William I brought the traditional centralized rule and military establishment of Normandy into Britain, which was a great turning point in British history. Before that, Britain was always the object of invasion and conquest, and then Britain turned from defense to attack, and later wars were mainly fought on other people's land, although these two traditions gradually faded in the future development of Britain.
1066, the ancient Anglo-Saxon Britain fell apart, and a brand-new feudal centralized Britain was established on the ruins. It was a Frenchman named William from Normandy who rewrote this history. William is usually called William the Conqueror or "William the bastard" by those who hate him.
William, the only son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy, was born on1027165438+1October 8th. William's mother is Robert I's maid (the daughter of a cobbler), so William is an illegitimate child. When William was only 8 years old, Robert I died on the pilgrimage and appointed William as the heir of Normandy before his death. People who are eyeing the duke's position think they have more legitimate inheritance rights and try their best to get rid of William.
They called William a "bastard" and a "bastard" and laughed at him as a descendant of a cobbler. Although William was like a lamb among wolves, he was lucky to escape the assassination. /kloc-was knighted by French king Henry I at the age of 0/5, and/kloc-successfully responded to rebellion and invasion at the age of 0/9. The little boy gradually grew into a strong-willed and charming leader.
The battle for the throne of England
Back to Anglo-Saxon England (from the end of the Roman Empire's rule over Britain in the 5th century to England when the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom was founded in 1066). Anglo-Saxon England before the 9th century was mainly composed of seven kingdoms (a bit like China's Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period). In order to resist the invasion of Nordic countries and the harassment of pirates, the seven countries tend to unite, among which the kingdom of Wessex gradually rises. After the efforts of several kings, in the middle of the 10 century, the separatist kingdom was unified into the kingdom of England, and the royal family of Wessex became the royal family of England.
10 12. King Swing of Denmark invaded and defeated the king of England, and England entered the period of Danish rule. After Swing's death, his son Knut succeeded to the throne of England. In order to strengthen his rule over England, Knut recruited and reused Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, England. 1035 After Knut's death, Britain experienced a bloody battle for the throne for several years. It was not until 1043 that Prince Edward with Wessex royal blood ascended the throne (known as "Edward III" or "Edward the Confessor" in history) that the British royal family was restored.
Edward's mother is a Norman from France. During the Danish occupation of England, she took Prince Edward, who was only 6 years old, into exile in Normandy. Prince Edward has lived in Normandy for 30 years, which is more like his hometown. He was deeply influenced by Norman language, politics and culture, and his godfather was the awesome Duke of Normandy Robert I.
1043, Edward with Wessex royal blood ascended the throne of England. But in fact, Edward knew nothing about England, and power was still in the hands of Godwinson, Earl of Wessex.
Although Edward doesn't like Gwensen very much, he can't help it. Godwinson also married his daughter Edith to Edward, thinking that her daughter could have a little "Godwinson" with the king and then inherit the throne of England. But after Edward married Edith, he never consummated with Edith again. Edward wants to choose an heir he likes. Of course, his favorite candidate is not the Godwinsons, but the heir of the Normandy family in France and the son of his godfather William.
1053, Godwinson died of a heart attack while dining with the king. His eldest son, harold godwineson, led the Godwinsons to remain in power and control England.
Edward was always a helpless puppet king. He devoted more energy to religious life, spent a lot of time in meditation, confession and prayer, and devoted himself to building churches (including the famous Westminster Abbey). Edward is called "Edward the Confessor" because he loves Christianity very much.
1065 In the winter, Edward, the childless king of England, was terminally ill, and there was no sign that anyone would succeed to the throne. Among all the people who are eyeing the throne, those who think that they should ascend the throne most include harold godwineson, Earl of Wessex, William, Duke of Normandy, and harald Hadrada, King of Norway.
10665438+1October 5th, Edward died. Before he died, he raised his hand with his last strength and gently stroked the hand of harold godwineson, Earl of Wessex. No one knows what this means. But Harold Godwinson firmly believes that this is a signal that Edward appointed him to succeed to the throne. On the morning of October 6th, 65438/KLOC-0, Westminster Abbey witnessed the funeral of King Edward. At noon, it witnessed the eager coronation of the new king harold godwineson (known as Harold II in history).
William set out.
The news that harold godwineson succeeded to the British throne made William, Duke of Normandy, fly into a rage. In the past ten years, he confidently told the whole of Europe that Edward had promised to pass on the throne of England to him when he visited London in 1052, but now he has instantly become the laughing stock of everyone.
William immediately asked the Pope for the British throne, for reasons including his own (though weak) English royal lineage, Edward promised to pass on the English throne to himself, and harold godwineson swore allegiance to himself, but now he has broken his word and ascended the throne first. The Pope was finally persuaded by William, who agreed to crusade against heretic Harold in the name of the Holy See, and gave him the holy cross flag and the Pope's scepter and ring.
With the support of the Holy See and the temptation of "increasing ranks and titles" after the capture of England, William quickly raised a huge army and fleet, including tens of thousands of soldiers, 6,000 war horses and more than 400 warships.
At the same time, King Harold of New England also assembled troops and fleets, and quickly assembled on the south coast of England. The core of Harold's army is 5000 English feudal lords and nobles, 3000 professional soldiers and 13000 part-time soldiers (they are required by law to serve the king for two months every year). At the beginning of August, Duke William's troops also assembled on the Normandy coast. The armies of the two countries have sharpened their swords and vowed to be at loggerheads.
However, William's plan to cross the sea was delayed by the hurricane at sea. William is anxiously waiting for "the south wind that seems never to come", while Harold is anxiously waiting for "William that seems never to come". Harold's anxiety has his difficulties. Under the confrontation between the two sides, the time has entered September, which is the autumn harvest season. At this time, it has exceeded the legal service period of mercenaries of two months per year for more than two weeks. Anxiety and dissatisfaction spread in the army, and Harold had to order the dissolution of mercenaries on September 8.
Norwegian invasion
It never rains but it pours. Just 1 1 days after Harold ordered the dissolution of mercenaries, the Norwegian king Harald Hadrada and Harold's brother Tostigo, who were also eyeing the English throne, led 300 warships and 12000 soldiers to invade England. Norwegian troops landed in Norfolk Sambia in the northeast, and soon occupied Yorkshire. After the great victory in the first battle, Norwegian kings harald Hadrada and Tostig led only one third of their troops to Stamford Bridge, eight miles east of Yorkshire, where they planned to capture a large number of hostages.
However, it was not the abandoned tribe that was waiting for them, but the army of King Harold of England. It turned out that as soon as Harold received the news of the Norwegian invasion, he immediately set out from London, marching at a high speed (just four days 3 12 km) and recruiting troops along the way. In the end, Harold won the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the heroic Norwegian king harald Hadrada was shot dead with an arrow, and Tostig died penniless. The Norwegian army was killed and abandoned its helmet and armor, and only 24 of the 300 warships that expedition to England fled back to Norway.
Battle of Hastings
Harold had no time to celebrate the failure of the Norwegian king's invasion, nor to mourn the death of his younger brother Tostig. The day after the Battle of Stamford Bridge, Duke William of Normandy led his troops across the English Channel and landed on the coast of England.
Harold had to assemble all the military forces he could to resist the enemy in the south again. 10 in the early morning of June 6 14, the armies of both sides launched a fierce battle in Hastings. William has cavalry and infantry, and many archers, while Harold has only infantry and a few archers. Britain occupied the favorable terrain of the valley, and its initial defense was very effective. William's army attack was contained and suffered heavy casualties.
William reorganized his army and raised his helmet to quell the rumor that he was dead. Later, Norman cavalry and archers caused more and more casualties to the British army. The war lasted until dusk. When another wave of Norman cavalry attacked, the English army began to rout. King Harold was shot in the eye by a Norman archer (according to the 70-meter-long Bayeux tapestry), and then Norman knights surrounded him, stabbed him to death and dismembered him.
Harold, the last king of Anglo-Saxon Britain, died in the tragic Hastings War, which rewritten English history, and about half of the nobles in England also died in this battlefield.
In the next two months, Duke William led Norman troops to the north, attacked the city, plundered the land, burned and looted, and the Anglo-Saxon cities fell one after another.
Norman dynasty
10665438+On February 25th (Christmas Day), Norman William of France was officially crowned in Westminster Abbey, and was called "William I" or "William the Conqueror". Old Anglo-Saxon England collapsed, and a brand-new Norman England was built on the ruins.