William the Conqueror

Part of Jacob Abbott’s Makers of History series, this short biography traces the life of William I, the Norman duke who became the first Norman king of England. Abbott follows the story from the duchy of Normandy and William’s illegitimate birth, through his troubled accession and consolidation of power, his marriage to Matilda of Flanders, and the rivalry with King Harold that led to the invasion of 1066. The account moves through the crossing of the Channel, the Battle of Hastings, and the later rebellion of William’s son Robert. Written in the plain, orderly narrative style Abbott used to introduce young and general readers to major historical figures, it turns the Norman Conquest into a clear, readable sequence of cause and consequence rather than a list of dates.