7 William I 7acceded as a child. His weakness led to a breakdown of
authority throughout the duchy: private castles were
erected, public power was usurped by lesser nobles, and
warfare broke out.
By 1042, when William was 15 and began to play a per-
sonal part in the affairs of his duchy, the worst was over.
But his attempts to recover rights lost during the anarchy
led to a series of baronial rebellions from 1046 until 1055,
mostly led by his kinsmen.
In 1049 William negotiated with Baldwin V of Flanders
for the hand of his daughter, Matilda. The wedding took
place before the end of 1053, possibly in 1052. Four sons
were born to the couple—Robert (the future duke of
Normandy), Richard (who died young), William Rufus (his
father’s successor in England), and Henry (Rufus’s succes-
sor). Among the daughters was Adela, who became the
mother of Stephen, king of England from 1135 to 1154.
Between 1054 and 1060, William was threatened by
the combined menace of internal revolt and the new alli-
ance against him between King Henry and Geoffrey
Martel, count of Anjou. After suppressing the rebels,
William decisively defeated the invading forces of Henry
and Geoffrey at the Battle of Mortemer in 1054. After a
second victory, at Varaville in 1057, the duke was in firm
control of Normandy. His position was secured even fur-
ther when both Henry and Geoffrey died in 1060 and
were succeeded by weaker rulers. William then became
the most powerful ruler in northern France.
After negotiating with his cousin Edward the
Confessor, the king of England, William had been named
heir to the English throne in 1051. When Edward died
childless on January 5, 1066, his brother-in-law, Harold,
earl of Wessex, was accepted as king by the English mag-
nates. William decided to fight for his crown. He proceeded