Famous Normans by Sarah Holland

1. Famous Normans by Sarah Holland

2. William the conqueror At the age of 8, William became duke of Normandy. After the battle of Hastings, in 1066, he was crowned king of England. He never spoke English and didn’t know how to read or write. William the Conqueror was an illegitimate child of Robert 1st, Duke of Normandy, who died in 1035. There was a lot of trouble with rival barons who wanted control of his dukedom but with the help of King Henry 1 of France, William managed to survive the early years. The King knighted William, still in his teens, in 1042. William finally gained firm control of his duchy. By 1064 he had conquered and won two neighbouring provinces Brittany and Maine.

3. Meantime, the childless king of England, Edward the Confesser, who’s mother was a sister of Williams grandfather, promised William, when he died, William could have the throne. • However, when Edward died in 1066, his brother-in-law and most powerful of the English lords, Harold Goodwin, claimed the throne of England for himself. William got very angry so he decided to invade England and become king. • William assembled a fleet and an army on the French coast, but due to non-stop north winds, their advance was delayed for several weeks. • In the meantime, the Norwegian army invaded England from the north sea. Harold who had been preparing for Williams invasion from the south rapidly moved his army north to defend England from Norway. After defeating the Norwegians, Harold unwisely marched his troops back down to meet William, without a rest. • On October 14th 1066, the two armies met in the famous battle of Hastings. King Harold and his two brothers were killed in the battle, and since no one of stature remained to raise a anew army, Williams path to the throne was clear. • He was crowned king of England on Christmas day. William died on September 9th 1087 in Rouen France. He had four sons and five daughters.

5. Strongbow’s early life. Strongbow's proper name is Richard de Clare. He was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st earl of Pembroke, which is in wales. Strongbow was born in 1130. his father died when he was 18 years old, and he inherited his fathers title. Richard de Clare was nicknamed Strongbow just like his father, because of his skill with the long bow. Dermot McMorrough was the king of Leinster, but he wanted to become the Ard Ri of Ireland, but Ruari O’Connor got the title before him. Dermot and his daughter went to wales to ask Strongbow to help them defeat Ruari O’Connor. In reward, Strongbow would marry Aoife, and become the king of Leinster when McMorrough died. In august 1170 Strongbow landed near Waterford with an army of about 1200 Normans (200 knights and 1000 soldiers). They defeated the Vikings and the Irish that lived in Waterford, and captured the city. Then Strongbow got married to Aoife, Dermot's daughter. Soon after this Dermot and Strongbow captured Dublin city. Dermot died suddenly in may 1171, and Strongbow became king of Leinster. Strongbow and Aoife had 2 children, gilbert and isabel. Isabel went on to inherit his title. Strongbow built several castles, the most famous one is kilkenny castle. He died in 1176.