William also ordered that all of his prisoners be released, including his half-brother Odo. In England and Ireland Grey is still used, in Scotland [112], The exact reason for the rebellion is unclear, but it was launched at the wedding of Ralph to a relative of Roger, held at Exning in Suffolk. William the Conqueror. [2] The legates and the king then proceeded to hold a series of ecclesiastical councils dedicated to reforming and reorganising the English church. This lone relic was reburied in 1642 with a new marker, which was replaced 100 years later with a more elaborate monument. [1][8][d] He was the only son of Robert I, son of Richard II. [102], Although Sweyn had promised to leave England, he returned in early 1070, raiding along the Humber and East Anglia toward the Isle of Ely, where he joined up with Hereward the Wake, a local thegn. Gytha Thorkelsdttir, Harold's mother, offered the victorious duke the weight of her son's body in gold for its custody, but her offer was refused. and were for many generations in high favor with the English kings. His marriage to Matilda appears to have been quite affectionate, and there are no signs that he was unfaithful to her unusual in a medieval monarch. William becomes King of England. a Welch leader, was having a dispute with another Reginald de Grey, and William the Conqueror after Hastings, image extracted from Poems for Christmas, Easter, and New Year's, 1885, on Wikimedia Commons. had two sons, both named John. [78] William of Poitiers also relates that the duke obtained the consent of Pope Alexander II for the invasion, along with a papal banner. [51] Examination of William's femur, the only bone to survive when the rest of his remains were destroyed, showed he was approximately 5feet 10inches (1.78m) in height. Waltheof, the earl of Northumbria, although one of William's favourites, was also involved, and there were some Breton lords who were ready to rebel in support of Ralph and Roger. Birth, marriage and death [72] Harold's claim to the throne was not entirely secure, as there were other claimants, perhaps including his exiled brother Tostig. Aug 29, 2018. This daughter later married William, lord of, Walter had two daughters. It is unclear what exactly happened at Edward's deathbed. children: Richard, baptized August 1608, buried October 9, 1613. A sheriff was responsible for royal justice and collecting royal revenue. Edgar the theling also appears to have been given lands. This would have been considered tampering with the king's authority over his vassals, which William would not have tolerated. Lord John and Lord Thomas Gray. At first, Alan of Brittany had custody of the duke, but when Alan died in either late 1039 or October 1040, Gilbert of Brionne took charge of William. (or Croy as some write), in Picardy, their patrimony before the Conquest.". [116] William immediately attacked the rebels and drove them from Remalard, but King Philip gave them the castle at Gerberoi, where they were joined by new supporters. The raiders were supported by many of William's continental enemies. [2] William then marched to Southwark, across the Thames from London, which he reached in late November. Sam France in the 9th century with his Norwegian followers and established His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. Roger was unable to leave his stronghold in Herefordshire because of efforts by Wulfstan, the Bishop of Worcester, and thelwig, the Abbot of Evesham. remained in the hands of the Grey family until the Marcher Lords were abolished Suffolk, all of that surname derived from the honor and Castle of Gray, was too old to go to war, but he used his extensive farm and fortune to [94] Both men were also named to earldoms fitzOsbern to Hereford (or Wessex) and Odo to Kent. money from Benjamin Franklin for passage home. The first of this line The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose. Six of the names in the John Gray Although he led an expedition into Maine, the result was instead a negotiated settlement arranged by a papal legate. The union was arranged in 1049, but Pope Leo IX forbade the marriage at the Council of Rheims in October 1049. He Was Illegitimate. of Croy. Thomas died in Plymouth June 7, 1654. and military commanders in the British realm. This band of young men went to the castle at Remalard, where they proceeded to raid into Normandy. [104], In 1071 William defeated the last rebellion of the north. Henry was still a minor, however, and Sweyn was more likely to support Harold, who could then help Sweyn against the Norwegian king, so these claims should be treated with caution. This method of organising the military forces was a departure from the pre-Conquest English practice of basing military service on territorial units such as the hide. [28] William of Poitiers claimed that the battle was won mainly through William's efforts, but earlier accounts claim that King Henry's men and leadership also played an important part. Earl Edwin was betrayed by his own men and killed, while William built a causeway to subdue the Isle of Ely, where Hereward the Wake and Morcar were hiding. Early Life. The tragic fate of their daughter, Lady Jane Gray, of Gray have sprung, (IV) William de Grey and (V) Henry de Grey. He died in early July at Nicea, on his way back to Normandy. [94] But the families of Harold and his brothers lost their lands, as did some others who had fought against William at Hastings. W. Gray. By 1509 an Edward Grey was one of only three remaining powerful William I[a] (c.1028[1] 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard,[2][b] was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. the private press of Frederick Arthur Crisp, Grove Park, Denmark Hill, [60], Count Herbert II of Maine died in 1062, and William, who had betrothed his eldest son Robert to Herbert's sister Margaret, claimed the county through his son. [80], Tostig Godwinson and Harald Hardrada invaded Northumbria in September 1066 and defeated the local forces under Morcar and Edwin at the Battle of Fulford near York. Edward, son of Edward of Plymouth, went on to be a founder of Tiverton, there were at least twenty different families of Grays, or different branches It appears that the Gray family was from Harwich, Essex, as a John and These dates would but found "himself bruished and bloody on the ground." Some of the native abbots were also deposed, both at the council held near Easter and at a further one near Whitsun. [46][k] The marriage was important in bolstering William's status, as Flanders was one of the more powerful French territories, with ties to the French royal house and to the German emperors. [2] William assumed power in Normandy, and shortly after the battle promulgated the Truce of God throughout his duchy, in an effort to limit warfare and violence by restricting the days of the year on which fighting was permitted. [57], In 1051 the childless King Edward of England appears to have chosen William as his successor. Although some of his supporters tried to dissuade him from undertaking the journey, he convened a council in January 1035 and had the assembled Norman magnates swear fealty to William as his heir[2][15] before leaving for Jerusalem. He overthrew the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II, to seize the throne, earning the title William the Conqueror. King Robert Bruce when he ascended the throne. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but William's hold was mostly secure on England by 1075, allowing him to spend the greater part of his reign in continental Europe. Gray Family of Tiverton, RI. Most years saw the rate of two shillings per hide, but in crises, it could be increased to as much as six shillings per hide. William's biographer David Bates argues that the former explanation is more likely, explaining that the balance of power had recently shifted in Wales and that William would have wished to take advantage of the changed circumstances to extend Norman power. He was opposed to King William's power on the continent, thus the Battle of Cassel upset the balance of power in northern France as well as costing William an important supporter. According to the historian David Bates, this probably means that little of note happened, and that because William was on the continent, there was nothing for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to record. Not all of the Normans who accompanied William in the initial conquest acquired large amounts of land in England. The Conquest brought the kingdom into closer contact with France and forged ties between France and England that lasted throughout the Middle Ages. England remained unstable. Orderic Vitalis preserves a lengthy account, complete with speeches made by many of the principals, but this is likely more of an account of how a king should die than of what actually happened. [110] However, Edgar was forced to submit to William shortly thereafter, and he returned to William's court. [110], In 1075, during William's absence, Ralph de Gael, the Earl of Norfolk, and Roger de Breteuil, the Earl of Hereford, conspired to overthrow William in the "Revolt of the Earls". A papal embassy arrived in England during this period, asking that William do fealty for England to the papacy, a request that he rejected. John, Lord of Gray, whose son Anschetil de This was the last invasion of Normandy during William's lifetime. Its effect, though, was to destabilise Brittany, forcing the duke, Conan II, to focus on internal problems rather than on expansion. The list below shows descent from William the Conqueror (see Descendants of William I of England for another list). Nor is there evidence that many English pennies were circulating in Normandy, which shows little attempt to integrate the monetary systems of England and Normandy. [154], "William I" redirects here. William, Duke of Normandy, conquered England in 1066. Henry de Gray had several sons; (I) Robert of Rotherfield, (II) Richard Harold's sons were meanwhile raiding the southwest of England from a base in Ireland. From a Boston Transcript clipping in the Durfee film 804977, "Clarkes [100] In 1070 William also founded Battle Abbey, a new monastery at the site of the Battle of Hastings, partly as a penance for the deaths in the battle and partly as a memorial to the dead. Also, in England, no other coinage was allowed, while on the continent other coinage was considered legal tender. [124], As part of his efforts to secure England, William ordered many castles, keeps, and mottes built among them the central keep of the Tower of London, the White Tower. This was an advantage for William, as it was the only universal tax collected by western European rulers during this period. Medieval chroniclers frequently referred to 11th-century events only by the season, making more precise dating impossible. The remaining earls Edwin (of Mercia), Morcar (of Northumbria), and Waltheof (of Northampton) were confirmed in their lands and titles. During the 17th and 18th centuries, some historians and lawyers saw William's reign as imposing a "Norman yoke" on the native Anglo-Saxons, an argument that continued during the 19th century with further elaborations along nationalistic lines. homes in the New World. [2], Throughout the summer, William assembled an army and an invasion fleet in Normandy. [123], Maine continued to be difficult, with a rebellion by Hubert de Beaumont-au-Maine, probably in 1084. Harold assembled an army and a fleet to repel William's anticipated invasion force, deploying troops and ships along the English Channel for most of the summer.