i spy with my little eye something that begins with a...

time for another history lesson, boys and girls (british history, of course). for those of you who don't know, the picture above is part of the bayeaux tapestry, a huge tapestry that depicts the conquest of england by william of normandy (william the bastard, later to be known as william I of england). this scene depicts the fatal blow to the then king of england, harold godwinson, as he was struck in the eye with an arrow.

so, here is how the story goes...
there was this kind named edward (they called him edward the confessor). he was well loved by his people, but a weak king. he had no sons and seems to have promised his throne to just about everyone around him (including both harold and tostig godwinson, who were brothers and the son of edward's most beloved advisor godwin, william of normandy- then known as william the bastard because, well, he was illegitamate, and a bunch of scandinavian guys that we won't get into here). upon his death in 1066, his throne passed to harold godwinson (making his brother tostig none too happy). another person who was a bit miffed at this was william the bastard. william was the second cousin of edward the confessor. it's said that edward promised william the throne in 1051. when harold took the throne in 1066 upon edward's death, william got straight to work, preparing to invade england and take what he felt was rightfully his.

at this point, william wasn't the only one gearing up to invade. harold's brother, tostig, aided by harold hardrada, king of norway, landed in northern england in late summer of 1066. harold made a mad dash (on foot, mind you, and with an ass-load of soldiers marching all the way from london) up to the north to do battle with the king of norway and his very own brother. harold godwinson defeated the invaders at the battle of stamford bridge on the 25th of september, 1066. it couldn't have helped harold's state of mind that he killed his own brother in this battle.

on the 29th of september, 1066 william the bastard landed at pevensey, in the south of england. harold got wind of this and had to march his beleagured army all the way back down to the south of england (and i complain about walking to the store!!).
on the 14th of october, 1066 william and harold met on a field near hastings, and fought a day long battle. at the end of the day, harold godwinson was dead and william the bastard had suddenly become william I of england. it took william 6 more years to quell the unrest and revolts throughout england and to truly complete his conquest.

once the conquest was fully completed, william turned to governing the country. the feudal tenure of land was introduced. in 1085, the Doomsday survey was begun, so that taxes could be properly collected. it was an amazing innovation in terms of surveying the population and a landmark of sorts in medieval census taking.

the english church was reorganized, and separate courts were established to deal with offenses committed under canon law (when we discuss the plantagenet kings we'll talk about how big a pain in their asses this would turn out to be).

he was considered ruthless and cruel (only one person was executed under his reign, but many were mutilated- mostly for breaches of the 'game law' that he put into place. he created the 'new forest' as a game park, and only he was allowed to hunt in it). nonetheless, he was a great administrator, and gave england the first foundations of a stable and effective government.

he was injured at the siege of mantes while fighting against his feudal overlord, the king of france. he died in 1087.

i think that the anglo-saxon chronicle pretty much sums up his reign well,

"he was mild to the good men that loved God, and beyond all measure severe to the men that gainsaid his will...it is not to be forgotten that good peace he made in this land so that man might go over his kingdom with his bosom full of gold...and no man durst slay another."

next time, his son and next in line- william rufus (william II).