[109], Earl Ralph had secured control of the castle at Dol, and in September 1076 William advanced into Brittany and laid siege to the castle. there were at least twenty different families of Grays, or different branches near the throne. Learn about the history of this surname and heraldry from our database and online image library. Orderic relates that he had previously demanded control of Maine and Normandy and had been rebuffed. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), poet. William, son of Ellery, who were obscure, possibly intentionally leaving The tragic fate of their daughter, Lady Jane Gray, The Whitsun council saw the appointment of Lanfranc as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas of Bayeux as the new Archbishop of York, to replace Ealdred, who had died in September 1069. Holland, in 1622. By the time of William's death in 1087, around 500 castles had been built across England and Wales. was a son of Gray in Chillingham, Northumberland, England, who came to [1][8][d] He was the only son of Robert I, son of Richard II. (Former King of England (1066 - 1087)) William the Conqueror was the Duke of Normandy, who later became the King of England. William the Conqueror - Life, Death & Facts - Biography William I, byname William the Conqueror or William the Bastard or William of Normandy, French Guillaume le Conqurant or Guillaume le Btard or Guillaume de Normandie, (born c. 1028, Falaise, Normandy [France]died September 9, 1087, Rouen), duke of Normandy (as William II) from 1035 and king of England (as William I) from 1066, one of the greatest soldiers and rulers of the Middle Ages . The second, which included some who became William's firm supporters, such as Robert, Count of Eu, Walter Giffard, Roger of Mortemer, and William de Warenne, faced the other invading force. The Dorset Grays are of great antiquity, Although Alexander did give papal approval to the conquest after it succeeded, no other source claims papal support prior to the invasion. The Grays in Ireland, usually [126], At first, most of the newly settled Normans kept household knights and did not settle their retainers with fiefs of their own, but gradually these household knights came to be granted lands of their own, a process known as subinfeudation. They were among the Pilgrims of New England, the Quakers Family visits Group . William the Conqueror, conquered in the 'Norman Conquest' -- Norman here being code for French. Instead, some of the English clergy and magnates nominated Edgar the theling as king, though their support for Edgar was only lukewarm. Sir John Gray, Knight of Berwick, 1372, was father of Croy. 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. described in what is called the Grand Deed. merchant in Plymouth. Fulbert was also William the Conqueror's Great Chamberlain. Modern historians have come to the conclusion that the New Forest depopulation was greatly exaggerated. On his father's death in 1035, William was recognised by his family as the heir - an . of a series of incidents that brought about the Boston Massacre later that Conan's death in 1066 further secured William's borders in Normandy. of Hastings, and was recorded in the Domesday Book (a record complied by [108] While William was in Normandy, Edgar the theling returned to Scotland from Flanders. [154], "William I" redirects here. Gray Family of Tiverton, RI - RootsWeb William gave generously to the church;[56] from 1035 to 1066, the Norman aristocracy founded at least twenty new monastic houses, including William's two monasteries in Caen, a remarkable expansion of religious life in the duchy. (see Famous Descendants of William the Conqueror of England ) William Henry Gates IV (1955- ), CEO of Microsoft. up to that time in Plymouth. [100] The historian David Bates sees this coronation as the ceremonial papal "seal of approval" for William's conquest. Dorset branch of the Gray family. [n][79] Events after the invasion, which included the penance William performed and statements by later popes, do lend circumstantial support to the claim of papal approval. Lady Jane Grey (r. 10-19 July 1553) | The Royal Family [2] She later married Herluin de Conteville, with whom she had two sons Odo of Bayeux and Count Robert of Mortain and a daughter whose name is unknown. Sarah, baptized January 12, 1616, married Thomas Harding May 30, 1642. The listing for each county gives the holdings of each landholder, grouped by owners. Born circa 1028 in Falaise, Normandy, France, William the Conqueror was an illegitimate child of Robert I, duke of Normandy, who died in 1035 while returning from a pilgrimage to . Before this, William had returned to the continent, where Ralph had continued the rebellion from Brittany. T he surname is originally French, being first borne by Fulbert, Great Chamberlain of Robert, Duke of Normandy, who granted him the castle and lands of Croy or Gray in Picardy which he thereafter assumed as the family surname. Ralph eventually left Norwich in the control of his wife and left England, finally ending up in Brittany. Columbia river in Washington state. [48] The birth order of the sons is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters. We trace his journey from 1027 when he. [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". There were probably other reasons for William's delay, including intelligence reports from England revealing that Harold's forces were deployed along the coast. 10 Things You May Not Know About William the Conqueror - History Henry attempted to dislodge William, but the siege of Thimert dragged on for two years until Henry's death. [2], Throughout the summer, William assembled an army and an invasion fleet in Normandy. The trouble in 1077 or 1078 resulted in Robert leaving Normandy accompanied by a band of young men, many of them the sons of William's supporters. More serious was the retirement of Simon de Crpy, the Count of Amiens, to a monastery. [67] Some sources claim that Harold took part in William's Breton campaign of 1064 and swore to uphold William's claim to the English throne at the end of the campaign,[65] but no English source reports this trip, and it is unclear if it actually occurred. [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. [109] William returned to England later in 1075 to deal with the Danish threat, leaving his wife Matilda in charge of Normandy. The Gray family history is a long and distinguished one. [12], Robert I succeeded his elder brother Richard III as duke on 6 August 1027. 1476; and Lady Jane Grey who was queen of England for a few days. Although William returned to York and built another castle, Edgar remained free, and in the autumn he joined up with King Sweyn. Gray Family Name History - g r a y c a s t l e . c o m [144] The historian Eleanor Searle describes William's invasion as "a plan that no ruler but a Scandinavian would have considered". Robert raided into Lothian and forced Malcolm to agree to terms, building a fortification (the 'new castle') at Newcastle upon Tyne while returning to England. There are a few like came to the rope makers shop where Sam worked and asked for a job. of the family was in Plymouth in 1643. [146], William and his wife Matilda had at least nine children. From a Boston Transcript clipping in the Durfee film 804977, "Clarkes from tree Kittredge Family Tree (Private) Birth. Each shire was administered by a royal official called a sheriff, who roughly had the same status as a Norman viscount. The Norman sources do not dispute the fact that Harold was named as the next king, but they declare that Harold's oath and Edward's earlier promise of the throne could not be changed on Edward's deathbed. issue has continued in Scotland." After a long effort, the duke succeeded in exiling Guy in 1050. While seizing Mantes, William either fell ill or was injured by the pommel of his saddle. [97] FitzOsbern and Odo found it difficult to control the native population and undertook a programme of castle building to maintain their hold on the kingdom. [66], In England, Earl Godwin died in 1053 and his sons were increasing in power: Harold succeeded to his father's earldom, and another son, Tostig, became Earl of Northumbria. Henry de Gray obtained from King Richard I (1190), the The French king, seeking a focus for those opposed to William's power, then proposed that Edgar be given the castle of Montreuil-sur-Mer on the Channel, which would have given Edgar a strategic advantage against William. [78] William of Poitiers also relates that the duke obtained the consent of Pope Alexander II for the invasion, along with a papal banner. [132], William took over an English government that was more complex than the Norman system. [2] The legates and the king then proceeded to hold a series of ecclesiastical councils dedicated to reforming and reorganising the English church. Some appear to have been reluctant to take up lands in a kingdom that did not always appear pacified. William The Conqueror Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life [114] Roger and Waltheof were kept in prison, where Waltheof was executed in May 1076. [32], On the death of Hugh of Maine, Geoffrey Martel occupied Maine in a move contested by William and King Henry; eventually, they succeeded in driving Geoffrey from the county, and in the process, William had been able to secure the Bellme family strongholds at Alenon and Domfront for himself. 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. The snub may not have been deliberate: he might have . This band of young men went to the castle at Remalard, where they proceeded to raid into Normandy. left Tiverton to settle all across the country. Ecclesiastical offices continued to be held by the same bishops as before the invasion, including the uncanonical Stigand. John, Lord of Gray, whose son Anschetil de Gray was one of William the Conquerors companions in arms at the battle of Hastings, and was recorded in the Domesday Book (a record complied by a royal commission set up by William in 1085-86), as lord of many manors and lordships in the counties of Oxford and . [93] These captures secured William's rear areas and also his line of retreat to Normandy, if that was needed. [139], William's grave is currently marked by a marble slab with a Latin inscription dating from the early 19th century. Thomas Gray were living there in 1579. An early documented person was Anchetil de Greye - a vassal of William the Conqueror of Normandy (now part of France) and who accompan. The soldier His sons also lost much of their control over Maine, which revolted in 1089 and managed to remain mostly free of Norman influence thereafter. Henry led the main thrust through the county of vreux, while the other wing, under the king's brother Odo, invaded eastern Normandy. English coins were generally of high silver content, with high artistic standards, and were required to be re-minted every three years. [94] Waltheof was married to William's niece Judith, daughter of his half-sister Adelaide,[95] and a marriage between Edwin and one of William's daughters was proposed. 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. [77] The last claimant was William of Normandy, against whose anticipated invasion King Harold Godwinson made most of his preparations. His conquest had major implications for the history of both regions, from displacing much of the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility to reshaping the English language.. William's early life. [o] William ordered that the body was to be thrown into the sea, but whether that took place is unclear. Waltham Abbey, which had been founded by Harold, later claimed that his body had been secretly buried there. [79] Harold kept his forces on alert throughout the summer, but with the arrival of the harvest season he disbanded his army on 8 September. William's son Robert, still allied with the French king, appears to have been active in stirring up trouble, enough so that William led an expedition against the French Vexin in July 1087. [50] He was strong enough to draw bows that others were unable to pull and had great stamina. support the effort with food, money and work in recruiting and organization. [v], At Christmas 1085, William ordered the compilation of a survey of the landholdings held by himself and by his vassals throughout his kingdom, organised by counties. http://members.aol.com/rinewpor/famhist.html. From this his family assumed the name of DeCroy, which was later Gray Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History William then laid siege to Gerberoi in January 1079. taken to England where he was imprisioned. Another Tiverton Gray, Pardon Gray was active during the war also. Orderic Vitalis later recorded that Odo had aspirations to become pope.

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