William the Conqueror essays

William the Conqueror essays William the conqueror was an extraordinary man. He reigned over England from 1066-1087.During this time he achieved many great things. Winning the battle of Hastings, the Domesday book and so on. People described him as a fine soldier a great administrator and NOT a cruel man by the standard of his age. Read on and discover how he seized complete control of England! William the conqueror had spent months preparing all his armour, weapons, boats and training his army. He was going to invade England and kill the new King on the throne, Harold Godwinson, who had taken an oath to give William the throne, but had gone back on his word. As soon as William reached English shores, he began burning everything in sight, so that Harold would race down from wherever he was to try and stop William, but in the process leave half his army behind. On October the 14th the famous battle of Hastings took place. Harolds army were worn out for they had just fought a battle in the North. They were on top of a hill, and had an advantage, because they were keeping a tight shield wall, when all of a sudden they made a fatal mistake! Saxons broke away from the shield wall, and Williams army massacred Harold and his army, showing no mercy. William then seized control of the throne and became King of England, as all Saxon leaders were dead there was no one to stop him. Now, with William on the throne, he had to work fast before the Saxons rebelled. There were 10,000 Normans and a 1,000,000 Saxons. William had to get complete control, and fast. He started by building instant castles all over the country. These were called Motte and Baileys. They consisted of a mound of earth which was the Motte, and on top of this some Normans ( Williams army) lived in a Keep, a wooden kind of castle. The Bailey was flat ground, a kind of village, where Saxons lived. William did this so he could show Saxons who was boss! Stone castles were built late ...