William the Conqueror A.D. 1066 - 1087

1. William the ConquerorA.D. 1066 - 1087 Mrs. Tucker 7th Grade World History/Honors Cobalt Institute of Math and Science

2. William the ConquerorA.D. 1066 - 1087 In the A.D. 900s, the Vikings conquered part of western France across the English Channel from England. This region came to be called Normandy, after the Vikings, or Norsemen, who ruled it. By the middle of the A.D. 1000s, Normandy was ruled by William, a descendant of the Viking ruler who had conquered Normandy. William was also a cousin of King Edward of England. When Edward died, a noble named Harold Godwinson claimed England’s throne. However, William believed that he, not Harold, should be king of England. Accompanied by his army of knights, William landed in Englandin 1066. They defeated Harold and his foot soldiers at the Battle of Hastings. William was then crowned king of England and became known as William the Conqueror. At first the Anglo-Saxons resisted William’s rule. He had to find a way to stop Anglo-Saxon revolts and to control his own soldiers. He did so by giving land to his Norman knights. Then he made them swear loyalty to him as ruler of England. William wanted to know all about his new kingdom. So he took the first census in Europe since Roman times. This census was known as the DomesdayBook. It counted people, manors, and farm animals. The Normans who ruled England brought Europe’s customs to England. Under William’s rule, officials and nobles spoke French. Ordinary Anglo-Saxons still spoke their own language, which later became English. As more and more Normans and Anglo-Saxons married, their ways of doing things merged into a new English culture