William the Conqueror William the Conqueror lived from c.AD 1027
to 1087. His capital city was at Caen in northwestern France. He
invaded England as the Duke of Normandy and won the Battle of
Hastings in 1066. He then ruled England as William I. He is
remembered as a harsh king who replaced most of the English
landowners with a foreign aristocracy from France. He put down
revolts with ruthless brutality. In 1086 he compiled a book
called the Domesday Book which listed every single town and
village in England south of the River Tees, and how much tax it
was possible to extract from them. Today this is a priceless
document of medieval history and is an invaluable source in
tracing ancestry. In principle entries in the book can still be
used to raise taxes, although this rarely happens in practice.
He died in a battle in Normandy in 1087, and his body was so fat
that his coffin burst during his funeral ceremony. He appointed
his second and favourite son William Rufus as king of England in
his place, leaving Norm