how did William the conqueror gain control of England?

Question

more than one answer required

Answer 1

1. By Force. His Army was bigger, better prepared, and French, too.

2. By Accident, since the English King was fighting someone else, and thus weakened his army, succumbing to William's force (see answer 1).

3. with Montgomery on his left flank, and the Romans weakened in the center, he could Laissez-Faire his way down the coast (oops, wrong subject).

Good Luck.

Answer 2

William defeated the Saxon King Harold at the battle of Hasting on the 14th of October 1066. On Christmas day the same year, he was crowned King of England. However this foregin rule did not go without opposition and he had to fight off great violence in the north and west of the country. Giving land and important positions to Normans, kept his strong position against the declining Saxons.

Answer 3

In 1066 William, Duke of Normandy landed in England with his army. He had a claim to the throne. He defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings in southern England. This is one of the defining moments in English history. French became the official language of England, while the population spoke Anglo-Saxon English. Eventually the two languages merged to form Middle English. The Norman French brought with them their language, food, customs, dress architecture, etc. After the Norman Conquest William as King of England commissioned the Domesday Book, a survey of England.

Answer 4

There is only one answer force of arms , the defenders Harald Handrada and his shieldwall were armed almost the same way as William because they were all related , IF Harald had not just marched about 150 miles and fought and won one battle before the battle with William, William and his army would have been decimated

Answer 5

he beat harold godwinson at the battle of hastings, 1066

1. cavalry
2. larger force
3.better battle tactics
the english just had a long shield wall that held out against the normans until some english chased the fleeing norman cavalry. but the norman cavalry came back an slaughtered them so there was a huge hole in the english shield wall. plus harold got hit in the eye by an arrow. his housecarls defended him to the death. then he just plunderd england for the money and land.

Answer 6

Simply by getting almost all the Saxon Leaders together in one place, Hastings, then killing them. when the day was over there was almost noone left to lead any resistance, Hereward the Wake's exploits shining out as the only beacon of Saxon resistance Hollywood Fantasies about Robin Hood as portrayed by Errol Flynn having nothing to do with reality.

Answer 7

He had previously entertained Harold Godwineson as a prisoner/guest having secured from him the promise of the English throne (under duress?) I dont think Edward the Confessor was particulary enamoured at having eorl Goodwineson succeed him. Anyway on hearing of Harold's succession he made moves to invade England. (We think he 'arranged' Tostig and Harald Haddrada's diversion at Stanford Bridge). he also sent off to the Pope for approval, receiving in return the banner of St Peter as a mark of approval. he then assembled about 2000 of his knights, horses and various mercenaries on about 300 ships (no doubt promising them power and wealth for their service) and set sail for Pevensey after a few false starts due to the unfavourable winds. A crucial element pre-battle took place when William's ship bearing the lantern guide got ahead and isolated from the fleet. At that stage if the English Navy, instead of having been effectively dismantled by Edward C, had been able to engage, the Normans would have been scattered. When they disembarked the Norman host swiftly moved inland, harrying local villages as they went. Meanwhile Harold's depleted host had arrived and they met somewhere between Hastings and Battle with the Anglo Saxons occupying the 'sandluc' ridge. The Norman cavalry tactic of 'feigned retreat' enticed numbers of the English down off the ridge where they were cut down and slain. Then the archers poured their deadly fire into the depleted ranks of the English on the ridge, 'hic haroldus interfectus est' as it says on the tapestry, and although his house carls made a gallant stand around his body, they were cut down and slain to a man.
William the marched swiftly on London, where the town surrendered with little opposition. He was able to control England militarily by his innovation of the 'flatpak' castle. This enabled knights to go on raids and then conveniently retire behind its defences. Other opposition was effectively conquered bby 'harrying' and laying waste their lands, denying them supplies to continue fighting in the field. He then proceded to compile an inventory of English resources and assign his Norman 'placemen' in positions of power formerly occupied by the thegns and eorls, along with a few trusted English lackeys to help the administration. He inherited an already feudal type of agriculture system, a legislature and an eccliastic system and did not alter its infrastucture significantly. It was the perfect coup..almost! The rest is History

Answer 8

He built a strong network of castles all over the country and installed his relatives (cousins, nephews etc) to rule them and thus impose order on his unruly English subjects.

Answer 9

with a large army killed king Harold moved in loads of troupes and occupied it.
Fighting groups kept up resistance in many areas for a Long g time

Answer 10

He beat the English army at the Battle of Hastings.

Everybody should know that!