William the Conqueror

(noun)

The first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087.

Related Terms

Examples of William the Conqueror in the following topics:

  • William the Conqueror's Rule

    • William the Conqueror's rule was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England, which led to the compiling of the Domesday Book, a manuscript surveying the land of England in order to understand the holdings of each household.
    • Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 William's hold on England was mostly secure, allowing him to spend the majority of the rest of his reign on the continent.
    • William took over an English government that was more complex than the Norman system.
    • William's lands were divided after his death; Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert, and England to his second surviving son, William.
    • The Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the great survey, completed in 1086 on orders of William the Conqueror, of much of England and parts of Wales.

  • Wiligelmo and Other Forms of Architecture

    • While most are in ruins through the action of war and politics, others, like William the Conqueror's White Tower within the Tower of London, have remained almost intact.
    • Among the many examples that exist, one of the finest is the figure of the Prophet Jeremiah from the pillar of the portal of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, from about 1130.
    • Scholars have especially pointed out the splendid achievements in the creation of Adam and Eve, the original sin and the story of Noah.
    • On the northern side is the Porta della Pescheria ("Fish-Market Gate"), with reliefs inspired by the cycle of the year's twelve months (on the doorposts) and tales from the Breton Cycle of King Arthur (on the arch).
    • It follows the conventions in that the seated Herod is much larger than the standing figures.

  • The Norman Invasion of 1066 CE

    • The Norman conquest of England was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, and French soldiers led by Duke William II of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.
    • William's claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who may have encouraged William's hopes for the throne.
    • Harold's army confronted William's invaders on October 14 at the Battle of Hastings.
    • While the Bretons were fleeing, rumors swept the Norman forces that the duke had been killed, but William rallied his troops.
    • William of Jumieges claimed that Harold was killed by William.

  • Norman Architecture

    • Norman invaders arrived at the mouth of the river Seine in 911.
    • The construction of the present building took place between the early 13th and the 16th centuries.
    • Its west portal, the decoration of the spire of the tower, and its stained glass are among the features which make it one of the finest churches of the Rouen diocese.
    • The Church of St.
    • It was founded in 1063 by William the Conqueror and is one of the most important Romanesque buildings in Normandy.

  • The Magna Carta

    • At the death of William the Conqueror in 1087, his lands were divided into two parts.
    • His Norman lands went to his eldest son, Robert Curthose and his English lands to his second son, William Rufus.
    • The pursuit of this aim led them to revolt against William in favor of Robert in the Rebellion of 1088.
    • As Robert failed to appear in England to rally his supporters, William won the support of the English lords with silver and promises of better government, and defeated the rebellion.
    • William died while hunting in 1100.

  • Spread of Islam

    • The expansion of the Arab Empire in the years following the Prophet Muhammad's death led to the creation of caliphates occupying a vast geographical area.
    • Within the first century of the establishment of Islam upon the Arabian Peninsula and the subsequent rapid expansion of the Arab Empire during the Muslim conquests, one of the most significant empires in world history was formed.
    • Initially, conversion was neither required nor necessarily wished for: "[The Arab conquerors] did not require the conversion as much as the subordination of non-Muslim peoples.
    • The Arab conquerors did not repeat the mistake made by the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, who had tried and failed to impose an official religion on subject populations, which had caused resentments that made the Muslim conquests more acceptable to them.
    • The Great Mosque of Kairouan, founded in 670 CE by the Arab general and conqueror Uqba Ibn Nafi, is the oldest mosque in western Islamic lands and represents an architectural symbol of the spread of Islam in North Africa, situated in Kairouan, Tunisia.

  • Florence in the Late 1400s

    • The Renaissance began to flourish in the 15th century in Florence.
    • With the accumulation of wealth came the desire to enjoy the pleasures of life on Earth -- not just an exclusive focus on the hereafter.
    • Florence saw itself as the ideal city-state, a place where the freedom of the individual was guaranteed, and where many citizens had the right to participate in the government.
    • Successfully defeating several would-be conquerors in the early 15th century, Florentines imagined themselves as the "New Rome" -- in other words, as the heirs to the Ancient Roman Republic, prepared to sacrifice for the cause of freedom and liberty.
    • Brunelleschi used more than 4 million bricks in the construction of the dome of the Florence Cathedral.

  • William of Orange and the Grand Alliance

    • William III's main goals in the conflict over the Spanish succession was to ensure the Protestant accession in England and curb the power of France and Louis XIV.
    • From William III's perspective, losing the hard-won securities overturned the work of the last twenty years.
    • However, before the War of the Spanish Succession was even declared, William died.
    • By the same token, Anne continued William's policies and many leading statesmen of William's later years remained in office, which turned out fundamental to the success of the Grand Alliance in the early stages of the war.
    • Explain William's stake in the War of the Spanish Succession and the goals of the Grand Alliance.

  • From Roosevelt to Taft

    • In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt persuaded the Republican Party to nominate William Howard Taft to run against Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan.
    • The U.S. presidential election of 1908 was between Republican Party candidate William Howard Taft and Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan.
    • On their side, the Democrats, after badly losing the 1904 election with a conservative candidate, turned to two-time nominee William Jennings Bryan, who had been defeated in 1896 and 1900 by Republican William McKinley.
    • Portrait of William Howard Taft, the Republican Party candidate in the presidential election of 1908.
    • Portrait of William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic Party candidate in the presidential election of 1908.

  • History

    • On top of this, the great conquerors raised venture capital to finance their land captures.
    • The capital investment would be returned to the investor when goods from the newly discovered or captured lands were returned by the conquerors.
    • The European captures became branches of the European states, the so-called "colonies".
    • The first economist in the true meaning of the word was the Scotsman Adam Smith (1723-1790).
    • The period today is called the industrial revolution because the system of production and division of labour enabled the mass production of goods.