William I

The year 1066 is famous for English people. In that year, three people came to England to fight, because they all wanted to be king.

The old king, Edward, died in 1066, and the most important man alive in England was Harold Godwinsson. 'Edward had no children,' he said to the people, 'so I am your king now.'

But a Frenchman, William of Normandy, didn't like this. 'Edward wanted me to be king after him!' he said. 'I came to London last year, and he asked me then! Harold Godwinsson was there!' So William went to England with his soldiers to fight Harold.

At the same time, Harold's brother Tostig was in Norway. Tostig didn't like his brother; he wanted King Harald of Norway to be king of England. So Harald of Norway and Tostig came to the north of England with their ships and soldiers, too.

Harald and Tostig got to England first, before William. Harald of Norway was a very big man, nearly two metres tall, but Harold Godwinsson wasn't afraid. 'I'm going to give him two metres of England, that's all,' he said. 'Two metres of England for a dead Norwegian!'

The English met the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge, near York. For a long time a tall Norwegian stood on the bridge over the river, to stop the English soldiers. But then some English soldiers killed him from a ship under the bridge. After that the English killed Harald of Norway too, so he got his two metres of England.

Later that day, a man on a tired horse came to Harold Godwinsson. 'Sir, William of Normandy is in England!' he said. 'He has thousands of soldiers with him!'

So, in one week, Harold Godwinsson and his men walked to the south of England. They were very tired. They waited on a hill, and William's men came up the hill to fight them. William's soldiers killed Harold Godwinsson, so then William was king of England!

William's wife and her women made a beautiful long picture called The Bayeux Tapestry to tell this story. You can see it in Bayeux, in France, today.

William was king for twenty-one years. He and his men didn't understand English, and so for two hundred years all the important writing in England was in French, not English. Most rich people spoke in French, too.

We know a lot about England in William's time, because William's men went to every town and village to ask hundreds of questions. Then they put the answers in a big book called Domesday Book. People in English villages can look in Domesday Book today, and see how many people and houses and animals there were in their village in 1087.

William was a strong king, and people remember him because his children and his children's children were kings of England for two hundred years.

Tim Vicary: Kings and Queens of Britain; Oxford Bookworms Factfiles (Stage 1: 400 headwords); Oxford University Press, 1997, page 6 f.