William I
Death
During 1087 the French had been plundering Normandy from a base in Mantes. In July William led an army on Mantes and set it alight but during the melee his horse stumbled and he was badly injured by the pommel on his saddle. He never recovered and on 9 September King William I of England and Duke of Normandy died.
William had some characteristics and qualities that today would be looked upon as being wholly bad. He could be ruthless and vicious when he thought there was a need to be. After the numerous intrigues and revolts during his younger years he had come to believe that he could only trust his barons when they feared him. He could be as cunning as those who plotted against him and even more forceful than the many conspirators who tried to bring him down. William was also courageous, fearless and self-confident. And, he had the vision, imagination and determination needed for affairs other than military. Many kings, emperors and great leaders, before and after, possessed some of these attributes but very few had them all. There can be no doubt that King William I was one of the greatest monarchs ever to occupy the throne of England.
Impact on ordinary people
Prior to 1066 the English people were governed by a ruling elite mostly made up of a minority group of Anglo-Saxons. The greater part of the population was a mixture of people descending from Celts, Ancient British, Roman, Viking and other nationalities. After 1066 the rulers had changed and were Normans or those who had helped them to conquer England. So, what did this mean to the roughly 1.5 million ordinary folk that populated the country? Well, apart from the extra reciprocal duties expected from some of them under the new feudal system it would mean very little. In effect, only the ruling elite had changed: the Anglo-Saxons (originally from North Germany) had been replaced by Normans (originally Vikings but based for some time in France). The old minority had been removed and another minority had taken its place.
The new rulers spoke a different language and had a fondness for structures on mounds, rather than large wooden sheds on the ground but, like the previous lot, they gave orders and expected ordinary folk to jump to it and obey. Therefore, for most of the population, life in England after 1066 would be much the same as it had been before 1066.