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London and Environs
Tower of
London - William, Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror)
 On January 5, 1066
King Edward the Confessor died childless and left the crown of England up
for grabs. Four men immediately laid claim to the throne. Two were
brothers of Edward’s wife Queen Edith. The third was King Harold III
Haardraade of Norway, and the fourth, and strongest genealogical claim,
came from Edward’s own cousin William, Duke of Normandy. Both King Edward
and William were directly descended from King Richard I, a former Duke of
Normandy.
As Edward the Confessor lay
dying he chose to ignore the claim of his cousin and nominated his
brother-in-law Harold as his successor. Harold had been rescued by
William, Duke of Normandy some two years previously and had taken an oath
at that time to uphold William’s claim to the throne of England.
However, now that the opportunity presented itself, Harold decided he
liked the idea of being King. He made immediate use of the advantage given
him by dying King Edward and had himself crowned King the same day as
Edward’s funeral; a move necessary in his point of view since his brother
(then living in Flanders) and King Haardraade were both already preparing
to invade England to claim the throne for themselves. Eventually these two
men teamed up, with the new King Harold’s brother supporting King
Haardraade’s claim. Even so, King Harold defeated this threat to his crown
in a brilliant victory at Stamford Bridge and both of his rivals were
killed.
Unfortunately for King Harold, while his troops were resting up from their
victory, William crossed the channel and landed at Pevensey. He
immediately improvised a castle in the area, and rushed his troops to
London and arrived there on October 6th where he was able to gather
support and additional troops. Wasting no time he marched his troops to
Hastings, where King Harold’s ships were docked, and caught the King by
surprise on the morning of October 14th. Before the day ended King Harold
was dead and his few remaining followers had fled back to London.
 Despite his military
success many would not recognize William’s claim to the throne. Many
English leaders refused to acknowledge his claim, including the Earl of
Northumbria, the Earl of Merica, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
Archbishop of York, and King Edward’s widow who controlled the old capital
of Winchester. Even the gates of London were now closed to him.
William immediately recognized that with so many major roads throughout
the country all converging on London, without that city he could hardly
consider himself ruler of England. Instead of a direct attack that he did
not think he could win, and would have had the added disadvantage of
antagonizing the rich city merchants and influential citizens within
London, he decided to surround the city and cut off its access to the rest
of the country. By isolating the capital his opponents quickly realized
the pointlessness of further resistance. The Archbishop of Canterbury
submitted first, then the Archbishop of York, then King Harold’s nephew
Edgar, who had hoped for his own chance at Kingship, and finally the Earls
of Northumbria and Mercia capitulated.
William received the submissions of these English magnates at Little
Berkhampstead, and then sent an advanced guard into London to start
building a castle there. He entered the city shortly before Christmas and
was crowned King at Westminster Abby on Christmas Day 1066. One chronicler
of the time said “he promised that he would be a gracious liege Lord.”
Of course now that he had England William had to figure out how to keep
it; something that had proved impossible for King Harold. Never one to
dawdle when action would do better, King William immediately began a
campaign of castle building throughout England. Within three months of his
coronation the original version of the Tower of London was completed on
the same little hill chosen by Julius Caesar for a fortress of his own,
one that was later destroyed by Queen Boudica in 61 A.D.
By the end of the century there were some 84 castles built in all parts of
the country, many made of wood timbers or plain unadorned stone. William
wanted his capital fortress to be the finest and most formidable in the
county and ordered that the original tower be pulled down and rebuilt
larger, stronger, and more awe-inspiring. Completed in the 1070’s, the
Tower of London continues to inspire awe over 900 years later.
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