William the Conqueror led the last successful invasion of England in 1066, and the only one since the Roman conquest one thousand years earlier. His victory at the Batde of Hastings, secured by his innovative use of archers and his courageous personal leadership, formed a new feudal order in England that produced a long-lasting political and social revolution. William gained for himself the crown of England and established the royal lineage that has included every English monarch since. Born in 1027, or perhaps a year later, in the town of Falaise, in Normandy, the illegitimate son of Robert I, duke of Normandy, William inherited his father’s tide at age eight. Often referred to as “the Bastard” by his political enemies, William survived to adult¬hood only because of the protection provided by the king of France, Henry I.
In his mid-teens, William grew tall and sturdy and developed his remarkable individual talent for fighting and for rallying others to take up arms on his behalf. As an adult, William ended various uprisings of feudal barons within his duchy and solidified his authority over Normandy by force of the sword. He then invaded and conquered the nearby province of Maine and neighboring Brittany.
Having increased his territory in France, William began looking elsewhere for additional conquests. Across the Channel, he saw his opportunity. Based on his grandfather’s sister having been the mother of England’s king Edward, William declared himself heir to the throne because Edward was childless.
In 1051, William convinced Edward to support his claim to the crown, which he then further reinforced by detaining Edward’s brother-in-law Harold Godwin in France until he, too, agreed to support him. When Edward died in 1066, Godwin reneged and proclaimed himself King Harold. William immediately assembled a force of about twenty-five thousand—composed equally of archers, spearmen, and cavalrymen—consisting of serfs and tided knights from his dukedom as well as mercenaries and volunteers from across France and Europe, all of whom William promised a share in the spoils of plunder. While he typically placed the offensive burden on his mounted knights, William had experimented for years with various-length bows to add range and power to his archers, and with these he planned a surprise for the English.
William and his invading army arrived on the English shore and found Harold and his army challenging them from quickly prepared defenses along a ridgeline eight miles northwest of Hastings. William’s Normans advanced to within a hundred yards of the Anglo-Saxons and initiated the battie with a barrage of arrows, followed by an assault by the spearmen. Harold’s men, although exhausted from recently routing an invasion from Norway, beat back the advance and stopped a cavalry charge personally led by Wrilliam.
The success of the invasion appeared in jeopardy until the Saxons emerged from their defenses and pursued the retreating Normans. William removed his helmet so that his soldiers could identify and rally to him and led another charge into the advancing infantrymen. At the same time, he ordered his archers to change from a flat trajectory to a high angle in order to gain more penetrating power from the arrows’ plunging effect. The batde reached a stalemate, and then an arrow mortally wounded Harold, causing the English to retreat. Only Harold’s personal guards remained to defend his body.
William pursued the repeating disintegrating English army and seized Dover. On December 25, 1066, he entered London and received the crown as William I, king of England. Over the next five years, King William ruthlessly put down a series of rebellions, confiscating all lands and replacing the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with his Norman followers.
The new English king, speaking only his native French tongue and unable to read any language, nonetheless established a strong government and administrative system. Although he was uncompromising and brutal in his rule, William blended Anglo-Saxon- Norman culture into a dominating force that influenced die world for hundreds of years to come.
William’s desire to properly govern his kingdom produced an¬other great accomplishment. In 1086, he commissioned the creation of the Domesday Book, which compiled detailed records on people, land, and property. This census, the original of which still is on file in the London Public Records Office, remains today one of the cornerstones of historical research.
During the decade after his victory at Hastings, William did more than reorganize England. He spent much of his time back in France putting down rebellions in his old dukedom. In 1087, William and King Philip of France disagreed over their perceived powers and went to war. Shortly after capturing the town of Mantes, William, sixty, was fatally injured when thrown from his horse at Rouen on September 9, 1087.
The Batde of Hastings continues to be noted in history books as the fight that changed die world; the year 1066, as a pivotal point in time. For the next thousand years, William influenced history through his heirs—who still sit on the dirone today—as they expanded English power and influence around the world, making that country the most successful colonizer ever and an enduring superpower.