attendees fled, leaving churchmen to pick up the ceremonial pieces. Churchmen vainly tried to stuff William's bloating body into too-small a sarcophagus, the stomach refused to co-operate and burst, a stench escaped, everything was disgusting, rites were hastily finished and everyone involved fled. William's ignominious end meant he had been little loved.
Very shortly, William's worst fears had come true. Normandy was on the verge of civil war and nobles were trying to circumvent the nominal duke, Robert Curthose because he was dissolute and hopeless. William Rufus fared better in England but died early in 1100 and was replaced by his younger brother, Henry Beauclerc.
Wave1: The first men William sent out to secure areas of England were (not in any particular order) - Earl Kent, Odo de Conteville. On Welsh border to Scotland, East Anglia was with ??, Ireland was with ?? see re Leinster
Wave2:
Wave3:
William dies and is replaced by fix who??
We consider these strong men as being sent out in waves, and I assume the first wave were sent out soon after The Battle of Hastings. Who were they? Which areas had to be secured first?
Wave1 sent out by Wm's successor.
Wave1 sent out by the successor to the successor of Wm. There was the Invasion, then the Harrying of The North, the The Anarchy. About 1180 was a Revolt of the Barons.
1075: William quashes the last serious revolt in England, The Revolt of the Earls. The Saxon earl Waltheof was among the rebels. During the Revolt of the Earls. Waltheof goes to Normandy to confer with William and expose the plot but is suspected and taken back to Winchester and beheaded. Normans begin a campaign of intermarriage with "local women", presumably the Anglo-Saxon women.
1086: At a court in Gloucester, William I decides to make a record of his English possessions. Divides the country into circuits and sends commissioners to list holdings in all circuits. The Domesday Book, where Domesday means, "day of judgement". It was compiled with an eye to organising taxation and became the most complete document concerning any country known at the time.
1086: Compilation/publication of Domesday Book: By the time of the compilation of The Domesday Book, about 95 per cent of English land was in Norman hands.
1 August 1086: At a major ceremony, William I has tenants and major landholders swear allegiance to his rule.
1083: Death of William's wife Matilda. She had ten children.
1087: Death of William the Conqueror. He had spent most of his last decade in Normandy. Of his sons, his successor in England was his son, William Rufus (born 1056-1060, a man of unruly passions, graceless, a homosexual who never married [a lustful sodomite], a very strong man who had different coloured eyes, but a successful and even wise general), who became William II King of England. His eldest son Robert inherited Normandy, and youngest son Henry was given money. William Rufus went to England to lay claim to his inheritance a day or two before William died, met the Archbishop of Canterbury and was soon crowned at Westminster Abbey. Some potential rebels wanted Robert as the new King of England, including Odo of Bayeux. William Rufus is credited with controlling Scotland, recovering Maine in France, and controlling the Vexin as well. (The Vexin were in north-west France, based on the right bank of the Seine (Rouen), a Gaulish tribe living in an area bounded by three rivers, the Seine, Epte and Oise. Rollo/Rolf the Ganger, the Viking who became the first Duke of Normandy, had been attracted to the area.) William Rufus was later accidentally killed by an errant arrow on a hunting exercise, whereupon his brother Henry became henry I of England.
And so William Rufus was followed as ruler of England by Henry I King of England (died 1135), who buried William Rufus, who had perhaps ordered the murder of William Rufus. Henry I married Edith (died fix year) daughter of Malcolm King of Scotland (died fix year), and given their lineages, Henry I and his wife united the old English line of Kings with the new Norman rulers of England. Still, Henry I's marriage did not please the Norman Barons, even though Edith changed her name to Matilda to please them. Henry however, because he had married Edith, became more acceptable to the Anglo-Saxon population of England.
1088: Problems of managing "feudalism" lead for the Normans to Rebellion of 1088, led by William I's half-brother, Odo of Bayeux. This rebellion was put deown more by William Rufus than Robert, so Rufus ruled a powerful kingdom in an unprecedentally efficient way. In particular, as a wikipedia page says, the Normans in their relations with the Papacy, as their kings were not anointed, were more immune to ecclesiastical interference than the ruling French Capetians and less subject to papal condemnation or discipline.
1090s: The Welsh rise in revolt against Normans, where Wales is ruled by Normans (Marcher Lords) and sub-ruled by locals who prove unreliable from a Norman point of view.
1091: Malcolm Canmore (Malcolm III), King of Scotland, invades northern England south to Durham, wishes to redraw the border and face down the King of England. Malcolm however withdrew and acknowledged the overlordship of the King of England. Malcolm ended ambushed and killed by the Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria
1092: William II builds Carlisle Castle, designed to control Cumberland and Westmoreland, to the south of Scotland, earlier a set of Scots possessions.
1093: Malcolm of Scotland again invades England/Northumbria. Battle of Alnwick was 13 Nov 1093. Malcolm ended ambushed by Norman forces led by Robert de Mowbray. Malcolm's brother Donald took the Scottish throne and William II supported Donald's sons Duncan and then Edgar.
1095: William Rufus defeats another rebellion (led by Earl of Northumbria fix storyline) in England. Another rebel, William of Eu (fix storyline), was castrated and blinded.
1096: Older brother of William Rufus, Robert Curthose, becomes part of the First Crusade and sold part of the Duchy of Normandy to William to fund his actions. Robert Curthose did not return to Normandy till one month after William II's death in August 1100.
1097: William II made two excursions in 1097 but did little except build territory-securing castles. William II also worked in France, securing Northern Maine, but failed to fully control the Vexin region, an area favoured by the original Viking-Normans residing from the time of the first Duke of Normandy, Rolf the Ganger. As William II died, he was planning to invade Aquitaine (southwestern France).
1100: Death of William Rufus. The Death of William Rufus at age 40 seems quite undignified and was possibly an assassination at the behest of his younger brother Henry. William II was hunting stag in the New Forest, near Brockenhurst, probably, and in company with his brother Henry. William Rufus was killed instantly and "accidentally" by an arrow through the lung, as he had one hand to his eyes, shielding them from the sun as William followed a stag he had fired at and wounded a little. the arrow was fired by his hunting companion, a noble, Walter Tirel (fix storyline). William Rufus and Tirel had been riding together as the hunters spread out following stags, Tirel had two arrows ironically given him by William Rufus himself. (Sir walter Tyrrell (c.1065-c.1100), a keen bowman, see his own wikipedia page). Tirel was born in Tonbridge, Kent, son of Walter II Tyrell, a Norman lord. Tirel is said to have fled to France after his problem with William arose. Walter the king-killer was noted in The Domesday Book as lord of Poix-de-Picardie and Langham in Essex. The arrow had allegedly bounced off a particular tree. Oddly, the king's body was abandoned and lay unattended where he had fallen. With news of this unfortunate incident, Henry went quickly to Winchester to secure the royal treasury, then went to London where he was soon crowned king. William of Malmesbury later wrote that the body of William Rufus was taken to Winchester Cathedral on a cart owned by one Purkis (who was from a local family of forest charcoal burners). The body still dripped blood as the cart travelled. (Today, it seems, some of his longer bones remain in Winchester, but his skull is missing.)
1100: Appearance of Henry I was King of England, the younger brother of William Rufus.
(Ends this article)
Today, we know that William gave the area of Ashby to the de la Zuche/Zouche (fix storyline) family, and Newton to the Burgilons. Which other families benefited?
Sort out what happened with Earls Devon, de Redvers, de Reviers, are they actually De Conteville? That is, relations of William the Conq?
See also, Cf., Thomas Asbridge, The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William marshal, the power behind five English thrones. New York, Harper Collins, 2014. (more citations).
The list given below has been taken from the plaque at the Church of Dives-sur-Mer and was compiled by Loribne of Olive Tree Genealogy - fix fact this needs research. Please note that the original was not in alphabetical order. Some of the men's names are linked - either to pages I (fix who is "I"?) have on The Olive Tree Genealogy, or other sites. (There are fix number names listed = Ed)
Albelin Geoffroi,
Alevi,
Alis Guillaume,
Ansgot,
Arundel Robert,
Azor,
Baignard, Raoul,
Bainard, Geoffroi,
Basset, Guillaume,
Basset Raoul,
Basset Richard,
Bavent,
Belet Guillaume,
Bertran Guillaume,
Bigot Robert,
Blouet Raoul,
Blouet Robert,
Boissel Robert,
Bonvalet Guillaume,
Botin Raoul,
Bourdet Hugue,
Bourdet Robert,
Carbonnel,
Cardon Guillaume,
Corbet Robert,
Corbet Roger,
Crespin Wile,
Croc Renaud,
Cruel Robert,
Cul de Louf Eude,
d'Addetot Oure,
d'Adreci Normand,
d'Alencon Bernard (Bernard d'Alengon),
d'Andeli Richer,
d'Andre Arnould (Arnould d'Andri),
d'Angleville Guillaume,
d'Ansleville Honfroi,
d'Argentan David,
D'Argouges,
d'Argues Guillaume,
d'Armentieres Robert (Robert d'Armentihres),
d'Arques Osberne,
d'Aubernon Robert,
d'Auberville Robert,
d'Auberville Robert,
d'Auberville Seri,
d'Aubigni Niel (Niel d'Aubigni),fix storyline re Wm A rin126010.
d'Audrieu Guillaume,
d'Aufai Goubert,
d'Aumale Robert,
d'Aunon Raoul,
D'Auvay,
D'Auvrecher d'Angerville,
d'Avranches Hugue,
d'Avre Rahier,
d'Ecouis Guillaume,
d'Engagne Richard,
d'Escalles Hardouin,
d'Espagne Auvrai,
d'Espagne Herve (Hervi d'Espagne),
d'Eu Comte Robert,
d'Eu Guillaume,
d'Eu Osberne,
d'Evreux Comte Guillaume,
d'Evreux Roger,
d'Helion Herve (Hervi d'Hilion),
d'Hericy,
d'Houdetot,
d'Incourt Gautier,
d'Ivri Achard,
d'Ivri Hugue,
d'Ivri Roger,
d'Olgeanc Guillaume fils,
d'Orbec Roger,
d'Orglande,
d'Ornontville Gautier,
d'Ouilli Raoul,
d'Ouilli Robert,
d'Unepac Raoul fils,
Daniel,
Danneville,
de Bailleul,
de Bailleul Renaud,
de Balon Guineboud,
de Balon Hamelin,
de Bans Raoul,
de Bapaumes Raoul,
de Barbes Robert,
de Beauchamp Hugue,
de Beaufou Guillaume,
de Beaufou Raoul,
de Beaumais Richard,
de Beaumont Henri,
de Beaumont Robert,
de Beaumont Robert,
de Beauvais Goubert,
de Bercheres Oure,
de Bernai Raoul,
de Bernieres Hugue (Hugue de Bernihres),
de Berville Niel (Niel de Berville),
de Bienfaite Richard,
de Biville Guillaume,
de Biville Honfroi,
de Blangi Guimond,
de Blosbeville Gilbert,
de Bohon Honfroi,
de Bolbec Hugue,
de Bondeville Richard,
de Bosc Guillaume,
de Bosc-Normand Roger,
de Bosc-Roard Roger,
de Boulogne Comte Eustache,
de Bourneville Guillaume,
de Brai Guillaume,
de Brebeuf Hugue,
de Breteuil Roger,
de Bretteville Gilbert,
de Brimou Renier,
de Briouse Guillaume,
de Briqueville,
de Brix Robert,
de Buci Robert,
de Budi Gilbert,
de Bulli Roger,
de Burci Serlon,
de Buron Erneis,
de Bursigni Guillaume,
de Caen Gautier,
de Caen Maurin,
de Cailli Guillaume,
de Cairon Guillaume,
de Cambrai Geoffroi,
de Canaigres Guillaume,
de Canouville,
de Carnet Guillaume,
de Carteret Honfroi,
de Carteret Mauger,
de Carteret Roger,
de Castillon Guillaume,
de Ceauce Guillaume,
de Champagne Comte Eude,
de Chandos Robert,
de Chandos Roger,
de Chartres Raoul,
de Cherbourg Anquetil,
de Cioches Gonfroi,
de Cioches Sigan,
de Claville Gautier,
De Clinchamps,
de Colleville Gilbert,
de Colleville Guillaume,
de Colombelles Renouf,
de Colombieres Beaudouin (Beaudouin de Colombihres),
de Colombieres Raoul (Raoul de Colombihres),
de Conteville Raoul,
de Corbon Hugue,
de Cormeilles Ansfroi,
de Corneilles Goscelin,
de Couci Aubri,
de Courcelles Roger,
de Courci Richard,
de Courcon Robert (Robert de Courgon),
De Courcy, ?,
de Courseume Raoul,
de Craon Gui,
de Cugey,
de Culai Honfroi,
de Dive Beugelin,
de Dol Hugue,
de Douai Gautier,
de Douai Goscelin,
de Dreux Ansure,
de Dreux Herman,
de Durville Guillaume,
de Falaise Guillaume,
de Fecamp Guillaume (Guillaume de Ficamp),
de Ferrieres Henri (Henri de Ferrihres),
de Fontemai Etienne,
de Fougeres Guillaume (Guillaume de Foughres),
de Fougeres Raoul (Raoul de Foughres),
de Fourneaux Eude,
de Framan Raoul,
de Fribois,
de Gael Raoul,
de Gand Gilbert,
de Gerould Robert fils,
de Gibard Gilbert,
de Glanville Robert,
de Gournai Hugue,
de Gournai Niel (Niel de Gournai),
de Grai Anquetil,
de Grancourt Gautier,
de Grentemesnil Hugue,
de Grenteville Turold,
de Gueron Turstin,
de Guideville Hugue,
de Harcourt Robert,
de Hauville Raoul,
de Hodenc Hugue,
de Hotot Hugue,
de l'Aigle Engenouf,
de l'Appeville Gautier,
de l'Aune Guillaume,
de l'Estourmi Raoul,
de l'ile Honfroi,
de la Berviere Drew (Drew de la Bervihre),
de la Bruiere Raoul (Raoul de la Bruihre),
de la Foret Guillaume,
de la Guierche Geoffroi,
de la Mare Guillaume,
de la Mare Hugue,
de la Pommeraie Raoul,
de la Riviere Goscelin (Goscelin de la Rivihre),
de Laci Gautier,
de Laci Hugue,
de Laci Ilbert,
de Laci Roger,
de Lanquetot Raoul,
de Letre Guillaume,
de Libourg Fouque,
de Linesi Raoul,
de Lisieux Roger,
de Loges Bigot,
de Lorz Robert,
de Loucelles Guillaume,
de Maci Hugue,
de Malleville Guillaume,
de Mandeville Geoffroi,
de Manneville Hugue,
de Marci Raoul,
de Mathan de Meri Richard - fix recheck this man/name,
de Meulan Comte Robert,
de Meules Beaudouin,
de Meules Roger,
de Mobec Hugue,
de Moion Guillaume,
de Monceaux Guillaume,
de Mont-Canisi Hubert,
de Montaigu Drew,
de Montaigu Ansger,
de Montbrai Geoffroi,
de Montbrai Robert,
de Montfiquet,
de Montfort Hugue,
de Montfort Robert,
de Montgommeri Hugue,
de Montgommeri Roger,
de Moron Raoul,
de Mortagne Mathieu,
de Mortain Comte Robert,
de Mortemer Raoul,
de Moyaux Roger,
de Mucedent Gautier,
de Munneville Niel (Niel de Munneville),
de Mussegros Roger,
de Nesdin Arnould,
de Neufmarche Bernard,
de Neuville Richard,
de Noyers Guillaume,
de Ouistreham Roger,
de Papelion Turold,
de Paris Foucher,
de Parthenai Guillaume,
de Paumera Guillaume,
de Peis Guernon,
de Perci Arnould,
de Perci Guillaume,
de Picvini Anscoul,
de Pierrepont Geoffroi,
de Pierrepont Renaud,
de Pierrepont Robert,
de Piquiri Guillaume,
de Pistres Roger,
de Poillei Guillaume,
de Pont de l'Arche Guillaume,
de Pont Hubert,
de Pontchardon Robert,
de Port Hugue,
de Raimbeaucourt Gui,
de Rainbeaucourt Engerrand,
de Rainecourt Gui,
de Rames Roger,
de Rennes Hugue,
de Reviers Guillaume, (fix more re De Conteville or not?)
de Reviers Richard,
de Rhuddlan Robert,
de Riebou Gautier,
de Romenel Robert,
de Ros Ansgot,
de Ros Anquetil,
de Ros Geoffroi,
de Ros Serlon,
de Rosai Vauquelin,
de Rou Turstin fils,
de Runeville Geoffroi,
de Sacquerville Richard,
de Saint-Clair Richard,
de Saint-Germain,
de Saint-Germain Roger,
de Saint-Helene Renaud (Renaud de Saint-Hilhne),
de Saint-Helene Turstin (Turstin de Saint-Hilhne),
de Saint-Leger Robert,
de Saint-Ouen Bernard,
de Saint-Quentin Hugue,
de Saint-Sanson Raoul,
de Saint-Valeri Gautier (Gautier de Saint-Valiri),
de Saint-Waleri Renouf,
de Sainte-d'Aignaux,
de Sauvigni Raoul,
de Senarpont Ansger,
de Senlis Simon,
de Sept-Meules Guillaume,
de Somneri Roger,
de Sourdeval Richard,
de Tanie Auvrai,
de Tessel Guimond,
de Thaon Robert,
de Tilly,
de Tocni [Toeni?] Guillaume,
de Toeni Berenger,
de Toeni Ilbert,
de Toeni Jumel,
de Toeni Raoul,
de Toeni Robert,
de Torteval Renaud,
de Touchet,
de Tourlaville Raoul,
de Tournai Geoffroi,
de Tournebut,
de Tourneville Raoul,
de Trelli Geoffroi,
de Valognes Pierre,
de Vatteville Guillaume,
de Vatteville Richard,
de Vatteville Robert,
de Vaubadon Ansfroi,
de Vaubadon Osmont,
de Vauville Guillaume,
de Vaux Altard,
de Veci Robert,
de Venois,
de Ver Aubri,
de Ver Guillaume,
de Verdun Bertran,
de Vernon Gautier,
de Vernon Huard,
de Vernon Richard,
de Vesli Guillaume,
de Vesli Hugue,
de Vesli Robert,
de Villon Robert,
de Viville Hugue,
de Warci Osberne,
de Warenne Guillaume,
de Werables Gilbert,
de Wissant Gilbert,
des Moutiers Robert,
des Vaux Robert,
du Bec Geoffroi,
du Bois-Hebert Hugue (Hugue du Bois-Hibert),
du Bosc-Roard Guillaume,
du Breuil Osberne,
du Merle,
du Perche Comte Geoffroi,
du Quesnai Osberne,
du Quesnai Raoul,
du Saussai Osberne,
du Saussai Raoul,
du Theil Raoul,
du Tilleul Honfroi,
Ecouland,
Espec Guillaume,
Eveque de Bayeux Eude (Eude Evjque de Bayeux),
Flambard Renouf,
Folet Guillaume,
Fossard Niel (Niel Fossard),
Fresle Richard,
Froissart Guillaume,
Fromentin Robert,
Giffard Berenger,
Giffard Gautier,
Giffard Osberne,
Goulaffre Guillaume,
Greslet Aubert,
Guernon Robert,
Hachet Gautier,
Hewse Gautier,
Ide Vesci Ive,
l'Adoube Ruaud,
l'Ane Hugue,
l'Archer Guillaume,
L'Estourmi Richard,
L'ile Raoul,
la Cleve Guillaume,
Lanfranc,
Le Bastard Robert,
le Berruier Herve (Hervi le Birruier),
le Blond Gilbert,
le Blond Guillaume,
Le Blond Robert,
le Bouguignon Gautier,
le Breton Auvrai,
le Despensier Guillaume,
le Despensier Robert,
le Flamand Jasce,
le Flamand Beaudouin,
le Flamand Eude,
le Flamand Gerboud,
le Flamand Guinemar,
le Flamand Hugue,
le Marechal Geoffroi,
le Poitevin Guillaume,
le Poitevin Roger,
le Roux Alain,
le Senechal Eude (Eude le Sinichal),
le Senechal Hamon (Hamon le Sinichal),
le Vicomte,
Louvet Guillaume,
Malet Durand,
Malet Gilbert,
Malet Guillaume,
Malet Robert,
Maminot Gilbert,
Maminot Hugue,
Mantel Turstin,
Martel Geoffroi,
Maubenc Guillaume,
Mauduit Gonfroi,
Mauduit Guillaume,
Maurouard Geoffroi,
Mautravers Hugue,
Merteberge Auvrai,
Murdac,
Murdac Robert,
Musard Hascouf,
Musart Hugue,
Osmond,
Painel Raoul,
Pancevolt Bernard,
Pantoul Guillaume,
Pastforeire Osberne,
Peche Guillaume, (became.... ?))
Pevrel Guillaume,
Pevrel Renouf,
Picot,
Picot Roger,
Pinel Raoul,
Pipin Raoul,
Poignant Guillaume,
Poignant Richard,
Pointel Thierri,
Quesnel Guillaume,
Ravenot,
Silvestre Hugue,
Taillebois Guillaume,
Taillebois Ive,
Taillebois Raoul,
Talbot Geoffroi,
Talbot Richard,
Tibon Gilbert,
Tinel Turstin,
Tirel Gautier,
Toustain,
Tranchant Raoul,
Turold,
Vaubadon Renouf,
Vis-de-Louf Honfroi,
Vis-de-Loup Raoul,
Vital
Wadard
William de Conteville (the Conqueror of England) died in 1087. Our next question is: what happened with ruling dynasties and influential families in other countries besides France and England? Explain re levels of violence seen in book on 1000AD. Cf., Tom Holland, Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom. London, Little Brown, 2008.
It seemed that violence was breaking out continually from Ireland east to Moscow, (or, to about Kiev and Novgorod, into the areas influenced by the Rus, who were descendants of Vikings).In Russia
In Spain/Iberian Peninsula
In blah?
In Russia
In Spain/Iberian Peninsula
In Spain/France, eastern Pyrenees. The Basques, an ancient people of the Iberian Peninsula, were I think were first suppressed or put down by the Romans, centuries later by the Visigoths (by 800AD-900AD), later by the Moors (frolm fix year) and then by the incoming French rescuing the Iberian peninsula from The Moors (from fix year).
In the western Pyrenees
In Provence
In Italy not forgetting the Papacy, and in Sicily (the de Hautevilles)
In the Holy Land
In Aquitaine France
Where the Carolingians failed
In Belgium/France
In parts of Germany
In Poland
In Bohemia
In Hungary
In other parts of The Balkans.
In Greece, the Catalan Company.
Here for section re women and origins of prejudice about women. The prejudice against women, the idea that they are inadequate to cope with circumstances, arises not from the Myth of Adam and Eve, which is a powerful myth but was not universal. The prejudice arose because the custom of the exchange of princesses as currency to stave off warfare was a continual failure. Women suffered prejudice because they could not stop wars. Blah blah re the syndromes involved, re proof. These themes and syndromes were common in William's times and had been for centuries if not millennia earlier. We can look then at the careers of some of the women in William de Conteville's family - his wife, his daughters, his sisters, his nieces, his aunts.
William's descendants married to sections of the royal families of Scotland, France, the Holy Roman Empire (Hohenstaufers), Jerusalem (via Crusaders); and/or the rulers of Avranches (Lower Normandy area, earlier a part of Brittany, some notables of Avranches becoming earls of Chester in England) Boulogne, Brittany, Normandy, Flanders, Bavaria and of course, parts of England/Wales. Several descendants were connected with notable Crusaders.
His daughters included Abbess Cecilia, a nun Adeliza, Agatha (died 1086), Matilda and also ...
Princess Adela/Adelaide (1062-1137/1138), who married First Crusader Stephen Capet died 1101 (The Sage, Count de Blois and Chartres, plus Champagne) who died at Ramleh in The Holy Land.
Constance (1061-1090) was a lover of Duke of Brittany Alan IV (died 1119) who had de Conteville names in his grand-parental generation. Alan IV's most influential children however were by his first wife, Ermengarde Anjou (died 1147 a daughter of Fulk Rechin Anjou died 1109), including Duke Brittany Conan III The Fat (died 1148) who married a Plantagenet, Matilda, ie, a de Conteville descendant, Matilda, an illegitimate daughter of the "Lion of Justice, Henry Beauclerc (son of William the Conqueror) (died 1135) and Sybil of Wales.
William's sister Adelaide (Judith) was daughter of sixth Duke of Normandy Robert De Conteville (died 1035-1037 in Turkey) and Herleve/Arlette daughter of "the tanner" Fulbert (died 1033). Adelaide married to the lineage I call Burgundy-Ivrea, to William Count Vienne Count Burgundy died 1087 in Italy. One of Adelaide's daughters married Alfonso VI Jiminez, died 1109, King of Castile and Leon. Adelaide had an illegitimate sister Adelia who married to the Captian line in France, to Eudes III (Odo) Capet, died 1115, Count of Troyes, Aumale and Champagne.
William's aunts, daughters of Richard The Good (962-c.1026), fourth Duke of Normandy, and Judith a princess of Brittany, were Eleanor, Papia, Margaret/Helen, Helena. Richard this fourth duke also had daughters by a princess of Denmark, Estrith/Edith Margaret Svensdatter of the line known as Sprakaleg, daughter of a King in Denmark, Svein I Forkbeard. Estrith had daughters Papia, Mathilde, Frasenda and Helena le Bon (died 1130) who married Waldron/Walderon de Saint Claire (Sinclair, died 1047), who had de Conteville forebears). This Sinclair connection also led to new linkages between Sinclairs and Stuarts-Dunbar, the Stuarts being descendants of Crinan (died 1045) the Thane (Stuart), Abbott of Dunkeld, descendant of Lords Allerdale in Scotland.
Fn re rise of customs of chivalry, and the troubadours. Section on the sidelining of the Basques of Spain in this period of history.
Find bit on TV doco re Dark Ages/Age of Light.
In Ireland, see Clare Downham, Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ivar to AD1014. Edinburgh, Dunedin Academic Press, 2007.
Citations other: See also, Harriet Harvey Wood, The Battle of Hastings: The Fall of Anglo-Saxon England. London, Atlantic Books, 2008. Tracy Borman, Matilda: Queen of the Conqueror. London, Jonathan Cape, 2011. From Tom Holland, Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom. London, Little Brown, 2008.