Hello and welcome to Wednesday Interlude in which I present the second episode in The
Norman and Plantagenet Series. In my introductory episode I discussed the
forbears of William the Conqueror and the establishment of Normandy.
See the first episode in the Info cards above. Now we need to travel across the channel to
discuss the situation as it was during the period in which the Vikings were establishing
a foothold in Northern France.
But before we do this let us take another look at the timeline of the Dukes of Normandy.
I wish to draw your attention to the dates for Robert I, William’s father. In 1027/28
Robert became Duke of Normandy after the battle for Falaise and William was born at around
the same time.
So, here is a timeline for William beginning in 1028.
At the age of five William was appointed Duke of Normandy while his father, Robert, went
to the Holy Land on Pilgrimage. Robert died on his way back from Jerusalem and so at the
age of eight William was confirmed as the Duke of Normandy. There followed a dangerous
and turbulent time for William as several factions wanted William out of the way and
attempted to take over the Dukedom. He survived due to the support of his mother’s relatives
and at the age of 18 William took control of the army and embarked on a series of wars,
either against Norman rebels or neighbouring states. His successes as a ruthless campaigner
earned for him a formidable reputation. At about the age of twenty-four William made
a brilliant marriage to Matilda of Flanders. Flanders is to the North East of Normandy.
Considering that he was the illegitimate son of Robert the first and that she was descended
from royalty it can be considered a triumphant outcome, attributable, no doubt, to his outstanding
prowess as a military commander and as a successful general.
Matilda’s father was Count Baldwin the V, the ruler of Flanders. Her mother, Adela,
was the sister of Robert II, the King of France. Matilda was also connected to Normandy through
her grandmother, Eleanor, who was William’s aunt.
Her grandfather had also married the sister of Robert of Normandy. Thus, Matilda had Saxon,
Norman, Flemish and French Royal blood.
But Matilda was not only descended from the Royal House of France, but King Alfred the
Great was also an ancestor of hers, because Alfred’s daughter, Elstreth, had married
Baldwin II of Flanders.
So, now we can view the slide showing the Kings of England from Alfred the Great through
to Aethelred the Unready, who figures in our story.
Alfred, and his son Edward, the elder, were Kings of Wessex.
Here is a map showing the location of Wessex, which is derived from West Saxons. This is
roughly the area made famous by Thomas Hardy who set all of his novels in Wessex.
Athelstan was the first King of England. There followed five more kings until Aethelred
the Unready, who ruled from 978 to 1013. William’s aunt, Emma, who was known as the
Flower of Normandy, married Aethelred and they had two sons, Edward and Alfred. Aethelred
also had a son from a previous marriage, Edmund. When Aethelred died the land of England was
shared between Aethelred’s son, Edmund and Canute, who had a claim to the English throne
through his father Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark who had invaded and conquered England previously.
But this is another story. Edmond died within a few months and thus Canute
became King of all England. Emma then married Canute and they had a son
between them called Hardicanute and they agreed to disinherit Emma’s sons by Aethelred,
Edward and Alfred and also Canute’s son, Harold Harefoot, from his previous marriage.
Thus, when Canute died there were several contenders for the throne of England.
Harold, Hardicanute and Edward.
So, in spite of being disinherited, Harold Harefoot, Canute’s eldest son, seized the
throne on the death of his father and held it for nearly five years, when it was taken
over by Hardicanute for two more years until Edward, with the help of William invaded England
from France where he had been living in exile and claimed the throne for himself and he
held it for 24 years.
And even though Edward had promised William that he would succeed him to the throne of
England, he appointed Harold Godwinson as his successor, because he believed that only
Harold would be accepted as king. Edward died on 5th January 1066 and Earl Harold was proclaimed
King and was crowned the next day. This was the catalyst for William to gather an army
together and to invade England and at 9.00am on 28 Sept in 1066 William arrived at Pevensey
Bay on the South Coast of England. Meanwhile, Harold was in the North of England
where another invasion had taken place. Hadrada, the King of Norway, who was a famous Viking
warrior and Tostig, Harold’s brother, had invaded Northern England with the intention
of putting Tostig on the English throne. However, Harold successfully put down the uprising
and both Hadrada and Tostig were killed at the battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September
1066. So, Harold, flushed with success, hearing of William’s invasion rode south to encounter
William, who had moved to Hastings. Harold’s strategy of marching a weary army south was
a recipe for disaster.
On the morning of 14th October 1066 Harold was killed when an arrow pierced his eye.
Thus, all resistance was temporarily ended and there was no one left to successfully
oppose him and so, William rode in triumph to London where he was crowned as King of
England on Christmas day, 25th December 1066.
There were a few further outbreaks of opposition, most famously by Hereward the Wake, but by
1071 William had subdued the whole country, wiping out the native English aristocracy
and establishing Norman rule and thereafter William’s hold on England was fairly secure.
Now let us consider William and Matilda’s four sons. Here is a timeline of their approximate
births.
I am only going to introduce them briefly in this episode, but will discuss them more
fully in episode three of this series.
Robert was born in approximately1053 a year or two after William and Matilda were married.
As the eldest son he was the heir to the Dukedom of Normandy and from a young age Robert was
passionately desirous of assuming the title.
Richard was born in approximately 1055 and he was a typical Norman, tall and handsome
and when William conquered England he was promised the throne of England as his father’s
successor.
William called Rufus, was born in approximately1057 and was next in line after his brother Richard.
The fourth brother, Henry, was born in England in 1068 two years after William became King.
We will explore what happened to these brothers in the next exciting episode in the Norman
and Plantagenet series.