William the Conqueror
Duke of Normandy, 1035-1087 AD
William I, King of England, 1066-1087 AD
Silver Penny, 20 mm, 1.4 grams
Pax issue, c. 1086-1087 AD.
O: Facing crowned bust of William holding scepter.
R: Cross, within each angle an annulet containing one letter of PAXS
(Peace).
Winchester mint, Spraeclinc moneyer
Duke William of Normandy, with only a few thousand troops behind him, crossed the English Channel and succeeded in conquering England -- the last successful invasion of England. William was encouraged to invade by his own rather tenuous claims to the English throne, by his strong desire to enlarge his realm, and by a period of disarray that followed the death of Edward the Confessor.
William's invading fleet was delayed on the French coast for several weeks. As King Harold of England waited on the south coast for the invasion, the Norwegian king attacked England from the north. Harold marched his army north and defeated and killed the Norwegian king. When William arrived on English soil, King Harold marched is army back south quickly, perhaps too quickly. The two armies met October 14, 1066, in the Battle of Hastings. Harold and his two brothers fell in battle, and no English leader remained that was able to contest the Norman invasion. William was crowned in London on Christmas Day.
William established a strong central government, replacing the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with his own Norman followers. He declared all land in England as his own personal property. In part to catalog his new holdings, he commissioned the Domesday Book, a detailed census of the property and population of England.
William's conquest had an enormous influence on England. All subsequent English monarchs are his descendants. His reorganization of the English government brought greater power to England among European nations. Though perhaps the most important English ruler, he was born and died in France, and spent most of his life there. He spoke only French (he was, incidentally illiterate.) The effects of the Norman conquest on English culture are profound, because of the strong French / Continental influence that it brought. For example, modern English dictionaries include more words of French or Latin origin than of Anglo-Saxon derivation.