Carney & Wehofer Family
 Genealogy Pages

William II "The Conqueror" Of Normandy ANGEVIN, King Of England

William II "The Conqueror" Of Normandy ANGEVIN, King Of England[1, 2]

Male 1027 - 1087  (59 years)

Personal Information    |    Media    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name William II "The Conqueror" Of Normandy ANGEVIN 
    Suffix King Of England 
    Nickname The Conqueror 
    Alt. Birth 14 Oct 1024 
    Alt. Birth 
    • Falaise, Normandie
    Born 14 Oct 1027  Falaise, Calvados, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4
    TitleOfNobility Between 1035 and 1087  [5
    Duke Of Normandy 
    Christened 1066 
    Gender Male 
    Affiliation   [5
    House of Normandy 
    Alt. Burial Alt. Burial 
    • Abbaye de St Etienne, Caen, Normandie
    Alt. Death Alt. Death 
    • Hermenbraville, Rouen, Normandie
    Cause of Death   [5
    killed near Rouen, France by his plunging horse while quelling revolt. Fatal fall from a horse, died of a burst bowel. While jumping a trench on horseback, his stomach was forced onto the pommel. 
    MilitaryService 14 Oct 1066  Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Commander of the Norman Army at the Battle of Hastings 
    Coronation 25 Dec 1066  Westminster, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    FamilySearch ID 9H17-VTZ 
    Titled
    • King of England
    Titled
    • Duke of Normandy
    TitleOfNobility   [5
    I King of England Duke of Normandy William the Conqueror 
    Unknown-Begin
    • 1066-1087
    Name Guillaume I "Le Conquerant" De NORMANDIE 
    Name The Conqueror 
    Name William 'THE CONQUEROR'  [5
    Name William I "The Conqueror" King Of ENGLAND  [3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
    Name William I "The Conqueror" Of NORMANDY 
    Name William the Bastard  [5
    Residence Saint-Étienne de Caen, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    _UID 7F18D931CDD74ADAB21837E499799B837E98 
    Died 9 Sep 1087  Hermenbraville, Rouen, Normandie Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 13
    Buried 2 Oct 1087  Abbey of St. Stephen, Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Person ID I6671  Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
    Last Modified 30 Dec 2022 

    Father Robert II "The Devil" Of Normandy ANGEVIN, Duke Of Normandy,   b. Abt 1008, Normandie (Normandy), France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 22 Jul 1050, Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 42 years) 
    Mother Herleve (Arlette) Of FALAISE, Officer Of The Household,   b. 1012, Falaise, Calvados, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1050, Normandie (Normandy), France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 38 years) 
    Married Abt 1023  France - Not Married Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Friends 1023 
    • France (not married)
    Family ID F11481  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Countess Matilda LE CHAUVRE, Queen Of England,   b. 24 Nov 1031, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Nov 1083, Caen, Calvados, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 51 years) 
    Married 1050  Castle Of, Angi, Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Alt. Marriage Abt 1053  [13
    Alt. Marriage 
    • Eu, Seine-Inferieure, France
    Children 
     1. Robert II Prince Of ENGLAND,   b. Abt 1053, , , Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 10 Feb 1134, , Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 81 years)
     2. Richard Prince Of ENGLAND,   b. Abt 1054, , , Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1081, , New Forest, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 27 years)
     3. Adeliza, Nun,   b. 1055,   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. Cecilia Princess Of ENGLAND,   b. Abt 1055, , , Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Jul 1126, , Caen, Calvados, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 71 years)
     5. William II "Rufus" King Of ENGLAND,   b. Abt 1056, , , Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Aug 1100, , New Forest, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 44 years)
     6. Mathilda Princess Of ENGLAND,   b. 1059, , , Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 1112  (Age 52 years)
     7. Constance Princess Of ENGLAND,   b. Abt 1061, , , Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Aug 1090, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 29 years)
     8. Adaele (Alice) Princess Of ENGLAND,   b. Abt 1062, Of, , Normandie Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 8 Mar 1135, , Marsilly, Aquitaine Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 73 years)
     9. Agatha Princess Of ENGLAND,   b. Abt 1064, , , Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 1086, , , Calvados, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 21 years)
     10. King Henry I Beauclerc Of Angevin ENGLAND, Of England,   b. 1068, Selby, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Dec 1135, Saint-Denis-en-Lyons, Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 67 years)
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2016 
    Family ID F3348  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Maud PEVEREL,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Married Abt 1053 
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2016 
    Family ID F3349  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    William 'The Conqueror'
    William "The Conqueror"

  • Notes 
    • William I (of England), called The Conqueror (1024-1087), first Norman king of England (1066-1087), who has been called one of the first modern kings and is generally regarded as one of the outstanding figures in western European history. Born in Falaise, France, William was the illegitimate son of Robert I, duke of Normandy, and Arletta, a tanner's daughter, and is therefore sometimes called William the Bastard. Upon the death of his father, the Norman nobles, honoring their promise to Robert, accepted William as his successor. Rebellion against the young duke broke out almost immediately, however, and his position did not become secure until 1047 when, with the aid of Henry I, king of France, he won a decisive victory over a rebel force near Caen. During a visit in 1051 to his childless cousin, Edward the Confessor, king of England, William is said to have obtained Edward's agreement that he should succeed to the English throne. In 1053, defying a papal ban, William married Matilda of Flanders, daughter of Baldwin V, count of Flanders and a descendant of King Alfred the Great, thereby strengthening his claim to the crown of England. Henry I, fearing the strong bond between Normandy (Normandie) and Flanders resulting from the marriage, attempted in 1054 and again in 1058 to crush the powerful duke, but on both occasions William defeated the French king's forces. About 1064, the powerful English noble, Harold, earl of Wessex, was shipwrecked on the Norman coast and taken prisoner by William. He secured his release by swearing to support William's claim to the English throne. When King Edward died, however, the witenagemot (royal council) elected Harold king. Determined to make good his claim, William secured the sanction of Pope Alexander II for a Norman invasion of England. The duke and his army landed at Pevensey on September 28, 1066. On October 14, the Normans defeated the English forces at the celebrated Battle of Hastings, in which Harold was slain. William then proceeded to London, crushing the resistance he encountered on the way. On Christmas Day he was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey. The English did not accept foreign rule without a struggle. William met the opposition, which was particularly violent in the north and west, with strong measures; he was responsible for the devastation of great areas of the country, particularly in Yorkshire, where Danish forces had arrived to aid the Saxon rebels. By 1070 the Norman conquest of England was complete. William invaded Scotland in 1072 and forced the Scottish king Malcolm III MacDuncan to pay him homage. During the succeeding years the Conqueror crushed insurrections among his Norman followers, including that incited in 1075 by Ralph de Guader, 1st earl of Norfolk, and Roger Fitzwilliam, earl of Hereford, and a series of uprisings in Normandy led by his eldest son Robert, who later became Robert II, duke of Normandy.

      BIOGRAPHY: Acceded: 25 Dec 1066 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 establishment 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 personnell especially Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1085 started Domesday Book.

      William I (c. 1028 – 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman monarch of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. By 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose.

      William was the son of the unmarried Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, as did the anarchy which plagued the first years of his rule. During his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke, and for their own ends. In 1047, William was able to quash a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy, a process that was not complete until about 1060. His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointment of his supporters as bishops and abbots in the Norman church. His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and he secured control of the neighbouring county of Maine by 1062.
      In the 1050s and early 1060s, William became a contender for the throne of England held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, whom Edward named as king on his deathbed in January 1066. Arguing that Edward had previously promised the throne to him and that Harold had sworn to support his claim, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066. He decisively defeated and killed Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066, in London. He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but William's hold was mostly secure on England by 1075, allowing him to spend the majority of his reign in continental Europe.

      William's final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his son, Robert, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086, he ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all the land-holdings in England along with their pre-Conquest and current holders. He died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, settling a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire but continued to administer each part separately. His lands were divided after his death: Normandy went to Robert, and England went to his second surviving son, William Rufus.
      ...
      One factor in William's favour was his marriage to Matilda of Flanders, the daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders. The union was arranged in 1049, but Pope Leo IX forbade the marriage at the Council of Rheims in October 1049. The marriage nevertheless went ahead some time in the early 1050s, possibly unsanctioned by the pope.
      ...
      Family and children
      William and his wife Matilda had at least nine children. The birth order of the sons is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters.

      1. Robert was born between 1051 and 1054, died 10 February 1134. Duke of Normandy, married Sybilla, daughter of Geoffrey, Count of Conversano.
      2. Richard was born before 1056, died around 1075.
      3. William was born between 1056 and 1060, died 2 August 1100. King of England, killed in the New Forest.
      4. Henry was born in late 1068, died 1 December 1135. King of England, married Edith, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. His second wife was Adeliza of Louvain.
      5. Adeliza (or Adelida, Adelaide) died before 1113, reportedly betrothed to Harold Godwinson, probably a nun of Saint Léger at Préaux.
      6. Cecilia (or Cecily) was born before 1066, died 1127, Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen.
      7. Matilda was born around 1061, died perhaps about 1086. Mentioned in Domesday Book as a daughter of William.
      8. Constance died 1090, married Alan IV, Duke of Brittany.
      9. Adela died 1137, married Stephen, Count of Blois.
      10. (Possibly) Agatha, the betrothed of Alfonso VI of León and Castile.

      There is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William.

      Death
      William led an expedition against the French Vexin in July 1087. While seizing Mantes, William either fell ill or was injured by the pommel of his saddle. He was taken to the priory of Saint Gervase at Rouen, where he died on 9 September 1087.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror

      Also substantiated by "The White Ship" by Charles Spencer, published 2020, pg 30-31.

      PONS (-[before Oct 1066]). No information is known about Pons other than his name, which appears in the patronymics attributed to his five sons. It is assumed that he lived in Normandy. His absence from the Norman primary sources which have so far been consulted in the preparation of this document suggests that he was of lowly birth. His absence from English records suggests that he died before the Norman invasion in England in 1066. m ---. The name of Pons´s wife is not known. Pons & his wife had [six] children:
      Walter
      Drogo
      Richard
      Simon
      Osbern
      High
      From Geni.com

  • Sources 
    1. [S400] Ancestral File (R), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998).

    2. [S397] J. K. Loren, J.K. Loren Dec 8 2003.

    3. [S729] William I.

    4. [S845] Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, 7th Edition, by Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Shippard Jr., 1999, 121-24 (Reliability: 3).

    5. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 30 Dec 2022), entry for William II "The Conqueror" Of Normandy ANGEVIN, person ID 9H17-VTZ. (Reliability: 3).

    6. [S720] The Magna Charta Sureties 1215, Frederick Lewis Weis, a d d i t ions by Walter Lee Sheppard Jr, 5th Edition, 1999, 26 May 2003., 161-9 (Reliability: 3).

    7. [S289] Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles M o s l e y Editor-in-Chief, 1999, 26 May 2003., cxiv (Reliability: 3).

    8. [S732] 23 May 2002.

    9. [S733] William I, 23 May 2002.

    10. [S734] 28 May 2002.

    11. [S735] 27 May 2002.

    12. [S736] 20 Jan 2000.

    13. [S139] 'Debrett's Kings and Queens of England', Williamson, David Source Media Type: Book, page 43 (Reliability: 3).

    14. [S737] 31 May 2002.