William was described by a Norman monk "as a burly warrior with a harsh

gutteral voice, great in stature but not ungainly" - probably 5'10",

full-fleshed in face, of "russet hair" {-"William the Conqueror...," David

C. Douglas [London, 1966]}.  A primary source by a contemporary is "The

Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy," Ordericus Vitalis, trans.

Thomas Forester (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854).

     ----- Compton's Encyclopedia (America On-Line, 1995):

William I (born 1027, ruled 1066-87), called William the Conqueror, was an

illegitimate son of Robert I, duke of Normandy. His mother was a tanner's

daughter. William succeeded his father when he was only 7 years old. At 24 he

had made himself the mightiest feudal lord in all France by various

conquests, but his ambition was not satisfied. He laid plans to become king

of England also.

   William married Matilda, daughter of Baldwin V, count of Flanders, in

1053. She was descended from the old Anglo-Saxon line of kings. Among their

children were four sons: Robert, future duke of Normandy; Richard, who died

as a youth; William Rufus, who succeeded his father as king of England; and

Henry, who succeeded William Rufus. One daughter, Adela, became the mother of

England's King Stephen.

   Edward the Confessor, king of England, was William's cousin. William used

his connection with Flanders to put pressure on Edward to extort a promise

that he would become heir to the English throne. It is probable that Edward

made some kind of pledge to William as early as 1051. Edward died childless

on Jan. 5, 1066. William then claimed the throne on the basis of this

promise. The English, however, chose Harold, earl of Wessex, as their king.

   William prepared a large expedition and set sail for England. On Oct. 14,

1066, he defeated and killed Harold at Hastings in one of the decisive

battles of the world. Then he marched on London, and on Christmas day he was

crowned king.

   After subduing England's powerful earls, William seized their lands for

his Norman nobles and ordered the nobles to build fortified stone castles to

protect their lands. As payment for their fiefs, the nobles supplied the king

with armed knights. French became the language of the king's court and

gradually blended with the Anglo-Saxon tongue.

   William won the loyalty of the mass of the people by wisely retaining the

old Anglo-Saxon laws, courts, and customs with only a few changes. Thus the

principle of self-government, which lies at the root of the political system

of English-speaking peoples, was preserved and strengthened. At the same

time, William taught the English the advantages of a central government

strong enough to control feudal lords.

   Toward the end of his reign, William ordered a great census to be taken of

all the lands and people of England. This survey was called Domesday Book.

Two of the original books may still be seen at the Public Records Office in

London. "So very narrowly did he cause the survey to be made," complained the

old Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "that there was not a single rood of land, nor an

ox, or a cow, or a pig passed by, and that was not set down in the accounts."

   William was often on the continent dealing with his widespread holdings.

He died there in 1087 from injuries received while warring with Philip I of

France. William was a man of great stature and had a tremendous voice. Such

was the good order he established that, according to a quaint historian of

his time, "any man, who was himself aught, might travel over the kingdom with

a bosom of gold unmolested, and no man durst kill another, however great the

injury he might have received from him." He was succeeded in Normandy by his

eldest son, Robert, and in England by his second son, William II, called

William Rufus.

- - - - - - - - -

Regarding the location of the Battle of Hastings, this site on the World Wide

Web is helpful and provocative: http://www.cablenet.net/pages/book/index.htm#PART57