Conqueror & Bastard: William, It Was Really Nothing

You know you’ve made it in history when you have more than one nickname. William, Duke of Normandy who went on to be William I of England is one of those lucky people immortalised with two monikers and in an elite group of monarchs better known by these than their regnal number. More on them at a later date when I run out of ideas for this blog.

By turning up with a huge army of mercenaries, a flat-pack fort and a rather large chip on his shoulder William secured his place in history by winning the Battle of Hastings and ensuring that generations of Year 7 students would have to try and work out which bloke in the Bayeux Tapestry was Harold. On Christmas Day 1066 he arrived at Westminster Abbey for his coronation which probably dampened the spirits of those gathered for the nativity play and by 1069 had more or less consolidated his control of England. There’s very little doubt that he earned the name ‘the Conqueror’.

William looking pretty pleased with himself.

William’s other sobriquet, however, was not quite as well received by the man himself partly because it questioned his right to rule both Normandy and England. In the legal sense William was a bastard as his mother, Herleva, was not married to his father Robert I of Normandy. When he succeeded his father in 1035 his illegitimacy led to several challenges to his control of Normandy although he did enjoy the support of King Henry I of France and his great-uncle Archbishop Robert. Despite his friends in high places there were numerous attempted rebellions and invasions over the next twenty-five years and those who made reference to William’s “bastard” nickname tended to find themselves losing their hands and feet (just ask the people of Alencon).

It was shortly after William had restored order to Normandy that Harold Godwinson, heir apparent to the English throne, arrived in France. During this visit, according to the ever reliable Bayeux Tapestry, Harold made an oath on sacred relics that William would become the next king of England upon the death of Edward the Confessor. When Edward died in January 1066 and Harold was announced as his successor it’s understandable that William was not in the best of moods and set about preparing an invasion force. Hard to believe that talks between English and French leaders over sovereignty could lead to such ill feeling between the two.

It’s worth remembering, however, that the Bayeux Tapestry was commissioned by Bishop Odo, William’s half brother, following the Norman conquest of England. Odo had done quite well out of William’s victory at Hastings landing the job as Archbishop of Canterbury for no real reason other than he shared a mother with William (she married Herluin de Conteville following Robert of Normandy’s death). The Bayeux Tapestry was hardly going to be Odo’s way of highlighting his brother’s flaws and actually provided an opportunity to further legitimise William’s seizure of the English throne.

Bishop Odo (left) making it clear to us that he was definitely a big influence on half-brother William.

William quickly set about establishing his control of England following the Battle of Hastings. Castles were built in all major towns and cities as well as along the coastline and borders with Wales and Scotland providing the National Trust and English Heritage with some excellent money-spinners as well as making a clear statement to the English people who was in charge. Additionally he laid the foundation for the British class hierarchy through the Feudal System and carried out a vast survey of land ownership in the form of the Domesday Book to guarantee the crown steady income through taxation.

It is in the years 1068-69 where William could be seen to live up to another meaning of his second sobriquet. There was strong opposition to William’s rule in the North of England and William’s attempts to gain control here had been fairly fruitless. His trusted ally Earl Robert had lost 900 soldiers in battle in 1068 against a Northern army supported by Viking forces trying to replace William with Prince Edgar, a distant relative of Edward the Confessor’s. In William’s own words he responded by attacking the North “like a hungry lion” taking “(his) revenge by giving them famine”. The Harrying of the North laid waste to people, crops and livestock in order to secure William’s throne and made it clear to the people of England that any further rebellions would be swiftly and ruthlessly dealt with.

For the illegitimate son of a French duke to succeed his father in the 11^th Century was no mean feat. For the illegitimate son of a French duke to succeed his father and then successfully invade and dominate a foreign country in the 11^th Century was frankly extraordinary. William fought tirelessly to assert his authority and legitimacy in Normandy and it is little surprise that he adopted a similar approach to establishing his control of England following the Battle of Hastings. For William to dispel any remaining doubts over his right to reign he took increasingly drastic action against the people he came to rule over. In short, to become the Conqueror William needed to be a bit of a bastard.

Yer bloody Norman bastard!