Steven Wood Collins's Blog: The Writing of Steven Wood Collins - Author of "Puramore - The Lute of Pythagoras" - The Patricians: William The Conqueror (1028 - 1087) - 6th Duke of Normandy, Leader of the Norman Conquest of England, 1st Norman King of England - Author's 26th Great Grandfather

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The Patricians: William The Conqueror (1028 - 1087) - 6th Duke of Normandy, Leader of the Norman Conquest of England, 1st Norman King of England - Author's 26th Great Grandfather

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William I, 6th Duke of Normandy, was the founding father of the Norman dynasty that reigned as English monarchs from 1066 through 1154. Stephen of Blois (c. 1092 – 1154), his maternal grandson, was the last of the lineage to rule England prior to the succession of the dynasty by the Plantagenet monarchal lineage with the crowning of Henry II upon his death in 1154.

There were several times during the course of the daylong Battle of Hastings when it appeared William had been slain, most likely when three of his steeds were killed underneath him. As Geoffrey Martel once described him, he was "without equal as a fighter and as a horseman". He was also possessed enough strength to draw bows that others couldn't.

In his book entitled The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World (published in 1851), Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy ranks the top fifteen military battlefield victories the effect of which subsequently determined the course of human history. The following lists those battles in which my ancestors played pivotal leadership roles:

1. Battle of Marathon, 490 BC
Darius I, King of Kings of Persia, father of Xerxes the Great
Artaphernes, nephew of Darius the Great
Xanthippus, father of Pericles of Athens

3. Battle of Gaugamela, 331 BC
Alexander the Great
Darius III, direct descendant of Xerxes

5. Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, 9 AD
Arminius, King of Teutonic Germans

6. Battle of Châlons, 451 AD
Tonantius Ferreolus
Merovech

7. Battle of Tours, 732 AD
Also called the Battle of Poitiers.
Charles Martel

8. Battle of Hastings, 1066 AD
William the Conqueror
Knight Companions of William the Conqueror at Battle of Hastings
Alan Rufus

9.Siege of Orléans, 1429 AD
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford KG
Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, KG, brother of Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk (killed at Battle of Agincourt)
Giles de Montmorency-Lavel, Baron de Rais, Marshal of France

10. Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588 AD
Queen Elizabeth
Lord Admiral Charles Howard
Sir Francis Drake
Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia

11. Battle of Blenheim, 1704 AD
Queen Anne Stuart
King Louis XIV Bourbon
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough
Maximilian Emanuel Wittelsbach

12. Battle of Pultowa, 1709 AD
Also called the Battle of Poltava.
Czar Peter "the Great" Romanov
Karl XII, King of Sweden

13. Battle of Saratoga, 1777 AD
General George Washington
Major General Benjamin Lincoln

15. Battle of Waterloo, 1815 AD
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
Jonkheer Lieutenant General Albert Dominicus Trippe van Zoudtland

One can only wonder at how Creasy would have ranked the great military battles fought in WWI and WWII. In my mind at least, the Allied victory in the D-Day invasion of Normandy would certainly add to the rankings as one of the most important battles ever fought. Sir Winston Spencer-Churchill, Marlborough's descendant, played a pivotal role in planning the gargantuan military offensive.

Prior to his coronation at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066, William ordered the construction of several castles in London. The White Tower of the Tower of London was completed around 1100. The present-day layout of the Tower of London was built over the course of the next 200 years by successive monarchs. The last monarch to permanently reside there for any length of time was probably King Henry VIII Tudor.

English King Harold Godwinson nearly defeated William and his army at the Battle of Hastings. However, he was slain by an arrow shot into one of his eyes during the pitch of battle that could have secured his victory. William and four of his knights immediately mutilated his body, at which point the thoroughly demoralized English army retreated from the battlefield.

He granted many of his knight companions huge tracts of English land. Thereafter, they and their descendants formed the backbone of Norman rule of England. Several of them, including Alan Rufus and William I de Warenne, would later gain recognition as the wealthiest individuals in world history (William himself is ranked #7 on Fab Pedigree's list).

After the divvy, William commissioned the survey of all land and property within his realm, principally to assess valuation for taxation purposes. The resulting manuscript became known as the Doomesday Book by the English because it represented the Final Judgement of their net worth. There was no process available to appeal whatever the surveyors judged to be the value of land and attached chattel.

According to the Doomesday Book , Lady Godiva was one of a handful of Anglo-Saxons to retain their land holdings after the Norman Conquest.

William's half-brother Odo de Conteville, Bishop of Bayeaux, commissioned the Bayeaux Tapestry to commemorate the Norman Conquest. Made in England, the tapestry depicts the Norman point of view of the events leading to and including the Battle of Hastings. At over 70 meters in length, it is the only surviving example of Middle Age narrative needlework.

Dukes of Normandy Family Tree

William the Conqueror, 6th Duke of Normandy, 1st Norman King of England
Birth 14 Oct 1024 in Château de Falaise, Falaise, Normandy
Death 9 Sep 1087 in Priory of St Gervase, Rouen, Normandy

26th great grandfather PLANTAGENET-HOWARD-WOOD
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

26th great grandfather PLANTAGENET-MONTMORENCY-LA ROCHE GUYON-DE SILLY-ROHAN-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

29th great grandfather STOCKPORT-HYDE-CARRINGTON-SIMMONS-COLLINS
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

31st great grandfather PLANTAGENET-MONTMORENCY-DE LEON-DE ROUGE-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

32nd great-grandfather DE CHAMPAGNE-HASTINGS-D'EU-HASTINGS-HERON-COLLINGWOOD-COLLINS
http://person.ancestry.com/tree/46588...

29th great grand uncle D'AVRANCHES-EGERTON-DOANE-MARSHALL-POTTER-TRIPP-OUTWATER-COLLINS
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

1st cousin 28x removed SINCLAIR-PAINE-TRIPP-OUTWATER-COLLINS
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

2nd cousin 27x removed DUNKELD-LE ROY-MAULAY-REINE-LA POINTE-MOREAU-GIROUX-MERON-BRULE
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

2nd cousin 31x removed ROHAN-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

5th cousin 29x removed LE ROY - ROYAL BLOODLINE
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

paternal grandfather of wife of 10th cousin 25x removed PERCHE-CHATEAUDUN-PONTHIEU-WESSEX-MONTMORENCY-MONTFORT-CLERMONT NESLE-FLAVY-LE ROY-MAULAY-LA POINTE-MOREAU-GIROUX-MERON-BRULE-
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

husband of 1st cousin 31x removed HAINAUT-CAPET-D'EVREUX-ROHAN-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

husband of 2nd cousin 31x removed CAPET-D'EVREUX-ROHAN-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

husband of 9th cousin 27x removed
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887... CAPET-HARCOURT-SIMMONS-COLLINS

husband of 6th cousin 28x removed HAINAUT-LENS-DEMAREST-TERHUNE-BANTA-BRINKERHOFF-OUTWATER-COLLINS
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

32nd cousin 24x removed ASGARD-WESSEX-HOWARD-WOOD
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/465887...

FAB PEDIGREE http://fabpedigree.com/s092/f004378.htm

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Published on February 07, 2012 08:45 • Tags: duke-of-normandy, henry-beauclerc, henry-i-of-england, norman-conquest, rollo, william-the-conqueror

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message 1: by Cheryl (new)

Sep 23, 2013 07:31PM

Okay, I'm interested, but HOW does one get from Rollo all the way back to Alexander the Great? I'd be interested to see documentation of this. Thanks!
Cheryl Ann

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message 2: by Cheryl (new)

Sep 23, 2013 07:32PM

And, I see that the trees you have listed are blocked on Ancestry.com...sigh...

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