Guillermo I de Inglaterra, más conocido como Guillermo el Conquistador, fue el primer rey de Inglaterra de origen normando, con un reinado que se extendió desde 1066 hasta su muerte en 1087. Descendiente de vikingos, desde 1035 fue duque de Normandía con el nombre de Guillermo
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00:00Welcome to Conqueror, I'm Captain Dale Dye. 1066 is the most famous year in the history
00:09of England. In that year the Battle of Hastings was won. Harold II, King of the Saxons, defended
00:14his country against the ruthless Duke of Normandy, known as William the Bastard. The winner would
00:21be King of England, the richest country in Europe. William was a general, politician,
00:27visionary, and a kind of medieval mobster. He made offers to friends and rivals that
00:33they could not refuse. William saw these people as pawns in their endless search for wealth,
00:40power, and above all respect. Only the conquest of England would finally silence its detractors,
00:46or so he believed. October 14, 1066, William fought the most important battle of his life.
00:55In the middle of the battle for the crown of England, his soldiers began to flee from the
00:59solid wall of Saxon shields. Then William's horse falls down, and a rumor quickly spreads
01:05. The Duke is dead. William immediately gets back on his horse, chases William,
01:11and rides in front of his men. Look at me, I'm William! I'm still alive, and with the help of God,
01:18I will win! William's men return, beat him, and attack the Saxons again.
01:25The conquest of England continues. But how did William's fight for the crown of England begin?
01:30For most of his life, William was nicknamed the Bastard. Although his father, Robert I the Devil,
01:37was the Duke of Normandy, his mother was nothing more than the daughter of a courtier and lover of
01:41Robert. Young William was disdained by his mother's social rank, and the nobles
01:46fought against him to take control of Normandy. When his father died in 1035,
01:51returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, young William was like a lamb among wolves.
01:59Robert's men eliminated William's guards one by one, poisoned his tutor,
02:04and stabbed his teacher. Young William even witnessed how they cut his personal servant's
02:09neck in a failed attempt to kidnap him, and often woke him up in the middle of the night
02:15to take him to another castle for safety. However, William managed to survive. At the age of 15,
02:23King Henry I of France ordered him to be a knight, and joined him in the fight against his enemies.
02:28It was then that the troubled boy learned the uses and tactics of a commander,
02:33and also wanted to become a feared conqueror. He was constantly in danger,
02:40not only because of those who wanted to take over the duchy, but because of those who were closest to him.
02:46So, during his youth, the need to stand out was of paramount importance,
02:53and that led him to become such an energetic general.
03:01At the age of 25, William's anger was first manifested.
03:07William was besieging Dunfront in 1051, and while he was back in the city,
03:13he decided to go to the city of Alençon to see if he could capture it.
03:18He arrived there in the morning, and saw that the gates were closed,
03:24and the defenders had laid fresh skins on the almonds, and made fun of William,
03:29hitting the skins and shouting, skins for the son of the butcher, skins for the son of the butcher.
03:36You will regret this!
03:38Enraged, William violently attacked the fortress, and killed everyone who intervened.
03:46They gathered 32 prisoners, cut off their hands and feet, and took their eyes out.
03:52Alençon soon surrendered to William. His enemies learned not to make fun of his mother.
03:59By the time he returned to Dunfront, the news had already arrived there,
04:03and they surrendered immediately, before he did the same to them.
04:07It was a valuable lesson for William.
04:11It was the first time he had applied such a severe punishment,
04:15and his conclusion was that with such a ruthless act, he would get results before with a prolonged siege.
04:22He was always fighting to keep his power within the duchy, and to acquire more.
04:28One of the important things he had to do, was to tame the nobles and nobles of Normandy,
04:34so that they obeyed him, so that they recognized his leadership and his power.
04:39And he tried to get it by all means.
04:42In part, he did it by fighting, in part by family ties, and also by giving land.
04:50William established his capital in Caen,
04:54with the intention of controlling the western part of Normandy,
04:58which rebelled against him when he became duke.
05:01For that purpose, he built a fortress on the rock where the castle is now.
05:06That fortress would become the ducal palace.
05:11Years of war took place between his neighbors,
05:14before William the Bastard had total control over his territory.
05:19And then he decided to expand his possessions beyond Normandy, and to the other side of the sea.
05:25England was one of the richest countries in Europe,
05:28it was also one of the most stable,
05:30and maybe it was the best governed country in Europe.
05:34England was a good trophy, if you could conquer it.
05:40Edward the Confessor, the King of England,
05:43was a distant cousin of William, and had spent a lot of time with him in Normandy.
05:48William declared that he had been promised the crown of England,
05:51so that he would not fall into the hands of Edward's rival, Godwin of Wessex.
05:55However, Harold, son of Godwin,
05:57soon became commander of the army of King Edward and his faithful ally.
06:03Harold was a fierce warrior, and had kept the enemies of Edward at bay.
06:08In 1064, Harold arrived mysteriously to the north coast of France,
06:13and there he was made prisoner by Count Guy de Pontier.
06:18The reason for this visit is shrouded in mystery.
06:22However, the Normans helped future generations to understand Harold's motive,
06:27and the facts that led to the conquest of Normandy,
06:29with a propaganda work of craftsmanship.
06:33The most famous document of William's time is the Tapis de Bayou.
06:37It measures half a meter wide by 69 meters long.
06:41In it, embroidered images appear, which reflect 58 scenes of William's life,
06:47all from the perspective of Normandy.
06:49It is an illustrated story that shows how William wanted history to remember him.
06:54In the Tapis de Bayou, the story begins with a version of Harold's arrival on the coast of France.
07:01It is possible that Edward sent Harold to France
07:03to reiterate to William the offer of the crown of England.
07:07Of course, this is what the Normans said later.
07:10Unfortunately for Harold, he came to the lands of a subordinate of William of Normandy
07:14and he was imprisoned.
07:17It was William who came out in his defense and paid for Harold's rescue.
07:21Then Harold was handed over to William of Normandy,
07:23and then he is received as a guest of honor.
07:26So it is logical that promises were made.
07:30Harold paid William a favor by following him to the battle against Britain.
07:37The Tapis de Bayou shows Harold saving himself from drowning two duke's soldiers
07:42when they crossed the river Cuenon.
07:46Between Normandy and Britain.
07:49As they say, Harold, risking his life, saved those two soldiers
07:55and fought with great courage throughout the battle.
08:01Harold was able to show his interest,
08:03and William saw the ferocious warrior who was Harold.
08:07But also when they returned from Britain,
08:09William asked Harold to make him an oath,
08:13the infamous oath of the year 1064.
08:16In the cathedral of Bayeux, William demanded a solemn oath of loyalty.
08:20It was a request that Harold could not refuse.
08:25I imagine that in the 11th century the oaths were a serious thing.
08:29As they say, the oath was made on sacred relics covered with a cloth,
08:34and apparently later the cloth was removed
08:36and Harold was horrified to see what he had sworn.
08:40Harold's oath had been made before God,
08:44and it was a promise that would have serious consequences a few years later.
08:52Harold left Normandy and soon forgot his alliance with William.
08:58He immediately began to fight to get the throne.
09:01First he exiled his younger brother, Tostig.
09:04You leave me no choice, take him!
09:07This is an insult.
09:09And then he won the loyalty of the military couple of the king, the Uscars.
09:17Then, on January 5, 1066,
09:20Edward the Confessor, the king of England, died.
09:25On one side of the dying king was the archbishop of Canterbury,
09:28and on the other was Harold.
09:30At some point, apparently, Edward touched Harold's hand,
09:33and it was interpreted as an intention to confirm it as successor.
09:38Perhaps it was a reward for defeating the enemies of Edward in battle.
09:43Not being of royal lineage,
09:45Harold feared that others would dispute the throne,
09:48and immediately made the Council of Government of England crown him as king.
09:53All the ingredients were given for a war.
09:57William felt deceived and betrayed,
09:59not only by Edward, but also by Harold,
10:02a man who had sworn loyalty to him.
10:06Two years after swearing allegiance to William,
10:09and only three months after being crowned king,
10:12a long-tailed star soared into the sky.
10:15Later it would be called Comet Halley.
10:18It was considered a bad omen for Harold,
10:20and caused panic among his Anglo-Saxon subjects.
10:23For William, it was the divine sign he had been looking for.
10:26The time had come for the attack.
10:28It was time to conquer England.
10:32On January 6, 1066,
10:34Harold Godwinson claimed the throne of England,
10:37breaking his sacred oath of loyalty to Duke William of Normandy.
10:42When William received the news that Harold had been crowned king of England,
10:46apparently he was going out hunting,
10:48and his reaction was to leave the hunt and return to his palace.
10:53He sunk into a gloomy attitude,
10:55and remained silent for several hours.
10:59Then he came round,
11:01and one of his first actions was to summon a meeting
11:04of the great Norman nobles,
11:06and to expose the general plan for the invasion of England.
11:11In 1066, William was the most powerful man in the Kingdom of France,
11:15and he was fully aware of his power.
11:18He managed to gather more soldiers
11:20and build a fleet greater than the rest of the nobles.
11:23By order of William,
11:26every Norman baron had to perform 40 days of military service,
11:29providing his weapons and armor.
11:32However, William was quite rich
11:34to recruit mercenaries from other regions,
11:37who would be rewarded with part of the land and wealth,
11:40once the battle was won.
11:44In the port of Dix-sur-Mer,
11:46the Normans built about 700 ships,
11:49which would take 8,000 men and 3,000 horses to battle
11:52for the planned invasion of England.
11:56However, it would not be easy to get an alliance.
11:59The nobles of northern Europe considered that fighting
12:02against the dreadful Harald in his own land was a great risk.
12:07William's next step was a masterstroke.
12:10He went over Harald and appealed directly to the Pope,
12:13and managed to obtain the papal blessing for his mission.
12:16It turned his invasion into a crusade.
12:20The importance of that papal blessing must not be underestimated.
12:25Alexander II was delighted to send William
12:27to destroy the family of Harald,
12:29who had abandoned the faithful bishop of Canterbury.
12:32Now the Vatican saw the opportunity
12:34to regain religious control in England.
12:38Now the nobles who opposed the invasion
12:41could join him because they were going to a holy war.
12:44Psychologically, he also transformed the Normans
12:47into those chosen by God.
12:49So it was very difficult for the European rulers
12:53to refuse to support Harald.
12:55Everything was ready for the war
12:57between the two most feared commanders in Europe.
13:00Both armies had very similar equipment and armament.
13:04They all wore a coat of mail,
13:06wore wooden shields covered in leather,
13:09and wore conical helmets with a nasal protector.
13:12However, the main armament and tactics were completely different.
13:17The typical Anglo-Saxon of 1066 had long hair and a mustache,
13:21but they were not hippies lovers of peace,
13:23but rather they were like the angels of hell in Europe.
13:26Their weapons and tactics
13:28came from the old Scandinavian war school.
13:33Harald had a personal body of warriors called Huscarles.
13:37Although they usually went on horseback to battle,
13:40when they arrived they dismounted and fought on foot.
13:43They were very disciplined men and were not afraid of anything.
13:48They were like Harald's navy corps.
13:51One of his weapons was the long-handed ax,
13:55a large and robust weapon,
13:57with a handle of more than a meter
13:59and a steel blade of 30 centimeters.
14:03This could be used in various ways.
14:06It could be used to immobilize a Normandy shield,
14:09to hook it up and put it away,
14:11and thus deal a fatal blow,
14:13or to cut the tendons of the Normandy
14:17and then deal the fatal blow on the ground.
14:21The rest of Harald's army was made up of the Fers,
14:24the reserve militiamen.
14:26One in five men was recruited to fight.
14:30The other four provided a series of weapons,
14:33and one of the most popular was this combat spear.
14:36It had a blade of 20 centimeters,
14:39and these characteristic wings on each side
14:41were the key to the effectiveness of the weapon.
14:45The spear could be used to hook the shield and put it away,
14:49to deal a fatal blow directly into his chest.
14:52It could also be thrown with good result
14:55at a distance of about 30 feet.
14:58Another projectile weapon used by the Fers
15:01was this 10-centimeter ax,
15:03handled with one hand,
15:05the same sort of tool
15:07that was used by any peasant.
15:09This could be thrown
15:12easily into the chest of an opponent.
15:15The Sajón army did not have many archers,
15:18but they did have very good slingers.
15:21This biblical weapon,
15:23used by a good slinger,
15:25could fire up to six small stones a minute.
15:28It is not comparable to a machine gun,
15:31but it could be deadly
15:33if one of the stones hit you in the head.
15:37If Harald's Sajones were like the angels of hell,
15:41Guillermo's Normans were like the skinheads.
15:44They shaved their heads,
15:46leaving only a portion of hair in front.
15:49They were always well shaven,
15:51which gave them a look more like today's military.
15:56The Normans used modern weapons and tactics.
15:59They mounted robust battle horses.
16:02Therefore, the Norman knight
16:04was like the battle tank of the 11th century.
16:07The horses were also weapons themselves,
16:11to knock down and trample anyone who resisted the attack.
16:14They also had another innovative resource,
16:17the stirrup.
16:23The stirrup allowed the horsemen to ride on foot,
16:26thus carrying all the weight of the body
16:29in each blow with the sword,
16:31or the attacks with the battle lance.
16:36Guillermo also hired mercenaries in Britain and Flanders
16:40who knew how to handle the short bows,
16:42the waves and even the crossbows,
16:44a weapon still not used in England.
16:47Guillermo trusted the attack
16:49combined with various types of weapons.
16:51First, he softened the enemy
16:53with arrows, stones, spears and other projectiles,
16:56and then he sent the cavalry
16:58to end all possible resistance.
17:01In July 1066,
17:03Harald prepared his troops on the southern coast of England.
17:06His army of 10,000 men
17:08waited and waited, but Guillermo did not appear.
17:11The duke was waiting for the wind to change
17:14so that his ships could reach England without setbacks.
17:18Then the king made a crucial decision.
17:21After waiting for Guillermo all summer,
17:24he let his men return to their homes to harvest the crops.
17:27What he did not know was that now he would face a war on two fronts.
17:34In September 1066,
17:37the exiled brother of Harald, Tostig, returned in search of revenge.
17:41Along with the fearsome king of Norway, Ardrada,
17:44he arrived with thousands of Viking warriors
17:47with the intention of conquering England.
17:52Harald marched north.
17:54Starting on September 20,
17:56Harald and his men traveled 304 kilometers in just five days.
18:00Immediately they took care of the aspiring conquerors.
18:05The speed of the Saxons took the Viking army by surprise.
18:10It was an incredible victory.
18:12The fact that Harald managed to take his army
18:15from London to Stamford Bridge,
18:17surprise his enemies,
18:19and win an important military battle,
18:22was something extraordinary.
18:24It is another detail that confirms how good a general Harald was.
18:30On September 28, Guillermo and his 8,000 men
18:34were caught in the Pepensie Bay.
18:36They had sunk the sea in autumn
18:38with the intention of surprising Harald.
18:40This invasion of England by Normandy
18:43was the largest since that of the Romans,
18:46a thousand years before.
18:48And it would not have an end until almost 900 years later.
18:52However, Guillermo's great appearance was not as planned.
18:57Guillermo's arrival in the Pepensie Bay was almost disastrous.
19:02When disembarking, Guillermo tripped
19:04and fell on the mud.
19:06Then he looked around
19:08and saw the expression of his men.
19:10They thought it was a bad omen.
19:13The superstitious soldiers would think,
19:15my God, we are lost.
19:17But apparently one of the gentlemen told Guillermo,
19:20now you have the land of England in your hands.
19:23And in the end he took advantage of the incident.
19:27Guillermo found his luck incredible.
19:31He found no opposition when he arrived.
19:33All the soldiers, horses, weapons and supplies quickly disembarked.
19:37And then they camped in the location of an old Roman fort.
19:41Only days later did Harald find out
19:43that Guillermo had arrived in England.
19:45He would surely feel distressed.
19:47He would have to fight his most important battle again.
19:51Harald reformed what was left of his evil army
19:54and went back to London to defend the city.
19:57He only stopped to pray in the abbey of Walton,
20:01hoping that God would help him to defend his kingdom.
20:04Guillermo's coalition army
20:06then set up their attack plan in the south of England.
20:09They raped, set fire and killed everyone who got in their way
20:13to force Harald to face them in open combat.
20:17Guillermo camped in Hastings
20:19knowing that an immediate attack on the capital would be reckless.
20:23He sent spies to find out where the Saxons were hiding.
20:26Meanwhile, Harald was in London
20:29meeting a new army when he found out about the attack against the south.
20:33Against the opinion of his advisers,
20:35Harald led 8,000 veterans, another 160 km south,
20:39to a hill on the outskirts of Hastings called St. Lach.
20:43Later it would be called St. Lac, Lake of Blood.
20:48Speed and surprise had given them the victory in Stamford Bridge
20:52and perhaps that tactic would work again.
20:55Harald aligned his men at the top of a slope
20:58which gave him a tactical advantage.
21:01Then he ordered his Saxons to create a wall of shields
21:04along the hill, preventing Guillermo's passage to London.
21:10The hill is shaped like a hammer
21:12with the handle facing a forest located behind
21:16with a very steep slope and full of vegetation, weeds, etc.
21:22And only on the front there was a softer slope
21:25where the Normans could climb.
21:29Would the wall of shields of Harald withstand the combined attack of the Normans?
21:33Would Guillermo risk his precious cavalry in a frontal attack uphill?
21:38On the way, Harald's reinforcements from the north
21:42Guillermo had to attack immediately to win.
21:47At dawn on Saturday, October 14, 1066,
21:51the Duke Guillermo of Normandy led 8,000 soldiers
21:54to Blackhorse Hill near Hastings.
21:57There his soldiers put on the armor.
22:00However, when Guillermo put on the coat of arms
22:03a metal reinforcement like this, he put it on backwards.
22:06His soldiers gave a respite to the bad omen.
22:09Reacting quickly, Guillermo turned around and said
22:12Today I will go from duke to king.
22:15Guillermo was not only a great general, but a master of propaganda.
22:21With the papal flag waving in the wind,
22:24Guillermo told his men that that crusade could only end with victory or death.
22:28There was no retreat plan.
22:30The axes of the Saxons would not have mercy.
22:33And then he showed the relic on which Harald had sworn his infallible oath
22:37to show that God was on his side.
22:40The Normans marched to the foot of a steep slope
22:43where they saw that a wall of Saxon shields of 700 meters prevented them from passing.
22:49Harald's best line of defense was the powerful wall of shields.
22:53His men were shoulder to shoulder with the shields superimposed.
22:58The wall could contain a rain of enemy arrows
23:02or could resist attacks from enemy infantry.
23:12Therefore, if the Saxons were disciplined and endured the type,
23:17that wall was practically inexhaustible.
23:20We add to that spears peeking through the gaps in the wall
23:23and we will have an obstacle that no Normand soldier would want to attack,
23:27especially after running uphill in chain mail.
23:31The courage and strength of those men was incredible.
23:37Guillermo distributed his men in three groups.
23:40The troops of Britain were on his left,
23:43Guillermo and his Normans in the center,
23:47and the French and Flemish in the right flank.
23:50In each division there were archers in front,
23:53then the infantry with swords and spears,
23:56and the elite units, the cavalry, behind.
23:59The terrain was swampy and Guillermo's only option
24:02would be a frontal attack and uphill.
24:05The wall of Saxon shields was less than 180 meters from its vanguard line
24:09and its objective, King Harald, only 270 meters,
24:13protected by his personal bodyguards, the Huscarles.
24:16Harald must have enjoyed great respect,
24:19since he had defeated Hardrada,
24:22who in England was probably more feared than Guillermo.
24:27In my opinion, until 1066,
24:30Harald was the best military leader of the time.
24:35Guillermo's army is one of the most effective and feared.
24:40When he arrives in England in 1066,
24:43the Duke already has a long military career
24:46and has never suffered a defeat.
24:54At 9 in the morning begins the battle of Hastings,
24:57with the sound of the soldiers singing and beating their shields.
25:02Guillermo orders his archers to attack,
25:05but the Saxons rejected the rain of arrows and projectiles
25:09with their shields.
25:11Then Guillermo launched an infantry attack.
25:14His well-protected men ran uphill,
25:17avoiding stones, axes and spears,
25:20until they reached the solid wall of shields.
25:23But he did not give in.
25:26The Saxon shields were so tight against each other
25:29that not even the dead could fall.
25:32Through the wall, the Saxon swords and spears
25:35fell down towards the Duke.
25:38Then Guillermo ordered the knights to attack.
25:41Both sides had been waiting for this moment.
25:44It was the confrontation between modern tactics in Europe
25:47and the old style of Scandinavian combat.
25:50Let's imagine what would go through their minds,
25:53because they probably had never fought men on horseback.
25:56The tactics used in the 11th century
25:59were based more on group attack with a commander in front,
26:03and the spear was used by throwing it or attacking with it.
26:09Guillermo's cavalry was exhausted by the attack
26:12and the spears that wounded them.
26:15Then they found an impenetrable defense.
26:18Harlow ordered his men to keep the wall of shields firm
26:21and not to advance,
26:24trusting that Guillermo's men would get tired,
26:27run out of arrows and it would be easy to defeat them
26:31the next day.
26:34They were astonished by the variety of objects
26:37they were thrown from behind the wall of shields.
26:40Spears, axes, anything they had at hand
26:43was thrown at the Normans,
26:46and even at their own comrades,
26:49because if a Norman managed to penetrate a little
26:52into the wall of shields, they threw him, killed him
26:55and then threw his corpse against his comrades
26:59After three exhausting hours of combat,
27:02the wall of shields remained firm.
27:05Tons of dead men prevented Guillermo's cavalry from advancing.
27:08The Bretons were fed up and began to retreat downhill.
27:11This dangerously exposed Guillermo's left flank
27:14and in turn caused panic among the Normans
27:17who fled immediately.
27:20Disobeying Harlow, hundreds of Saxons
27:23broke the formation and pursued the enemy in search of glory.
27:27Suddenly, a rumor spread that Guillermo had fallen dead.
27:30The Normans had seen his horse fall
27:33and began to think that perhaps they were also going to die.
27:38Guillermo found another horse,
27:41mounted it again, rode it and chased Guillermo
27:44to show his men that he was still alive.
27:47Look at me well, Normans! It is me, Guillermo!
27:50I am still alive and with the help of God I will win!
27:54Yes!
27:57Then he crossed the field with a group of knights
28:00to stop the advance of the Saxons.
28:03A slaughter took place on a small hill
28:06and that moment was crucial in the battle.
28:09Guillermo's crisis had passed
28:12and now he found a way to get to Harlow.
28:15According to the chroniclers,
28:18Guillermo organized several false retreats.
28:22On both occasions they retreated.
28:25The impatient Saxons chased them,
28:28but they ended up surrounded and killed them.
28:31Harlow was furious.
28:34Now he had lost a third of his men
28:37and was losing control of the rest.
28:40At four in the afternoon, the daytime light began to fade.
28:43By nightfall, Guillermo would be in a frank disadvantage.
28:46He had to win the battle,
28:50but the Saxon wall was in his way.
28:53Someone says that Guillermo then changed tactics.
28:56He ordered his archers to shoot high
28:59to cross the wall of shields.
29:02That caused panic among the Saxon ranks.
29:05The two brothers of Harlow fell dead by an arrow impact.
29:08It was an intelligent tactic by Guillermo.
29:11His soldiers charged again
29:14and were able to attack around the ends of the wall of shields,
29:17Guillermo felt that victory was near,
29:20but he had to kill Harlow before he could be king
29:23and declare himself conqueror of England.
29:27After almost eight hours,
29:30the battle of Hastings was reaching its culminating point.
29:33Guillermo had run out of horse three times
29:36and a Saxon ax had crushed his helmet.
29:39At four in the afternoon,
29:42the Normans had penetrated the wall of Saxon shields.
29:46They stopped above their own soldiers
29:49reaching the Saxon ranks and causing chaos.
29:52But King Harold was still alive.
29:55The conquest of England was not yet within Guillermo's reach.
29:59An arrow that seemed to come from heaven
30:02fell and nailed Harlow in the right eye.
30:05Perhaps punishment for breaking his sacred oath.
30:08However, a story says that he did not die in the act,
30:11but that Harlow stumbled for a while, blind,
30:15and fell to his personal bodyguards.
30:18Guillermo looked up the hill and saw Harold there.
30:21And of course, he knew that if Harold was alive,
30:24the victory was not his.
30:27So he sent a command of four knights
30:30with the aim of killing Harold.
30:33There were about 20 Norman knights fighting with their chariots,
30:36so the four knights took advantage of the confusion
30:39to cross their ranks and then kill Harold.
30:43And the fourth knight cut his leg.
30:46Now, cutting his leg may have been a euphemism
30:49to avoid saying that he had actually castrated Harold.
30:54Some of Harold's men ran to hide in the woods at dusk.
31:00Guillermo sent 50 men after them
31:03and they ended up with the last of the resistance.
31:07Finally, at dusk,
31:10Guillermo returned to his camp.
31:13He was looking at the thousands of corpses in his way,
31:16but there was one that interested him a lot.
31:21They did not know what Harold's corpse was,
31:24and they only managed to recognize it when his lover
31:27went to the battlefield and identified it
31:30by physical features that only she knew.
31:34It is possible that between 20 or 30% of the Normans
31:37ended up dead or seriously injured,
31:40but we do not know for sure.
31:43The list of English casualties must have been huge
31:46because we know that Guillermo had many lands to distribute
31:49since his owners had died in Hastings.
31:54When Guillermo won the battle of Hastings,
31:57he limited himself to waiting for the rest of England to surrender,
32:00but it did not happen.
32:04So on October 20, the Normand army began to march again.
32:09Then he went to London giving a big parade,
32:12with the aim of attacking the rural area
32:15so that everyone knew that the army was on its way,
32:18and thus sow confusion among its enemies.
32:22Guillermo's army encircled all the major cities in the south.
32:25Dover, Canterbury and Winchester
32:28were subdued as soon as Guillermo arrived.
32:32Then he headed north, destroying the villages and crops.
32:35Now his troops threatened the capital.
32:40Guillermo's tactics worked.
32:43London was now surrounded by desolation
32:46and its leaders decided not to resist anymore.
32:49Eldred, the archbishop of York,
32:52left London and met with Guillermo and his army.
32:55Then he asked him to accept the crown of England.
32:58On Christmas Day 1066,
33:01Guillermo was crowned king of England in the abbey of Westminster.
33:04The acclamations within the abbey
33:07caused the knights outside to believe that there was a rebellion.
33:11Their reaction was unexpected.
33:14They did not run into the abbey to defend their king,
33:17but they left the abbey and set fire to the Saxon houses
33:20and killed the Saxons who were around the abbey.
33:23Therefore, Guillermo is the king.
33:27His coronation is marked by the fires around the abbey
33:30while the crown is placed on his head.
33:36Guillermo immediately replaced the English nobles
33:39with his Norman nobles,
33:42in exchange for the services in the Battle of Hastings.
33:45The new landowners of England spoke a different language,
33:48had a different haircut and customs
33:51and new ideas about architecture and commerce.
33:55In addition, he placed his bishops in front of the church of the country.
34:01He did not destroy the Anglo-Saxon government.
34:04He adopted all the institutions and territorial provisions
34:07that the Anglo-Saxons had established
34:10and then used them for his benefit and in his aristocracy
34:13to rule the country and also to obtain wealth from it.
34:18After his victory in 1066,
34:22Guillermo took several loyal noble Saxons with him to Normandy.
34:25The members of the court of Caen were surprised
34:28by the appearance of their former enemies.
34:31They looked like effeminate nobles
34:34because they wore their hair under their shoulders.
34:38That style soon became fashionable among the young.
34:42Even Guillermo's sons would follow the Saxon fashion
34:45and would leave long hair and a mustache.
34:49That would be the committee of the city.
34:53It was a kind of rebellion of the young against the adults.
34:56It was their way of annoying their parents.
35:00Guillermo began a plan of construction of forts and abbeys
35:03that would control the Saxon population.
35:06A castle every 24 kilometers,
35:09the distance that a rider could travel in a day.
35:13At the end of the century, 1100 wooden and stone castles
35:17covered the English landscape.
35:20A abbey was also built instead of Guillermo's victory
35:23on the outskirts of Hastings,
35:26in the city today simply called Battle.
35:30One of the first things that Guillermo did
35:33when he was offered the crown of England
35:36was to send an advance of soldiers.
35:39And in a mound located near the eastern part of London,
35:42they erected what at first was a wooden tower,
35:46then practically in all the cities they made huge mounds,
35:4924 meters high, and built castles on them.
35:52They were Norman administrative centers,
35:55but more importantly, they were of Norman architecture,
35:58and it was like saying, yes, they have conquered you,
36:01but the chosen ones of God have done it,
36:04look at these great churches.
36:07So they served as a sign that in reality,
36:10the conquest of Anglo-Saxon England by Guillermo
36:14was an important resource to preserve the new kingdom.
36:17When Guillermo suffocated a revolt,
36:20then he built castles in the cities, and they are still standing.
36:23However, in 1069, Guillermo faced a rebellion in the north.
36:26In the city of Durham, 900 Normans were killed
36:29in an uprising led by English rebels.
36:32Once again, Guillermo put on his helmet
36:35and led an army north to suffocate the rebellion.
36:38During his march through the mountains,
36:42Guillermo ordered total annihilation.
36:45They killed all the men, women and children,
36:48set fire to all the villages,
36:51and killed all the animals and agricultural herds.
36:54The looting of the north was so exhaustive
36:57that 10% of the English population was exterminated.
37:00The plague spread through the north
37:03and there was not even anyone alive to bury the corpses.
37:06The consequences of Guillermo's tactics
37:09in Yorkshire lasted 60 years.
37:12But soon, Guillermo's battles and constructions
37:15caused him financial problems.
37:18Now he needed to know exactly how many resources he could have.
37:21The English feared for what little they had left.
37:24The news spread from town to town.
37:27The final judgment was approaching.
37:34Guillermo had spent a lot of money
37:38on defending his kingdom,
37:41building castles and bribing enemies.
37:44After conquering England,
37:47he also became the most coveted prey in Europe.
37:50It was time to check his resources.
37:53He ordered a balance to be made
37:56of all the properties of England
37:59that could be recorded with taxes to cost his army.
38:02That balance was called the final judgment.
38:06They wrote down who owned what before the conquest,
38:09after it, and now, in the spring of 1086.
38:12It was said that there was no skin or hectare of land left,
38:15nor oxen, cows or pigs without accounting.
38:24It also raised the scope of Guillermo's looting
38:27and atrocities throughout the country.
38:30The book of the final judgment reflects the depopulation of villages
38:34and that large extensions of land
38:37that had been cultivated before being razed,
38:40were now in ruins.
38:43The northern economy had receded by about 80 years.
38:46But from Guillermo's point of view,
38:49what he had achieved was to eliminate possible rebellions.
38:52The balance was made with incredible speed.
38:55In just 6 months, all the resources of the country had been accounted for.
38:58Guillermo used the information included in the book of the final judgment
39:02to improve his economy.
39:05It is an impressive document,
39:08and for historians it has an incalculable value.
39:11It is very useful to us,
39:14because it gives us a lot of information
39:17about what was happening in England at the time.
39:20At old age, Guillermo had to worry about a new problem,
39:23his weight.
39:26The fact that he was so fat became a joke
39:30Many even said that he looked like he was pregnant.
39:33So, as it seems, Guillermo decided to do something about it.
39:36When he was on his way to what in the 11th century
39:39would be equivalent to a health center,
39:42he decided to apply a punishment for a French invasion.
39:45In July 1087, Guillermo razed the city of Mantes
39:48on the French border.
39:51However, while riding through the fire,
39:54his horse suddenly stopped
39:58to avoid a burning head.
40:01Guillermo hit the edge of the chair
40:04and burst his intestines.
40:07The internal bleeding caused peritonitis.
40:10During the next six weeks,
40:13the pus flooded his intestines while he was slowly dying.
40:16On his deathbed, Guillermo divided his kingdom between his children.
40:19Roberto was left Normandy,
40:22and England was for Guillermo Rufus.
40:26It is said that on his deathbed,
40:29Guillermo felt great remorse
40:32for the conquest he had made
40:35and for his life as a warrior.
40:38He reviewed his life,
40:41he saw that he had always been at war,
40:44that he had fought all his life
40:47and that he had shed a lot of blood and caused suffering.
40:50It is said that the king made one last confession
40:53I am sorry for having taken what did not belong to me.
40:56I am stained with the rivers of blood that I have shed.
40:59On September 9, 1087,
41:02the great bell of Saint-Gervais
41:05announced the death of King Guillermo I.
41:08He was 60 years old.
41:11Those present seized all the gold,
41:14the weapons, the furniture, the clothes
41:17and emptied the castle,
41:21naked and alone.
41:24A gentleman who sympathized with him
41:27took his corpse to the church of Saint-Étienne-de-Caen
41:30to make him a real funeral.
41:33Due to peritonitis, the corpse was swollen in an exaggerated way.
41:36During the funeral, a small fire occurred.
41:39That caused panic in the church.
41:42The temperature increased
41:45and added that to the intestines full of pus of the king
41:49a small stone sarcophagus.
41:52The pus came out and splashed the walls.
41:55The pain was so nauseating
41:58that, according to the incense, it could not be mitigated.
42:01And there is that man so powerful
42:04who has ended his life naked and on the ground
42:07and now at his funeral his corpse has exploded.
42:10The pain floods the air
42:13and many of the attendants run to the door
42:17Today, only this tomb in the church of Saint-Étienne-de-Caen
42:20marks the place of eternal rest of that son of Normandy.
42:23According to a legend of the place,
42:26the remains of King Harold II,
42:29whom Guillermo had killed in the Battle of Hastings,
42:32were taken to the abbey of Wadham on the outskirts of London.
42:35A small solitary tomb
42:38is all that reminds England of its last king Sajon.
42:42When observing the landscape of England,
42:46the large stone castles, the large cathedrals,
42:49you see the heritage of Normandy.
42:52And in the language too,
42:55because French words were incorporated into the language
42:58and it is still preserved today.
43:01I think Guillermo was an opportunist
43:04who made a bet in 1066
43:07and with that bet he changed the course of history.
43:10Guillermo the Conqueror is remembered for his conquest of England.
43:14Later rulers wanted to do the same,
43:17Philip II of France, Napoleon or Hitler.
43:20But Guillermo was the only one who managed to cross the canal,
43:23rule England for a long period of time
43:26and impose its laws on the British.