William was born in the Norman city of Falaise in the 11th century. The boy was the elder of the two children of Robert I of Normandy and his concubine Herleva. The Christian marriage between Robert I and Herleva didn't take place and for this reason their son was considered illegitimate. The child was nicknamed William the Bastard. However his father acknowledged him as his own. The Duke Robert of Normandy was King Edward the Confessor's cousin. After Robert's death William the Bastard was accepted as duke by the Norman magnates and by his overlord, King Henry I of France. When William was 24 years old he came to England to visit his relative. When he saw what a green and pleasant country England was he wanted very much to be its king. King Edward the Confessor of England liked the young nephew and promised him the crown. However after Edward's death English people elected the Anglo-Saxon aristocrat Harold Godwinson, who was a brother of Edward's wife, as king. When William I learned this he was infuriated and refused to recognise the reign of Harold. He gathered a great army and sailed across the English Channel on hundreds of ships. As a result, on 14th October 1066, a fatal battle took place at Hastings. The reigning king was killed at the Battle of Hastings by Norman invaders under William the Conqueror. The victory at that battle gave William access to the English throne. On 25th December 1066, the Duke of Normandy was crowned and became a monarch of England known as William I, or William the Conqueror.
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