William the Conqueror

Sup Will, can I call you that?  No?  Oh…okay.  Well then let’s start this thing.

Q: When and where were you born?

A: I was born 1027 AD in Falaise, France and died September 9, 1087 (just thought I’d throw that in there).

Q: So how’d you gain rule?

A: Well in 1066, King Edward died without an heir and a council of nobles chose Harold (who was Edward’s brother-in-law) to rule.  I was not happy when I heard this because I too am related to Edward and claimed the throne.  It was up to war to decide who was to rule!  And you know how it is, I got the Pope on my side and got myself an army.  We sailed across the English Channel to England and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings!  I was then crowned king of England on Christmas day 1066.  From this, I acquired the name William “the Conqueror.”

Q: How’d you manage to control over your kingdom?

A:  I did many things like granted fiefs to Norman lords and to the Church, although I kept some land for myself, I monitored castles, and made all vassals swear allegiance to me.  I wanted to learn more about the land that I gained rule over, so I issued a census in 1086 and outcame all the numbers for every castle, field, and pigpens in England.  All of these numbers were contained in a book I’d like to call the DOOMSDAY BOOK. DUN DUN DUNNNN.  This book helped me to create a nice tax system.

Esler, Ellis. Prentice Hall World History. Boston, MA, Glenview, IL, Shoreview, MN, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2009. 245. Print.