William the Bastard

When Robert I of Normandy died in 1035, while returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the rule of Normandy passed to his seven- or eight-year-old son, William. William had a rocky start to his reign, and not just because he was young. William's mother was Herleva of Falaise, Robert's mistress. William's illegitimacy was a problem for some, and his mother's supposed humble origins also raised eyebrows.

He had the support of his great-uncle, the Archbishop of Rouen, Robert. Also, King Henry I of France, to whom Normandy owed fealty, supported William. Against him were his cousin Guy of Burgundy (son of his father's sister Alice), and two other uncles, Mauger and William of Talou, whose father was Richard II but whose mother was Richard II's second wife, a different wife from whom William was descended.

William's uncle Archbishop Robert died in 1037, and Mauger (who was only 18) was named Archbishop of Rouen. He was not supportive of William. This change removed one of William's strongest supporters, and political turmoil followed, culminating in Mauger's brother William of Talou forming a rebellion in 1053; this failed, and the rebel uncle fled to Boulogne. Because they were brothers, suspicion fell on Mauger, who was deposed as archbishop and exiled to the Isle of Guernsey. A Norman poet, Wace (1100-1174) collected stories of Mauger's life many years later, claiming that Mauger had made a pact with the devil, had gone mad, and drowned.

Earlier problems arose when another guardian of William, Alan of Brittany (son of Richard II's sister Hawise) died in 1040. His replacement as guardian of the young duke was Gilbert of Brionne, who was killed by enemies within months along with another guardian, Turchetil. Another guardian, Osbern, was killed in the early 1040s. These stories come to us from Orderic Vitalis, who wrote that Herleva's brother Walter would hide the young duke in peasant's huts. What is true is that three of William's more distant cousins became some of the most powerful magnates in England after 1066 (including the first Earl of Shrewsbury and the first Earl of Hereford), so it is possible that Orderic's report is born from William being kept far away from the traditional ducal seat and sheltered with the cousins.

King Henry of France sheltered William when he had to escape the attempt by his cousin Guy of Burgundy and others to capture him in 1046. In 1047 Henry with William fought the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes (see illustration for a monument marking the spot) that more decisively put William in power, although there were still battles to be fought and won. It was at this time that William declared the Truce of God in Normandy, in an attempt to limit opportunities for battle. Conflicts in Normandy existed almost constantly until about 1060.

There is so much more to William's career than the events of 1066 and following. Tomorrow we'll look deeper into the man and his attempts to unify Normandy.