William the Conqueror

Born around 1028 to an unmarried duke and his mistress, William inherited Normandy at seven and spent his youth dodging rival nobles who fought over the child and the duchy itself. By 1047 he'd crushed a rebellion; by 1060 his grip was firm. When his cousin Edward the Confessor died childless in January 1066, William argued the throne had been promised to him — Harold Godwinson took it anyway. William sailed that September with a Franco-Norman fleet, killed Harold at Hastings on 14 October, and was crowned king by Christmas. He spent the next decade putting down English revolts, most of his re…