William I The CONQUEROR

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Duke of Normandy
• Name: Guillaume De Normandie I
• Fact: Between 1066 and 1087, King of England
• Crowned: 25 Dec 1066, Westminster Abbey

Notes:

Guillaume, also known as William the Conqueror was crowned December 25, 1066. Sometimes he was called William the Bastard. William's heart was left to Rouen Cathedral,( which he had founded) and his entrails were interred at the church in Chalus. HIs burial place has been often disturbed: in 1522, Rome instructed an examination of the grave contents; in 1562, Calvinists caused "complete devastation" of the tomb, in which the only bit of remains of the Conqueror was a thigh bone ( it was reburied under a new monument); the grave was again demolished in the riots of the revolution of 1793. What was the grave of William the Conqueror is today marked with a stone slab. It is believed that William the Conqueror had no illegitimate issue. His reputation was one of faithfulness to his wife.

Excerpt from "Directory of Royal Genealogical Data":
Reigned 1066-1087. Duke of Normandy 1035-1087. Invaded England defeated and killed his rival Harold at the Battle of Hastings and became King. The Norman conquest of England was completed by 1072 aided by the etablishment of feaudalism under which his followers were granted land in return for pledges of service and loyalty. As King William was noted for his efficient if harsh rule. His administration relied upon Norman and other foreign personnel especially Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1085 started Domesday Book.

In the middle of the 11th century, the Normans conquered both Southern Italy and England. William, who had a claim on the English throne, defeated the English King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and was crowned King on Christmas Day in 1066. A new alien aristocracy was imposed upon more than two million English people, and England was given firm, but arrogant, government. The Normans dispossessed many of the Anglo-Saxon landowners, pressed the peasantry into service on their new feudal territories, and treated their Anglo-Saxon subjects with contempt, but they also taught better farming, developed the economy, put an end to Viking raids, and built many fine stone cathedrals and churches.

William married Matilda Of FLANDERS in 1053. Matilda (daughter of Count of Flanders Baldwin V "the Pious" and Adela Of FRANCE) was born in 1031/2 in Flandres; died between 02 and 03 Nov 1083 in Caen, Normandy; was buried in Abbey Of Holy Trinity, Caen. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Adbelahide De Normandy
• Residence: Was a nun.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Curthose (Duke of Normandy)
• Residence: Duke of Normandy
• Fact: 09 Sep 1087, Acceded

Notes:

Robert Curthose, called because of his short legs. was affianced in 1061 to Margaret daughter of Hugh IV (d. 1051), Count of Maine, but she died (about 1063) before they were married. Robert Curthose, received at his father's death the duchy of Normandy. William Rufus, was his father's heir to the throne of England. Curthose rebelled against his brother when he bacame William II Rufus, King of England, and later against his youngest brother, Henry, when he became Henry I, King of England. In 1106, Henry I captured the roublesome Robert Curthose at the Battle of Tinchebrai. As a result, Robert Curthose spent his last 28 years in prison, dying in Cardiff Castle at the age of 80.

Excerpt from "Directory of Royal Genealogical Data":
in 1096 he pawned Normandy to William and joined the crusades of Pope Urban II. He was captured by his younger brother Henry in 1106 and held until he died. Defeated at the battle of Tenchebrai. Married on his way to Palestine.

Robert married Sybilla Of CONVERSANO in 1100 in Ampulia. Sybilla died between Feb and Mar 1103 in Caen Cathedral; was buried in Caen. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Duke Of Bernay
• Residence: Duke of Bernay

Notes:

Richard was killed while hunting in the New Forest.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Cecilia of Holy Trinity

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Rufus
• Residence: William the Red
• Residence: Unmarried
• Residence: William II Rufus
• Residence: Called Rufus because of his red coloring
• Crowned: 26 Sep 1087, Westminster Abbey

Notes:

Called Rufus because of his red coloring; also called " William the Red". He was killed while hunting in the New Forest; possibley assassinated. He was never married.

The third son of William the Conqueror, William II was named heir by his father in place of his elder brother, Robert, who received the Duchy of Normand. He successful crushed a rebellion in Normandy early in his rule, as well as repulsing two invasions led by Malcolm III of Scotland.

Notes:

Matilda was betrothed to (1) Edwin Earl of Chester, a Saxon noble, but was murdered; betrothed (2) to Alphonso VI the Valiant of Leon and Castile and Gallicia. But was nevered married.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Alice Princess of England
• Birth: Abt 1062

Notes:

Name:
Adela was born around 1062 and was the youngest daughter of William the Conqueror and his wife Mathilde of Flanders. She was very well educated, spoke several languages, and was deeply religious. Around 1080/81, she married Stephen III, Count of Blos who was one of the richest men in Europe and a king in all but name. They had eleven children.

Adela's formidable political abilities first showed themselves in 1095 when Stephen became one of the leaders of the First Crusade and left for the Holy Land. He was County of Blois, Champagne, Brie, and Chartres and controlled hundreds of estates in France. he was away four years, and Adela was such an effective ruler of his domains in his absence that she became known as "the heroine of the Fist Crusade."

From 1099 when Stephen returned until he departed again on the Crusade of 1101, Adela continued to support several scholars and poets that she had invited to her court and that significantly contributed to the spiritual and cultural life of her era.

From 1101, Adela was once again ruling Stephen's domains. After May 1102 when he was killed at the battle of Ramleh, she became regent for their eldest son Thibaud and was the most important woman in Europe until he came of age in 1109. She generously endowed abbeys and churches. Several letters on ecclesiastical matters written to her by Hildebert, bishop of Le Mans, have survived.

Around 1122, Adela became a nun, entered the Cluniac priory of Marigney-sur-Loiure, and died there on 8 march 1137. She was buried in Caen in the abbey of the Holy Trinity next to her mother and her sister Cecilia.

Adela's brothers William and Henry both became kings of England, as William II and Henry I. So did her son Stephen.

Adela married Stephen III Of BLOIS between 1080 and 1085 in Breteuil and Chartres. Stephen (son of Thibaut III and Alix DE CREPI) was born in 1046 in Blois, France; died on 19 May 1102 in Battle of Ramlah in the Holy Land. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Gundrada

Notes:

Some historians believe that Gundred to be the daughter of William the Conqueror and his wife Matilda of Flanders, though not certain. Gundred's tomb was discovered at a later time in Isfield Church, Sussex, where it had been moved on the dissolution of the monasteries in the late 1530's. Gundred died in childbed.

Gundred married Seigneur de Varennes William I DE WARENNE before 1077. William (son of Rodulf DE WARENNE and BEATRIX) was born about 1055 in Bellencombe, Seine Inferieure, France; died in 1088 in Lewes, Sussex, England; was buried in Priory Of Lewes, Lewes, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Some authorities question whether Agatha belongs in this family; Taute' includes Agatha in this family. It may have been Agatha who was betrothed firth to Harold, Earl of Wessex, and then to Alphonso, King of Gallicia. Douglas in "William the Conqueror", pgs. 393-394, discusses the daughters of William the Conqueror and matilda, adding that "Ordericus Vitalis" mentions 5 daughters, one being Agatha, who was betrothed to Harold Godwinson of Wessex and Alphonso of Spain and who died unmarried. While the careers of daughters Cecily, Adela and Constance are well know, less is known concerning the lvies (or even existence) of Agatha, Adeliza, and Matilda. "The separate existence of Agatha and Adeliza is not certain, and the evidence about Matilda is less than sataisfactory." (Douglas, "William the Conqueror, pg 395.)

Constance married Alan IV "Fergent" in 1086 in Caen. Alan (son of Hoel and Hawise) was born about 1070 in Bretagne, Indre, France; died on 13 Oct 1119. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 25 Dec 1066, Acceded - Westminster Abbey, London, England
• Birth: 1070, Selby, Yorkshire, England
• Fact: Between 1100 and 1135, Reigned as King of England
• Crowned: 06 Aug 1100, Westminster Abbey
• Fact: Between 1106 and 1135, Duke of Normandy

Notes:

Henry was the only one of his father's children to be born in England. Henry I was called Beauclerc because of his love of learning and knowledge. Concerning the name, Henry; according to "Complete Peerage" by Cokayne, Vol. 3, Appendix C, "Before Henry VII the name Henry appeared almost invariably in the forms 'Harry' or Herry' in English Privy Seals." Henry and Adela had no children. Again according the "Complete Peerage", Vol 11, Appendix D, "it seems fairly certain that Henry was the father of at least 9 sons and 11 daughters." It adds, however, "there is no satisfactory modern list of Henry's bastards." Given-Wilson and Curteis (pg 60) state that Henry was father of "at least twenty royal bastards, more than any other king in English history.". There were advantages to a king's having bastards. The marriages of bastards could be used to cement alliances, and, most importantly, bastards were greatly loyal: "being illegitimate, they were almost entirely dependent on the king for advancement.

Family/Spouse: Concubine Of ENGLAND. Concubine was born about 1072 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: ANSFRIDE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Adela Of LOUVAIN on 29 Jan 1121. Adela (daughter of Godfrey I "the Bearded" and Ida Of Chiny And NAMUR) was born between 1103 and 1105 in Brabant, Netherlands; died between 23 Mar and 23 Apr 1151 in Afflingham, Flanders, France; was buried on 23 Apr 1151 in Affllighem, Flanders. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Nesta. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Isabel DE BEAUMONT. Isabel (daughter of Sir Robert I DE BEAUMONT and Isabel DE VERMANDOIS) was born about 1096 in Leicester, England; died about 1147. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Matilda Of SCOTLAND on 11 Nov 1100 in Westminster Abbey, England. Matilda (daughter of Malcolm III CANMORE and St. Margaret Of SCOTLAND) was born in 1079 in Dunfermline, Scotland; died on 01 May 1118 in Westminster, England; was buried in Westminster Abbey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Sibyl CORBET. Sibyl died after 1157. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]