Family legend says that he and brother were both executed in 1483, by the notorious Richard III. afterward queen of Edward IV; Thomas Grey, created Marquis of Dorset in Lord Gray made also a separate entail of his estate, upon which there passed a charter under the great seal, in favours of William master of Gray, * and the heirs-male procreate or to be procreate betwixt him and Anne mistress of Gray, (therein designed daughter and heiress of Andrew . [71], Harold was crowned on 6 January 1066 in Edward's new Norman-style Westminster Abbey, although some controversy surrounds who performed the ceremony. The listing for each county gives the holdings of each landholder, grouped by owners. This made William's power more secure in northern France, but the new count of Flanders accepted Edgar the theling into his court. [2] The legates and the king then proceeded to hold a series of ecclesiastical councils dedicated to reforming and reorganising the English church. [54] To oversee his expanded domain, William was forced to travel even more than he had as duke. Although some of the newly rich Normans in England came from William's close family or from the upper Norman nobility, others were from relatively humble backgrounds. In England and Ireland Grey is still used, in Scotland William, Duke of Normandy, conquered England in 1066. accession of James I, 1603. remained in the hands of the Grey family until the Marcher Lords were abolished I have therefore made yet another attempt the produce the Descendants of William the Conqueror in text . His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, as did the anarchy which plagued the first years of his rule. There are a few like coin. Most were constructed from earth and timber, but work had also begun on great stone towers in . After further military efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066, in London. [i] The marriage nevertheless went ahead some time in the early 1050s,[43][j] possibly unsanctioned by the pope. He registered for military service in 1066. Interaction between father and son, nevertheless, remained problematic right up until William's passing. Stigand submitted to William there, and when the duke moved on to Berkhamsted soon afterwards, Edgar the theling, Morcar, Edwin, and Ealdred also submitted. There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, whom Edward named as king on his deathbed in January 1066. Harold's sons were meanwhile raiding the southwest of England from a base in Ireland. It appears that the Gray family was from Harwich, Essex, as a John and town report or directory are about all there is. The chronicler Orderic Vitalis states that Edwin's reason for revolting was that the proposed marriage between himself and one of William's daughters had not taken place, but another reason probably included the increasing power of fitzOsbern in Herefordshire, which affected Edwin's power within his own earldom. He was opposed to King William's power on the continent, thus the Battle of Cassel upset the balance of power in northern France as well as costing William an important supporter. The period from 1047 to 1054 saw almost continuous warfare, with lesser crises continuing until 1060. English coins were generally of high silver content, with high artistic standards, and were required to be re-minted every three years. In August and September 1079 King Malcolm of Scots raided south of the River Tweed, devastating the land between the River Tees and the Tweed in a raid that lasted almost a month. [2] Even after the younger William's death in 1100 and the succession of his youngest brother Henry as king, Normandy and England remained contested between the brothers until Robert's capture by Henry at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106. England remained unstable. [51] Examination of William's femur, the only bone to survive when the rest of his remains were destroyed, showed he was approximately 5feet 10inches (1.78m) in height. As King Edward's heir, he controlled all of the former royal lands. [60], Count Herbert II of Maine died in 1062, and William, who had betrothed his eldest son Robert to Herbert's sister Margaret, claimed the county through his son. [31] To address the growing power of the Count of Anjou, Geoffrey Martel,[32] William joined with King Henry in a campaign against him, the last known cooperation between the two. The historian Eleanor Searle speculates that William was raised with the three cousins who later became important in his career William fitzOsbern, Roger de Beaumont, and Roger of Montgomery. Other bequests included gifts to the Church and money to be distributed to the poor. [97] FitzOsbern and Odo found it difficult to control the native population and undertook a programme of castle building to maintain their hold on the kingdom. At first, Alan of Brittany had custody of the duke, but when Alan died in either late 1039 or October 1040, Gilbert of Brionne took charge of William. Marcher Lords. [o] William ordered that the body was to be thrown into the sea, but whether that took place is unclear. Also, it says, "Gray, A descendant or member of the same family became Chamberlain [100] In 1070 William also founded Battle Abbey, a new monastery at the site of the Battle of Hastings, partly as a penance for the deaths in the battle and partly as a memorial to the dead. Then the king returned to Normandy late in 1068. The elder John de Gray had a son, Henry William, son of Ellery, who were obscure, possibly intentionally leaving Rolf, Rollo or Raoul (son of Rognwald, Jarl of Mori in Norway) invaded Tostig appears to have received little local support, and further raids into Lincolnshire and near the River Humber met with no more success, so he retreated to Scotland, where he remained for a time. British Monarch. Henry attempted to dislodge William, but the siege of Thimert dragged on for two years until Henry's death. [73][m] King Harald Hardrada of Norway also had a claim to the throne as the uncle and heir of King Magnus I, who had made a pact with Harthacnut in about 1040 that if either Magnus or Harthacnut died without heirs, the other would succeed. The early castles were simple earth and timber constructions, later replaced with stone structures. http://members.aol.com/rinewpor/famhist.html. [94] Both men were also named to earldoms fitzOsbern to Hereford (or Wessex) and Odo to Kent. Fulbert was also William the Conqueror's Great Chamberlain. Thomas Gray were living there in 1579. Other sons were granted earldoms later: Gyrth as Earl of East Anglia in 1057 and Leofwine as Earl of Kent sometime between 1055 and 1057. The Whitsun council saw the appointment of Lanfranc as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas of Bayeux as the new Archbishop of York, to replace Ealdred, who had died in September 1069. William the Conqueror Details individual; ruler; French; British; Male. The Conquest brought the kingdom into closer contact with France and forged ties between France and England that lasted throughout the Middle Ages. By the time of William's death in 1087, around 500 castles had been built across England and Wales. His The intact body was restored to the tomb at that time, but in 1562, during the French Wars of Religion, the grave was reopened and the bones scattered and lost, with the exception of one thigh bone. As early as 1622, two brothers, Thomas and John Although a mere two or three days' ride away at Abbeville, Robert did not attend William's deathbed or funeral. [145], William's reign has caused historical controversy since before his death. The town held out for 18 days, and after it fell to William he built a castle to secure his control. it is Gray. William spent most of his time in England between the Battle of Hastings and 1072, and after that, he spent the majority of his time in Normandy. Before we called him William the Conqueror, he had a much more ignoble nickname: William the Bastard. [54], William cultivated close relations with the church in his duchy. In England several families from this . By the end of 1081, William was back on the continent, dealing with disturbances in Maine. [63] No English source mentions a supposed embassy by Archbishop Robert to William conveying the promise of the succession, and the two Norman sources that mention it, William of Jumiges and William of Poitiers, are not precise in their chronology of when this visit took place. Sam William the Conqueror. During the 17th and 18th centuries, some historians and lawyers saw William's reign as imposing a "Norman yoke" on the native Anglo-Saxons, an argument that continued during the 19th century with further elaborations along nationalistic lines. The remaining earls Edwin (of Mercia), Morcar (of Northumbria), and Waltheof (of Northampton) were confirmed in their lands and titles. Sometimes deputies were appointed to deal with specific issues. This WWW page was copied from [69][l], In 1065 Northumbria revolted against Tostig, and the rebels chose Morcar, the younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia, as earl in place of Tostig. The Danes then raided along the coast before returning home. Swein's death in 1014 allowed thelred to return home, but Swein's son Cnut contested thelred's return. At an early period there were also Grays It was during this exile that Edward offered the throne to William. All the English counties south of the River Tees and River Ribble are included, and the whole work seems to have been mostly completed by 1 August 1086, when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that William received the results and that all the chief magnates swore the Salisbury Oath, a renewal of their oaths of allegiance. Bellme's overlord was the king of France, but Domfront was under the overlordship of Geoffrey Martel and Duke William was Alenon's overlord. These fortifications allowed Normans to retreat into safety when threatened with rebellion and allowed garrisons to be protected while they occupied the countryside. They succeeded in capturing an Angevin fortress but accomplished little else. In 1086, he ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all of the land-holdings in England along with their pre-Conquest and current holders. But William was not finished; he marched over the Pennines during the winter and defeated the remaining rebels at Shrewsbury before building Chester and Stafford Castles. (born 860 A.D.). [4] In an effort to improve matters, King thelred the Unready took Emma, sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy, as his second wife in 1002. He celebrated Christmas at Winchester and dealt with the aftermath of the rebellion. Others, such as H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles, see the changes brought about by the Conquest as much less radical than Southern suggests. Between 1066 and 1072, William spent only 15 months in Normandy and the rest in England. William I, byname William the Conqueror or William the Bastard or William of Normandy, French Guillaume le Conqurant or Guillaume le Btard or Guillaume de Normandie, (born c. 1028, Falaise, Normandy [France]died September 9, 1087, Rouen), duke of Normandy (as William II) from 1035 and king of England (as William I) from 1066, one of the greatest soldiers and rulers of the Middle Ages . [100] The historian David Bates sees this coronation as the ceremonial papal "seal of approval" for William's conquest. The chronicler also claimed that the duke secured the support of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and King Sweyn II of Denmark. The surname Gray emerged as a notable Scottish family name in the county of Northumberland where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated with manor and estates in that shire. [61] By 1050, however, relations between the king and the earl had soured, culminating in a crisis in 1051 that led to the exile of Godwin and his family from England. William's movements during 1084 and 1085 are unclear he was in Normandy at Easter 1084 but may have been in England before then to collect the danegeld assessed that year for the defence of England against an invasion by King Cnut IV of Denmark. The difficulties over the succession led to a loss of authority in Normandy, with the aristocracy regaining much of the power they had lost to the elder William. Ralph eventually left Norwich in the control of his wife and left England, finally ending up in Brittany. The Vexin was a buffer state between Normandy and the lands of the French king, and Simon had been a supporter of William. While seizing Mantes, William either fell ill or was injured by the pommel of his saddle. Members of the Gray or de Gray family later ride with William the Conqueror to defeat the Brittish at the Battle of Hastings(1066). [82] Although Harold attempted to surprise the Normans, William's scouts reported the English arrival to the duke. These controversies have led to William being seen by some historians either as one of the creators of England's greatness or as inflicting one of the greatest defeats in English history. considered the first casualty of the Revolutionary War. He took part in church councils and made several appointments to the Norman episcopate, including the appointment of Maurilius as Archbishop of Rouen. Harold stopped in London, and was there for about a week before marching to Hastings, so it is likely that he spent about a week on his march south, averaging about 27 miles (43 kilometres) per day,[81] for the distance of approximately 200 miles (320 kilometres). [117] William's forces were forced to lift the siege, and the king returned to Rouen. [52] William's main hobby appears to have been hunting. He finally crossed the Thames at Wallingford in early December. Pardon was a grandson of Edward of Tiverton add very active in town government no trace to follow. W. Gray. Alfred returned to England in 1036 to visit his mother and perhaps to challenge Harold as king. of that parish for some years. William was crowned King of England on December 25, 1066. By 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. [132], William took over an English government that was more complex than the Norman system. [79] Harold kept his forces on alert throughout the summer, but with the arrival of the harvest season he disbanded his army on 8 September. William gave generously to the church;[56] from 1035 to 1066, the Norman aristocracy founded at least twenty new monastic houses, including William's two monasteries in Caen, a remarkable expansion of religious life in the duchy. [35] William was engaged in military actions against his own nobles throughout 1053,[36] as well as with the new Archbishop of Rouen, Mauger. diverse branches. family of Stapleford were similar to the names in Edward Grays family. February 12, 1621. [p] The Danish king had brought a large fleet to England and attacked not only York but Exeter and Shrewsbury. [121], Sources for William's actions between 1082 and 1084 are meagre. [144] In the years since the Conquest, politicians and other leaders have used William and the events of his reign to illustrate political events throughout English history. [s] William was able to make peace with Philip in 1077 and secured a truce with Count Fulk in late 1077 or early 1078. A sheriff was responsible for royal justice and collecting royal revenue. [65] William's western border was thus secured, but his border with Brittany remained insecure. [2], Throughout the summer, William assembled an army and an invasion fleet in Normandy. Gilbert was killed within months, and another guardian, Turchetil, was also killed around the time of Gilbert's death.