History of Europe, ancient and medieval: Earliest man, the Orient, Greece and Rome . ndition that, should Edward diechildless, he was to declare William his successor. However thismay be, Harold of Wessex assumed the crown upon Edwardsdeath and paid no attention to Williams demand that he shouldsurrender it. William thereupon appealed to the Pope, promising that if hecame into possession of England he would see that the Englishclergy submitted to the authority of the Roman bishop. Conse-quently the Pope, Alexander II, condemned Harold and blessedin advance any expedition that William might und
History of Europe, ancient and medieval: Earliest man, the Orient, Greece and Rome . ndition that, should Edward diechildless, he was to declare William his successor. However thismay be, Harold of Wessex assumed the crown upon Edwardsdeath and paid no attention to Williams demand that he shouldsurrender it. William thereupon appealed to the Pope, promising that if hecame into possession of England he would see that the Englishclergy submitted to the authority of the Roman bishop. Conse-quently the Pope, Alexander II, condemned Harold and blessedin advance any expedition that William might undertake to securehis rights. The conquest of England therefore took on thecharacter of a sort of holy war, and as the expedition had beenwell advertised, many adventurers flocked to Williams spring and summer of 1066 ships were building inthe various Norman harbors for the purpose of carrying Williamsarmy across the Channel. 542. Battle of Hastings (October, 1066). The English oc-cupied the hill of Senlac, west of Hastings, and awaited the 36o History of Europe. Fig. go. Abbaye-aux-Dames, Caen William the Conqueror married a lady, Matilda,who was remotely related to him. This wasagainst the rules of the Church, and he tookpains to get the Popes sanction to his he and his queen were afraid that they mighthave committed a sin in marrying, so Williambuilt a monastery for men and Matilda a nunneryfor women as a penance. The churches of thesemonasteries still stand in the Norman city ofCaen. William was buried in his church. Thepicture represents the interior of Matildaschurch and is a good example of what theEnglish called the Norman style of architecture to induce a number of influential noblesagree to accept him as king, and LondonOn Christmas Day, 1066, he was chosenWestminster Abbey and duly crowned. coming of the had few horsesand fought on footwith their Normans hadhorses, which theyhad brought across intheir ships, a
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