The central character of the conquest of England is of course William. Born in 1027 in Falaise castle, he was the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent and Herleva of Falaise (known as Arlette). Eighth Duke of Normandy, his teenage years were marked by troubled times. However, he asserted himself definitively before his barons in 1047, thus making sure of the loyalty of his vassals. In 1051 he married Matilda of Flanders, whose father, Count Baudouin V, was for a time regent of Capetian France after the death of King Henry I. Initially called the “Bastard” because of his illegitimacy, he became the “Conqueror” after his coronation on 25 December 1066 in Westminster Abbey in London.

Son of Arlette (William’s mother) and Viscount Herluin de Conteville, Odo (Eudes) was Bishop of Bayeux from 1049 to 1079. He played an important role in the administrative, intellectual and spiritual reorganisation of his see. He also benefited from the patronage of his cathedral.

But Odo, Earl of Kent after the conquest, showed too much interest in the affairs of the kingdom. While he was in England, between 1076 and 1080, in the King’s absence, his role was more or less that of regent. But his political blunders and his ambitions obliged his brother to have him imprisoned in the Dungeon in Rouen in 1082. Released on the death of the king five years later, he immediately took part in the conflict for the succession between his nephews. Exiled in 1088, he returned to Bayeux, deprived of his title and all his English possessions. In 1095 he was seen again, with Pope Urban II preaching the crusade. He died on the journey, in Palermo in January 1097.

In the first decades of the 11th century, England was prey to new invasions. King Ethelred II (the Unready) of the dynasty of Wessex had married Emma, daughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy, in 1002, and was ousted from power in 1013 by the Danes.

His children, including the young Edward, took refuge with their uncle, the Duke of Normandy. In 1042, on the death of the last Danish king to reign over England, the throne passed to Edward. Under the influence of Godwin, the powerful Earl of Essex, he married one of his daughters, Edith, sister of Harold Godwinson and of Tostig, Matilda’s brother-in-law. A fervent Christian, but weak willed, this king owes his name to the Church to whom he was very generous. He was moreover canonised in 1161.

Younger son of the powerful Earl Godwin of Wessex, he was the godson and favourite of the King, as well as the brother of the Queen. An important man in the country, he was almost regent of England during King Edward’s illness. He acceded to the throne of England as Harold II in January 1066. He died aged 44 in the Battle of Hastings.