Jacob Abbott

William the Conqueror / Makers of History illustrated Jacob Abbott

William I (Old Norman: Williame I; Old English: Willelm I; c. 1028[1] - 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, [2][a] was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. The descendant of Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England in 1066. 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