Guillaume le Conquérant - l'abbaye aux Hommes, Caen, France - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

[FR] À la suite de la mort du roi Édouard le Confesseur, il profite d'une crise de succession pour s’emparer de la couronne d’Angleterre après sa victoire à la bataille d'Hastings, en 1066. Cette conquête fait de lui l’un des plus puissants monarques de l’Europe occidentale et conduit à de très profonds changements dans la société anglaise, dont l'élite anglo-saxonne disparaît au profit des seigneurs normands.

Dès lors, il passe la suite de son règne à se défendre face à ses nombreux ennemis, que ce soit en Angleterre (les rebelles anglo-saxons rassemblés derrière Edgar Atheling, les Danois et les Écossais) ou sur le continent (le comte d'Anjou Foulques le Réchin, le comte de Flandre Robert Ier, mais surtout le roi de France Philippe Ier). Il meurt à Rouen en 1087 après la mise à sac de Mantes, au cours d'une campagne de représailles dans le Vexin français contre le roi de France. Il est inhumé à l'abbaye aux Hommes de Caen.

[EN] In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, who was named the next king by Edward on the latter's deathbed in January 1066. William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, and that Harold had sworn to support William's claim. William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066, in London. He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 William's hold on England was mostly secure, allowing him to spend the majority of the rest of his reign on the continent.

While seizing Mantes, William either fell ill or was injured by the pommel of his saddle. He was taken to the priory of Saint Gervase at Rouen, where he died on 9 September 1087.

Disorder followed William's death; everyone who had been at his deathbed left the body at Rouen and hurried off to attend to their own affairs. Eventually, the clergy of Rouen arranged to have the body sent to Caen, where William had desired to be buried in his foundation of the Abbaye-aux-Hommes. The funeral, attended by the bishops and abbots of Normandy as well as his son Henry, was disturbed by the assertion of a citizen of Caen who alleged that his family had been illegally despoiled of the land on which the church was built. After hurried consultations the allegation was shown to be true, and the man was compensated. A further indignity occurred when the corpse was lowered into the tomb. The corpse was too large for the space, and when attendants forced the body into the tomb it burst, spreading a disgusting odour throughout the church.

William's grave is currently marked by a marble slab with a Latin inscription dating from the early 19th century. The tomb has been disturbed several times since 1087, the first time in 1522 when the grave was opened on orders from the papacy. The intact body was restored to the tomb at that time, but in 1562, during the French Wars of Religion, the grave was reopened and the bones scattered and lost, with the exception of one thigh bone. This lone relic was reburied in 1642 with a new marker, which was replaced 100 years later with a more elaborate monument. This tomb was again destroyed during the French Revolution, but was eventually replaced with the current marker.

Description: See long description Date of birth: 01/01/1028 Date of death: 09/09/1087 Area of notoriety: Historical Figure Marker Type: Horizontal Marker Setting: Indoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: 9:00 - 18:00 Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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