Robert I the Magnificent Duke of NORMANDY

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BIOGRAPHY
During the reign of Edward the Confessor, from 1042-1066, England
became less and less united within itself.  Edward was a monastic
sort, not very interested in secular affairs, and had spent most of
his childhood in Normandy.  The power behind the throne was Godwin,
Earl of Wessex, who had persuaded the reluctant Edward to marry his
daughter.  Edward introduced Normans to church and state offices,
setting himself in opposition to his father-in-law.  Tom make matters
more volatile, he also stubbornly refused to give his wife a child,
and England an heir.  Godwin, in the year before his death, began to
rally popular support against the Norman influence; the power of that
cause then transferred to his son Harold, sometimes called Harold
Godwinson.
In 1027, the boy who would be William the Conqueror was born, the
illegitimate son of Duke Robert the Magnificent of Normandy and a
tanner's daughter. He became the Duke of Normandy at the age of seven;
at a young age he married his second cousin Matilda of Flanders, who
was descended on her mother's side from the House of Wessex.  William
was a second cousin of Edward the Confessor, who allegedly promised
him the throne of England in 1051.  Later, in 1064, William extorted a
similar promise from Harold Godwinson, who had the bad luck to have
been shipwrecked in Normandy.
Nonetheless, Harold fanned the controversy over Edward's
succession and built up a lobby for his own claim.  When Edward died
in his new palace at Westminster (built alongside his new abbey of the
same name), his nearest heir was Edgar Atheling, the grandson of
Edmund Ironside [# 2933].  Edgar was only a small boy, though, so the
Witan (council of regional leaders) chose Harold as the new king.
Harold may have been named successor by Edward on his deathbed.
However, Harold's tenuous claim to the throne encouraged both Norway
and Normandy to invade England.
Harold II of England first fought off the Norwegian invasion,
which was led in part by his own brother, Tostig.  Four days after the
defeat of the Scandinavian force at Stamford Bridge, William of
Normandy landed at Pevensey in Sussex.
The following is from Eric Delafield's book [IT:Kings & Queens of
England & Great Britain:IT]:
Harold and his mounted infantry headed south, reaching London in
four days.  Rather than wait for the unmounted infantry from the north
and a force from the south to join him, Harold decided to give battle
at once.  Fought seven miles northwest of Hastings, the battle lasted
all day and was close-run; only when a feint be the Normans induced
the English to abandon their shield-ring and Harold was killed by an
arrow through his eye did the invaders gain the upper hand.  Harold's
defeat ushered in an age that would leave none in doubt that England
had become an occupied country.
William's triumph over Harold was the decisive event in the
conquest of England, but it was only a prelude to the country's
subjugation.  Even during his coronation at Westminster on Christmas
Day 1066, a disturbance outside all but emptied the abbey.  It took
several years and campaigns of terror to subdue the whole country:
after the southwest was brought to heel, two rebellions in the north,
led by earls Edwin and Morcar, were successfully defeated.  The second
revolt, attempted after both earls had been pardoned, provoked a
savage response:  between York and Durham not a house or human being
visible to William's soldiers was spared.  When the Domesday survey
was carried out seventeen years later, many villages in the area were
still without an inhabitant.  The last assault on Norman hegemony came
from East Anglia where Hereward, a Fenman with an aptitude for
guerrilla warfare in that watery landscape, held out for some time on
the Isle of Ely.
Once England was secure, William turned his attention to Scotland
and Wales, invading the former in 1072 and compelling Malcolm III [#
2799] to do homage at Abernethy.  Three years later, he visited St.
David's, receiving submissions from the Welsh en route.
Physical evidence of the conquest soon appeared throughout
England:  Saxon peasants were forced to build mounds of earth (mottes)
on which fortresses of wood and later stone were erected.  In London
the domination of the White Tower reminded the independent Londoners
of the new limitations on their freedom.  From these bastions Normans
enforced the confiscation of estates and their redistribution amongst
those who had supported William's conquest.  Feudal baronies were
imposed as soon as each part of England was subjugated, resulting in
some barons holding lands in different parts of the country.  This had
the added advantage for the monarch of preventing the consolidation of
rival powers.  To this end the great earldoms of late Saxon England
were broken up and the shire, or county, became the principal unit of
administration, superintended by sheriffs and special commissioners.
Even the French-speaking barons resented the restrictions imposed
on their power by William's system of government, and as early as 1075
took up arms against him:  the Norman Earl of Hereford joined Ralph
the Breton, Earl of East Anglia, and the Englishman Waltheof.  Their
rebellion was easily contained, but it was only the first of many.
Even William's eldest son, Robert, challenged his father in Normandy
in 1079, and William was at war with France in 1087 when his horse
stumbled at Mantes, giving him a fatal injury.
By his oath to observe the old Saxon laws and his imposition of
Continental feudal customs, William effectively prevented the monarchy
from exercising unlimited power, laying the groundwork for the
development of English laws and liberties.  The Church, too, stood
between the king and the barons, helping to uphold a balance of power
that did not infringe its own interests.  Lanfranc, William's new
Italian Archbishop, reorganized the English Church, and separate
Church courts were established to deal with offenses under canon law,
an action which was to cause much trouble for the Plantagenet kings.
William the Conqueror, 'that stark man' as his subjects called
him, was ruthless and cruel:  although only one person was executed in
his reign, thousands were mutilated - especially for breaches of the
game laws.  The 'New Forest' was created by him as a game park.  It
was said of him that 'he loved the tall, red deer, as if he were their
father.'  This penchant, however, was to sow the seed of trouble for
centuries:  in the eleventh century the Crown owned sixty-nine
forests, almost a third of the whole acreage of the kingdom.
Depriving those who lived in or near the forests of any rights in them
caused great resentment, and the severe punishments for infringing
forest law, enforced by the Forest Courts, fed through into the
draconian Game Laws of later centuries.
The Domesday survey, in 1086, was the most comprehensive and
detailed record of a country's physical resources produced in Europe
during the Middle Ages.  William conceived the idea while at
Gloucester for Christmas in 1085, though it was not referred to as
'Domesday' until the twelfth century, intended to signify that like
the Day of Judgment, there was no appeal.  Its primary purpose was to
maximize tax revenues; its secondary use was to provide the necessary
information for the efficient administration of the feudal system.
The task of gathering the data fell to Commissioners using the shire
courts and interviewing sworn juries, each made up of the priest, the
reeve (the lord's manager), and six villeins.  The survey covered the
entire county except for Durham, Northumberland, Westmorland,
Cumberland, northern Lancashire, London, Winchester and a few other
towns.  Its scope was exhaustive:  as the Saxon chronicler recorded,
'so narrowly did he cause the survey to be made that there was not one
single hide nor rood of land, nor - it is shameful to tell but he
thought it no shame to do - was there an ox, cow or swine that was not
set down in the writ.'  The two volumes are kept in the Public Record
Office at Kew, London.
The [IT:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:IT] gives a good impression of
William's reign: 'He was mild to the good men that loved God, and
beyond measure severe to the men that gainsaid his will... It is not
to be forgotten that good peace he made in this land so that a man
might go over his kingdom with his bosom full of gold... and no man
durst slay another.'
It is not easy, if possible at all, to isolate and define the
heritage of the Norman Conquest.  Edward the Confessor himself was
more Norman than English.  Norman speech, habits and customs were
prevalent at his court.  But in the century after 1066 the followers
and descendants of William the Conqueror diverted the main stream of
national development and added a Latin strain to the mongrel blood of
Englishmen.
Had the conquest never happened, England would probably have
become part of the northern Scandinavian world.  For all its cruelty,
the conquest united England to western Europe and opened the
floodgates of European culture and institutions, theology, philosophy,
and science.
The conquest effected a social revolution in England.  The lands
of the Saxon aristocracy were divided up amongst the Normans, who by
about 1087 composed between 6,000 and 10,000 of a total population of
about one and a half million.  More important, each landowner had, in
return for his land, to make an oath of allegiance to the king, and
promise to provide him with mounted, armoured knights when required.
This introduction of the 'feudal system,' provided the whole basis for
medieval English society.
The Saxon machinery of government was, in large measure, retained
and immensely reinforced.  As well as giving the law a reputation for
impartiality, the Normans brought with them their military arts -
castle-building and fighting on horseback.  They also transmitted
large parts of the Saxon heritage - towns and villages, shires,
traditions of monarchy, the basic structure of language.  They took
over much that was indigenous and learned from the conquered.  They
created a strong monarchy which, in medieval times, was gradually to
complete the unification of England and obliterate the distinction
between Saxons and conquering Normans, so that only Englishmen
remained.
Facts about this person:
Record Change  November 01, 1999
Burial    1087
Caen, Normandy
Also called William II of Normandy. Duke of Normandy, which led to his
becoming the leader of the successful invasion of England. He reignedfrom
1066 to 1087 A.D.
Sources include but are not limited to;
Ancestral File and the IGI, International Genealogical Index,both
resource systems developed and solely owned by The Church of JesusChrist of
Latter Day Saints.
The English House of Wessex; Including Danes and Norman descent, apart of
Bloodline of the Holy Grail, by Laurence Gardner (1996) page(s) 416;ISBN
1-85230-870-2.
Individual:
The Oxford History of Britain by Kenneth Morgan, 1984, pp.101-144.
The Kings and Queens of England by Nicholas Best, 1995, p.9.
Western Europe in the Middle Ages,300-1475by Tierney, 1978,pp.178-183.
(King of England, 1066-1087)
France in the Middle Ages,987-1460 by George Duby,1987, chart 6.
Royal Ancestors by Michel Call, 1989, Chart # 11420.
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, now known to us as The Conqueror, was known to his
contemporaries as William the Bastard.  His mother Herleva, bore
the only son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, in the year 1028.
After William's birth his mother was married to one of Robert's
followers and had two more sons, Robert and Odo.  Although
William was illegitimate, the Duke, soon to leave on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, persuaded the barons of Normandy to
recognize William's birthright.  On his way home, robert was
killed and at the age of seven William became Duke of Normandy.
Because of William's young age, his ascenion meant unrule for
approximately 10 years.  Although plots to kill or capture were
aloft, William survived and in the mid 1040's started to rule
for himself.  Normandy was constantly at war during these years,
whether it be rebel bands of Normans or William's neighbors and
William gained a reputation as a ruthless campaigner.  It was at
this time that William asked Count Baldwin of Flanders  (one of
William's few allies) for the hand of his daughter Matilda.  The
Count approved, but the Pope refused marriage on the grounds
that William and Matilda were too closely related
(consanguinity).  But William went ahead with the marriage not
only because of the important alliance with Flanders, but
because he was in love.  According to contemporary accounts
William was never unfaithful to Matilda and she bore him nine
children.  They were also an odd-looking couple.  The skeletal
remains found in their graves show that William was about 5'10
and Matilda 4'2.
In 1050 Edward the Confessor, King of England and a distant
relative to William, dangled the promise of the English throne
before William if he would only support Edward in his dispute
with Earl Godwin, Edward's father-in-law.  However, although
monarchs were not yet chosen by strict rules of heredity, there
were other candidates of English blood who were more closely
related to Edward, namely Harold, son of Earl Godwin and brother
of Edward's wife Edith.  As could have been predicted, by 1066
Edward reconciled with Godwin and on his deathbed named Harold
as his successor.  William was incensed.  Not only did Edward
promise him the throne, William asserted, but Harold had sworn
allegiance to him when he visited Normandy two years earlier. It
was this sworn allegiance that branded Harold' a usurper and a
perjurer, and William was granted papal approval to invade
England and claim his rights.
William's preparation for battle may have won him England before
heever set foot on the island fortress.  Normandy, a small
duchy, could not supply all the men needed for an expedition of
this size, but the prospect of invading England, with it's
natural resources and wealth, was an appealing one.  Soldiers
and freelances from all over France and Flanders joined the
campaign.  William's ranks swelled, and throughout the spring
and summer he built ships and gathered supplies.  By August
William was ready to sail, but the winds of the English Channel
were against him.  He waited throughout August and september,
all the while cursing the weather, yet unaware that his biggest
problems were being solved for him.  If William had landed and
managed to defeat the English army, he would have moved forward
only to encounter Harold Herdrada of Norway, who arrived in
September also to conquer England.  Instead, as Harold waited
for William to land in Penvensey, he heard of the Norse invasion
and marched north to meet Harold Hardrada on 25 September.  Two
days later William set sail and made an unopposed landing at
Pevensey.  Harold Godwinsson rushed back to meet William, and
the two armies met at Hastings on 14 October.
The Battle of Hastings left William victor and Harold dead. With
no leader, further English resistance was futile.  The English
barons submitted to William, and on Christmas day 1066, William
was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.  But the
English submission did not last long.  Soon, after one revolt
after another broke out, but each rebellion was met with swift
defeat and equally swift retribution.  English estates were
confiscated and given to Normans.  By 1071 the native English
ruling class was wiped out.  England was now ruled 
                  

                   	2  GIVN Adelaide "Countess Of Aumale" Countess Of
	2  SURN PONTHI


Countess of Champagne.
Source includes, but is not limited to:
Ancestral File and the IGI, International Genealogical Index,both
resource systems developed and solely owned by The Church of JesusChrist of
Latter Day Saints.
Widow of Enguerrand. Half-Sister of William I. Countess of Albermarld.
Source includes, but is not limited to:
Planche, Volume 1, pages 122-150.
She was the sister of Wiliam the conqueror.