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Here, gathered in our beloved South Dakota, are a few members of our Williamson / Mattson Clan. Charles and Luella are to be blamed (be kind, they didn't know what they were doing). We're generally a happy bunch and somewhat intelligent (notwithstanding our tenuous grasp on reality). I'm also proud to say that most of us still have our teeth.

Monday, January 11, 2010

King William I (William the Conqueror) Our 27th Great Grandfather

May I introduce you to King William I of England our famous 27th Great Grandfather coming from Grandma Mattson's family line. He is on that short list of history's famous people. He is known as William the Conqueror. Here are a few interesting facts on our famous Great Grandfather.

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR
William I (c. 1027 or 1028
[1] – 9 September 1087), better known as William the Conqueror, was the King of England from Christmas, 1066 until his death. He was also William II, Duke of Normandy, from 3 July 1035 until his death. Before his conquest of England, he was known as "William the Bastard" (French: Guillaume le Bâtard) because of the illegitimacy of his birth. William was already known as "the Conqueror" before 1066 due to his military success in Brittany.

To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemish people, and Frenchmen (from Paris and Île-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson (who died in the conflict) at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[2]

His reign, which brought Norman-French culture to England, had an impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. The details of that impact and the extent of the changes have been debated by scholars for over a century. In addition to the obvious change of ruler, his reign also saw a programme of building and fortification, changes to the English language, a shift in the upper levels of society and the church, and adoption of some aspects of continental church reform.

And a few pictures to illustrate some of his minor accomplishments.


William I built the central White Tower in the Tower of London.



William the Conqueror invades England

The signatures of William I and Matilda are the first two large crosses on the Accord of Winchester from 1072.

The castle of William, Château Guillaume-Le-Conquérant, in Falaise, Calvados, France.


The Duke of Normandy in the Bayeux Tapestry

English coin of William the Conqueror (1066–1087).

Folks, This is just the beginning. Check back daily. You'll never know what else I dig up.
I want to thank my sisters Kim and Jilane for doing a lot of the painstaking genealogy work on the church's web site that let to this discovery.

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