ˌWilliam the ˈConqueror BrE AmE
(1027–1087) the king of England from 1066 until his death, also called William I. William was the Duke of Normandy (in northern France), and became king of England by defeating King Harold at the Battle of ↑ Hastings in 1066. His arrival brought great changes in English society, and is seen as the end of the Anglo-Saxon period and the beginning of the Middle Ages. He gave a lot of land and power to other Normans, so that French became the language of the ruling class, and he built many castles to control the English. ⇨ ↑ Domesday Book , ↑ Norman Conquest