A milestone of history was reached in 911AD at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte when an arrangement was concluded between King Charles III of France and the Viking chief Rolf, or Rollo. It is not that there had been no previous treaties and truces to pave the way; but this one was especially important because by it the 'North Men' were deeded actual land and people. The only concessions made by Rollo were his agreement to protect the land against all comers even against other Vikings, his swearing an oath of loyalty to the king of France and his willingness to embrace Christianity. The Norman's adopted Frankish ways and institutions, to which they added their own elements; and within slightly more than a century after the treaty they had set up a dukedom that was notably more advanced than the kingdom of their feudal overlord.  Thus, Rollo the Viking became what is generally considered to be the first duke of Normandy, though he and his two immediate successors used the lesser designation of 'Count'. Not long after the Saint-Clair-sur-Epte agreement of 911, further concessions from the Frankish Kings were forthcoming for the Norman's, and by 1000AD, much of historical Normandy was in Norman hands. This was not due to further invasions, the Norman's proved themselves to be clever and adaptive, and they married into many local families. Rollo married one Popa the daughter of a Frankish count of Bayeux. Their son William called Longsword married to the daughter of yet another Frankish count felt compelled to send his son to Bayeux to learn Norse as it was no longer being spoken in their principle city of Rouen.

The year 1010 was the possible birth year of Robert I, duke of Normandy, The great-great-grandson of Rollo. At that time Normandy was prosperous, well-governed and violent, alternatively friendly and at odds with both the Church of Rome and the new line of Capetian overlords. Fifty-six years later Robert's son would earn his title of Conqueror on a little known ridge in southern England. And in 1016, nineteen years before Robert's death a group of shabbily clad Norman Pilgrims at a shrine on Italy's Garano Peninsula tentatively enlisted themselves to aid a certain exiled Lombard Noble from the southern Italian city of Bari, thus unwittingly setting the stage for the Norman kingdom in the south.

England, although many times invaded and conquered had formed a political unity by the time of the Conquest. In turn Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes and Norwegians had poured into the country. The Danish invasions, best known from the exploits of the 'Great Army' against which Alfred, king from 871 to 899, so doggedly fought, perhaps provided the catalyst through which unification of the realm was eventually achieved in the mid-tenth century by Athelstan. Although ruled by Scandinavians from 1016 to 1042 (by Cnut, also king of Denmark and Norway, and by his sons Harold II and Harthcnut), the unity of the state was maintained; it was however, in their period that the great earldoms were established which, by the rivalries of their incumbents, weakened royal authority during the reign (1042-1066) of Edward the Confessor.  Structurally a kingdom of established royal administrative and judicial proceedings, and of strong local government, England had also seen great flowerings of art and literature.  However, in Edward's time constantly under the threat of Scandinavian invasion and the turbulence of over mighty subjects, England was clearly vulnerable to a determined invader.

The first venture into southern Italy by the Normans at the request of the Lombards in 1018AD was a total disaster. The Norman-Lombard force was catastrophically defeated by the Byzantine forces, ironically with the aid of fellow Vikings. The leader of the triumphant Byzantines was the great catapan (governor) Basil Boioannes a most able military commander whose forces had been augmented with the formidable Varangian Guard, a regiment made up of Russians and Scandinavians, which had been sent to him as a gift from Prince Vladimir of Kiev. It was not the first time that Viking had fought Viking under another flag, nor would it be the last.

The dispirited remnant of the Norman adventurers led by one Ranulf fled to the hills to regroup-and wait, now was not their time but Ranulf was an able and capable commander who knew how to bide his time. By 1021 Basil Boioannes was becoming highly alarmed by the steadily growing number of Normans arriving in Italy; with the almost limitless Byzantine wealth behind him he set into action a massive program of fortification building. Also and in typical Byzantine fashion he started enticing Normans into his service and as an unforeseen consequence more came because of the number and wealth of the available employers. Now the stage was properly set, the Normans by splitting up and constantly changing their alliances contrived in all the petty struggles in which they were involved to emerge almost continuously on the winning side. Thus they were able to ensure that no single interest became to powerful, and by championing all causes they succeeded in championing none; and by selling their swords not just to the highest but to every bidder, they maintained their freedom of action.  In the year 1027 Basil Boioannes was recalled to Constantinople by the Byzantine Emperor, it was an enormous mistake and one that the Byzantines would not recover from. With Boioannes gone things soon started to fall apart and several small wars started, the whole country was soon engulfed in conflict. It was during this unrest that Duke Sergius of Naples found himself in a desperate position so he persuaded Rainulf and his band of Knights to join him in return for this he gave Rainulf the hand of his sister and granted him the hamlet of Aversa.

Duke Richard III had presided over Normandy for only a year when he suddenly died in 1028. Richard's younger brother Robert took up the title of Duke and sent Richard's younger son to a monastery. In 1034 Robert to atone for his sins and many transgressions announced that he would do an exonerating pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, 'bare foot and in fear of God' The official historian of the dukes of Normandy recorded that such was the magnificence of Duke Robert when passing through Constantinople - and such the largesse that he dispensed to the inhabitants, that they concluded that he was the king of France. Robert set out but never reached the holy city, he died of unknown causes some where in Anatolia in 1035AD. Thus William the Bastard became duke of Normandy, with his great-uncle Robert, archbishop of Rouen, offering strong protection with the weight of the church behind it. All progressed well for William for two years until the death of Archbishop Robert. For the next ten year's chaos and anarchy ruled in Normandy, but the realm remained intact due to the protection of Henry I king of France and Count Baldwin of Flanders - William's future father-in-law.

Ranulf of Aversa continued his meteoric rise to power in the south, his call for Knights and soldiers had brought him a veritable flood of man power from Normandy. Typical of these men were the Hautville family. Tancred de Hautville's first wife Muriella bore him five sons, and his second wife bore him seven! Tancred informed his sons that the modest family resources were simply not adequate, taking the reasonable stance that dispersal was the only alternative. Thus it was that William, Drogo and Humphrey de Hautville arrived at Aversa to take service with Rainulf. In 1038 the forces of Rainulf including the Hautevilles went to Sicily under the flag of the Byzantine general, George Manikes. Whilst on campaign for the Byzantines they met another for whom history had reserved a piece of immortality, Harald Hardrada (best translated as ruthless). Harold had fled from Norway after being wounded at the battle of Stikestad, and had take refuge in Novgorod and then finally he had ended up in Constantinople. Within a short time of his arrival in Constantinople he was appointed commander of the Varangian Guard.

Two years later on the Normans were still fighting in Sicily. They had taken Syracuse and William Hautville had started his own rise to power, he had also gained the name Iron Arm (Bras-de-fer) for his battlefield slaying of the emir of Syracuse. Meanwhile the Lombards were continuing their efforts to dislodge the Byzantines from Italy and they had give the Normans the city of Melfi to ensure Norman enthusiasm for the Lombard cause. Three times the Norman - Lombard forces fought the Byzantines in 1041 and each time the Byzantines were decisively defeated. Matera had been one of the first Byzantine cities to declare for the Lombard-Norman forces in what had become for many a rebellion against the hated Greeks. In 1042 George Manikes returned from Constantinople with a new army and assaulted the city. Manikes made a terrible example of the city by having the old and young alike struck down, buried alive, hanged and tortured in many terrible ways. Within a year the Lombard-Norman cause was virtually lost, but at the last minute Maniakes became a victim of Byzantine Politics and was recalled to Constantinople. Aggrieved at the interference he took matters into his own hands by declaring himself emperor, and with his loyal troops he marched on Constantinople, but he was defeated and killed in Thessaloniki. The Lombard cause could not recover from the mauling that George Manikes gave it and the vacuum of his departure was swiftly filled by the Hautevilles' notably with William de Hauteville being made count of Apulia by Prince Gaimar V of Salerno.

Also in 1041 Edward the Confessor, last of the royal line of Anglo-Saxon Kings, succeeded to the English throne upon the death of Harthcnut. It was also in all probability the year the William of Normandy was dubbed Knight by King Henry I of France, an event that according to the chronicler William of Poitiers 'all France had dreaded the day when the young duke of Normandy was to be given the blows and take the oath of knighthood'.  

The times for William were still turbulent in 1047 an organised rebellion broke out led by William's cousin, Guy of Burgundy, who laid claim to the dukedom through his mother's line - His mother, Adeliza was sister to William's father Robert. Henry I responded unhesitating as William's protector and marched with his army to William's aid. Eventually Guy's rebel army was confronted by William and Henry at Val-es-Dunes near Caen and totally decimated.  Later that year William presided over an ecclesiastical council held at Caen, at which the Truce of God, a Church-inspired device for the minimisation of warfare in Normandy. The Truce was a serious attempt to bring some order into an unruly society. By it, private wars were not permitted between Wednesday evenings and Monday mornings, as well as during the seasons of Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Advent - with the king of France and the duke of Normandy being exempt in the interest of keeping order. Moreover, with excommunication as the punishment for transgressing the Truce of God it worked well in keeping the baronage in order.

Edward the Confessor appointed Robert of Jumieges as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1051. It was one of many Norman appointments of that year and for his bitter opposition to the appointments Godwin earl of Wessex was exiled with his sons including Harold the future short lived king. Also as part of his Norman enthusiasm, Edward the Confessor proclaimed William the Bastard as his heir. Edward was childless and as such, it was not unnatural that Edward should name a successor. Edward's brother Alfred had been murdered in 1036 (almost certainly with Godwin's complicity), and the only other surviving member of the old English royal line was Edward the Atheling, a grandson of Ethelred the Unready. He though was in exile in Hungary and Edward was possibly swayed by his the fact that his own mother, Emma of Normandy, Ethelred's second wife had also been William's great-aunt.

Three years after assuming the papacy, Leo IX set the church of Rome on a collision course with the Norman's in southern Italy. He postured bravely, if misguidedly, at the head of a vast conspiracy to remove their presence from southern Italy. Drogo de Hautville was assassinated along with most of his chiefs, but brother Humphrey quickly stepped into take his place. The Norman Haters had become polarised into three camps: a pro-Byzantine party; a pro-Church of Rome party; and an Italo-Lombard group. But even with Drogo dead the three power blocks could not function together against the Normans and their disunity eventually led to their failure. In 1053 Pope Leo IX was finally in a position to launch his attack on the Normans. He used his alliance with the Byzantines to arrange a joint attack on Siponto, a city that had fallen to the Normans in 1039.  Robert Hautville managed to intercept the papal army at Civitate. As he and his half-brother surveyed the massive papal army - the Byzantines had not arrived, and would not arrive - They saw that the odds were against them. They sent a delegation to the pope pledging loyalty to him and begging forgiveness. He informed them that death or exile was their only choice. "flight they disdained, and, as many of them had been three days without tasting food, they descended into the plain, and charged in three divisions the army of the pope". Upon first contact most of the papal army broke and fled apart from a unit of Swabian mercenaries who stood to the last man. Most of the army who fled were also killed in the ruthless pursuit that followed. Seeing the papal army destroyed the inhabitants of Civitate handed the pope over to the Norman army, who astonished the pope be instantly falling to their knees and asked his forgiveness. Leo's cause was lost and he would die a few bitter years later.

In England Earl Godwin of Wessex, whom King Edward the Confessor had recalled from exile the year before, died. With the death of the father, Harold and his brothers acquired new powers within the kingdom. Harold's sister Edith married the king, and Harold started to acting as the principal royal counselor.

Henry I of France worried at William's growing power attempted to crush William before he became to big to handle. Henry sent two large armies into Normandy only to have William turn the tables on him and rout him out of Normandy by trickery. In a few short months William had ignored a papal anathema by marring Matilda of Flanders, had antagonised both the German Emperor and the French king by the same marriage, and he had trounced his own overlord who had attempted to bring him to heal. And yet there was much more he would achieve.

Unable to stand the frustration further, a sick and exhausted Leo IX agreed to recognise the new Norman nation in the south. Also after the Byzantine no-show at Civitate the Church of Rome and the Byzantine church were on collision course and eventually things came to a head with the issuing of a papal bull of excommunication. Upon receipt the Byzantine church solemnly burnt the bull and in turn anathematised the offending papal legates.  Norman power in southern Italy was further strengthened in 1057 when the young Prince Panduld of Capua died and Richard of Aversa managed to surprise and take the city and the title. Lombard rule which had lasted over two hundred years ended that day, and Richard took the title prince of Capua.

The Consecration of Pope Nicholas II in 1059 was a major step forward for the reformist's within the Church of Rome, as opposed to the conservatives who had appointed their own 'pope' Benedict X. After a short period of deadlock Cardinal Hildebrand (the future Gregory VII) called in Richard of Capua and the Normans to resolve the dispute. The Normans besieged Benedict in Galeria just north of Rome, and following the usual Norman scorched-earth devastation of the area Benedict was captured, unfrocked and imprisoned in Rome. In June Pope Nicholas visited Robert Guiscard in Melfi and invested him as duke of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily. The Pope also confirmed Richard as prince of Capua, and thus started an era of remarkable friendship between the Norman's and the papacy.

Henry I of France died on the 4th of August 1060, the new king was Philip I - he was only eight - and as such he was placed under the protective regency of William's father-in-law, Count Baldwin V of Flanders. With this France's intermittent war with Normandy that had been going on since 1047 ended and William could look to a less troubled future.

After an abortive attempt in early 1061 Roger de Hauteville landed and took the city of Missina on Sicily, it was their first foot hold on the island. Fighting would drag out sporadically for the next two years with the Norman's generally being successful but with the Saracens still holding large parts of the island and their stronghold of Enna. (which would not fall until 1087!)  In 1063 the Pope Alexander II presented Roger with a papal banner to be carried at the head of his army. Now the Hauteville conquest of Sicily took on the aspects of a crusade as the pope furthermore granted absolution to any soldier who fought for the Hautville brothers in their efforts to free Sicily from the hated infidel's. It must be borne in mind the Alexander II was experiencing his own troubles at the time with antipope Honorius II and as such he needed the support of the Hautville's.

In or about 1055 William had displaced the count of Mortain and placed his own half brother Robert in the seat. Now in 1062 Herbert II of Main died and William claimed the county on behalf of his son Robert. William led his invasion of Main personally and by the beginning of 1064 he had it totally in his control.  Also in 1064 Harold Godwinson made a trip to Normandy on behalf of Edward the Confessor. Unfortunately his ship was forced ashore by a storm and Harold was captured by Guy of Ponthieu. William demanded and obtained Harold's honorable release by Guy, William the escorted Harold to Rouen with proper honor and the entertained him as an honored guest. William later invited Harold to accompany him on an expedition against Conan, Count of Brittany, which Harold accepted.  It was while on campaign that Harold swore fealty to William employing the sacred ritual recognised among Christian men of swearing an oath while resting your hands upon a holy relic. Harold swore that he took the oath of his own free will and that firstly; he would represent William at Edward's court for as long as Edward lived; secondly that he would use his influence and wealth to ensure that William would succeed as King after Edward's death; thirdly that he would place and support a garrison of the dukes knights at Dover castle; fourthly that Harold would place and support garrisons in other castles as William directed. William for his part confirmed to Harold all his lands and titles.

With the passing of Edward the Confessor in 1066 the question of succession to the English throne became urgent and hostile. The opponents were Harold Godwinson, William the Bastard and Harald Hardrada, with Tostig Godwinson as an extra factor. Tostig had ruled his earldom of Northumbria so cruelly that his subjects had revolted and forced Edward the Confessor to exile him.  Harald Hardrada's claim lay by virtue of an agreement between King Magnus of Norway and Harthacunt, king of Denmark and short lived king of England. Both rulers had agreed that which ever of them survived the other would inherit the others kingdoms. When Harthacunt died in 1042 Magnus took Denmark, but was to preoccupied with a war in its defence to press his claim for England; so Edward the Confessor had been elected King. Magnus had died in 1047 and had been succeeded by his uncle Harald Hardrada.  War was clearly in the offing so on the same day (January 6th 1066) that Edward was buried in his just completed Westminster Abbey Harold Godwinson had himself crowned as king. Harold had obviously planned his coup, thought it is possible that Edward had nominated him as successor thus abrogating his promise to William.  

The alacrity with which Harold accepted the crown caught William off guard. There were after all censures of withering force, both secular and religious to be flung at oath breakers. For once all of William's barons were loyal to him. In several hurriedly summoned councils the barons and counts agreed to support his effort to secure the throne of England. It was also at this point that a 'hairy star' (Haley's comet) appeared in the sky and this portent was conveyed to men as the approaching downfall of a sacrilegious upstart.  William also set about a political campaign at the same time that he prepared his army. Due to the feudal societies dim view of the broken oath William found it easy to enlist support or at the worst ensure non-interference from the other rulers of Europe. To add to this he sent his representatives to Rome to enlist the support of the Pope. It is unlikely that Alexander II and his chief advisor Hildebrand could have refused William even if his case had not been so strong, after all they owed so much to the Normans. And thus the Pope sent to William his recognition of William as the rightful King of England and his blessing for his enterprise in the form of a consecrated banned and a holy relic - one of St Peters hairs.

By the 12th of August William's army was ready to invade, but a combination of weather and sea conditions prevented him from putting his fleet to sea. In mid-September fortune took a hand in events and the north of England was invaded by an army on Norwegians and Scots under the joint command of Tostig Godwinson and Harald Hardrada the King of Norway. It was probably the largest Viking fleet ever numbering some 250 - 500 ships, and the army that it landed numbered somewhere around seven thousand men. Hardrada's fleet ravaged its way up and down the Yorkshire coast - all of the inhabitants of Scarborough were killed in one raid - finally the fleet came to rest on the left bank of the river Ouse nine miles from York.  Harold Godwinson hearing of Hardrada's landing collected his army most of whom had been on fyrd service on the south coast that summer and headed north to York. (William was still a threat, but it was now perilously late in the year for such a crossing and he had still to arrive whereas Hardrada was in England and making his presence felt.) On the vigil of St Matthew the Apostle (20 September) the northern earl's Morcar and Edwin met Hardrada and Tostig in battle. Hardarda's army pinned the English against a marsh and drove the trapped English into it. The losses in the English army were terrible with many being drowned in the marsh and the Norwegians holding the place of slaughter. After the battle was over Hardrada and Tostig went to York and met the city leaders. It was agreed that in lieu of sacking the city Hardrada would receive 150 children of prominent families as hostages and provisions for his army. It was agreed that they would meet later to conclude an abiding peace near a place called Stamford Bridge.

Four days later after their victory at Gate Fulford Hardrada and Tostig were encamped on both sides of the River Derwent out side of York awaiting the delivery of the hostages. In some form of mad over-confidence fully a third of the army had been left behind with the ships, and those who accompanied Hardarda had left their amour behind. It was at this point that Harold the king of England arrived with his army having force marched all the way from the south. Harold wasted no time and with all haste launched his army in to an attack on the smaller part of the Viking force on the west bank of the river. Cut off, un-armored, and totally suppressed they lasted but a short while - the slaughter was merciless and total. Mean while Hardarda arranged the remaining bulk of his army into a circular shield wall and sent runners to fetch his troops who were back with the ships and prepared to make a stand against the Saxon army. Again Harold wasted no time and after a short delay he assaulted Hardarda's main body. The Viking losses were very heavy, they paid a grim price for leaving their mail coats behind at the ships. The shield wall that Hardrada's men had formed lasted for a short while but without their coats of mail his men could do little to stand against the Saxon army, and soon Hardrada's army began to falter. At about this time the remaining part of Hardrada's army arrived and they immediately pitched into the battle, however having just run approximately ten miles the men were already exhausted and in no fit state to face the Saxon army and many apparently died from exhaustion. It was at about this point that Harald Hardarda fell wounded apparently from an arrow in the neck and at this his army began to break and try to get back to their ships (Tostig was already dead). Now a terrible pursuit ensued with the English giving no quarter to any that they fell upon. Of all the men in all the ships that came to England only 24 vessels were crewed by the survivors who left England having made their peace with Harold.

Harold Godwinson was enjoying the customary victory celebration at York properly on 1 October when a messenger arrived and gave him the grim news that William the Bastard had landed at Pevensey with his army on the eve of Michaelmas (28 September). Harold at once mustered his army and force marched to London.  The landing of William's army at Pevensey was one of the best planned, and most complicated manoeuvres of its kind in history. Not only did William arrive with his army but also he brought with him a pre fabricated wooden castle and a large host of servants and artisans that the army would need. Upon landing William sent out his knights to ravage certain estates that he knew lay near that were the personal property of Harold, an act guaranteed to enrage and draw Harold out to face William's army.

Harold only stayed in London for a short while and ignoring the advice of his brothers and leading councillors to wait longer for a full muster of the Fyrd, he set out to confront William. It was Harolds design to 'take the Norman army unawares, and crush them at once... and that they not escape by sea he caused a fleet of seventy ships, full of soldiers to guard the coast'.  And so it was on the 14 October 1066 that Harold was starting to set his army in place on a ridge called Senlac (Sand Lake), about eight miles from Hastings near a grey apple-tree when William came upon him. Thus Harold arranged his army along the ridge with his Huscarls (professional soldiers) in front and with his Fyrd behind them. The Saxon army was commanded from three points, the centre by Harold and the flanks by his brothers Leofwine and Gurth. The Norman army was arrayed in three 'Battles' each of archers, followed by infantry, followed by cavalry, with the Bretons on the left flank, the French on the right, and the Normans in the centre.  William's initial assaults on the Saxon shield wall were bloody repulsed with a heavy loss of life on both sides. After one assault the Saxon infantry broke formation and pursued the fleeing Breton Infantry only to be cut of by the Norman cavalry and massacred, the Breton flight having apparently been a deliberate feigned retreat. Following this the Norman's performed a feigned retreat, drawing 'a thousand or more' Saxons on in pursuit and destroyed them. In between the alternate assaults of the Norman infantry and cavalry William had his archers shower the Saxon army with arrows and thus allowed them no respite, while his troops could rest and reform between assaults. As the Saxon numbers diminished so did their ability to defend the whole of the ridge and it was as such that William's knights broke the Saxon line at about dusk and a group of them cut down Harold Godwinson the last Anglo Saxon King of England. With about half the Saxon Army dead, with Harold's brothers dead along with most of the nobility of England and the King being dead, the Saxon army disintegrated and fled. William's knights took a grim toll on the fleeing Saxons until some of them rode into a deep ravine and were counter-attacked by a body of Huscarls who inflicted heavy losses on the Normans before retreating, at this point the pursuit was ended and William's army was recalled to the battlefield.

William had won himself one of the most decisive battles in history. In less than a day he had laid low not only the King but also the rest of the royal house who could have succeeded him and most if not all of the nobility of the country who could have led any form of real resistance to William. Harold's side of the battle was an uncharacteristic one with him surrendering initiative to William by electing to fight from a purely defensive position and not taking the battle to his enemy. We do know that Harold was a deeply religious man, so who knows what effect the papal banner had on him, it might have been the reason that he did not 'attack' and rather let himself be attacked. Also one chronicler says that William after hearing mass on the morning of the battle "William also reverently suspended from his neck the relics on which Harold had sworn'. Following this William declared to his men that; 'should God see fit to give him the victory he claimed, he would found and endow an abbey on the spot of the battle. Much is made of the arrow in Harold's eye in the Bayeux Tapestry it is held by some to be how Harold died, but modern thinking has moved away from this theory and now it is considered that the arrow in Harold's eye is a sign of divine justice (with the battle being a huge trial by combat) and in the next section of the tapestry Harold is seen to be cut down by a mounted Norman.

William waited five days at Battle to reorganise and rest his army and then he moved to Dover. London was still actively opposed to William so he decided to isolate it. On route to Dover William ravaged Romney, a reprisal for the citizens having fought of a conroi of knights who had landed there by mistake. William's ravaging of Romney was so brutal that when shortly he came to Dover castle (the strongest castle in the country) it surrendered to William without hesitation. From Dover William swiftly moved on Canterbury and then on around London until William took Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire and completed his encirclement of London. It was there that finally Prince Edgar, Bishop Eeldred, Earl Edwin, Earl Morcar and all of the high nobility of London came to William and submitted to him. At this meeting they also gave William hostages and swore oaths of fealty, and William promised to be a gracious lord to them. Thus it was that William entered London on Christmas day 1066 to be consecrated King by bishop Ealdred.

In early 1067 William returned to Normandy to oversee his affairs there. William had left William fitzOsbern and his half brother Odo in charge but things soon got out of hand with a revolt starting in the south west and with the Welsh attempting to storm the new Norman castle at Hereford. With the alarm bell sounded William was back in London for early December and shortly he with his army stood before Exeter demanding entrance to the city. Exeter resisted William for eighteen days and then capitulated after a large part of the thanes had deserted. William built a keep within the city walls and left a garrison to control the city, and then he set off to suppress the revolt in the area around Exeter and then on down into Cornwall. Wherever William went resistance quickly crumbled, and Norman castles swiftly appeared. William also caused a succession of castles built along the Welsh border to stop the Welsh incursions into England.

William sent for Matilda in 1068 and she with 'a great attendance of knights and noble women' swiftly came to England, and later that year she presented William with his son, Henry. In the south of Italy the year was to see an incredible success story for the Normans which was easily a match for William's success in England. The usual string of Norman mutinies that occurred when there was nothing better to do had racked the south for three years. All of this changed now as the Seljuk Turks who had threatened Byzantine for years made a thrust towards Constantinople. With such a crisis at home the Byzantine Emperor stopped all funding to the Norman Barons and the various revolts collapsed over night, along with that so did the Byzantine military efforts in Italy/Sicily.  

In mid-summer Roger de Hauteville met and utterly annihilated a large contingent of Saracen troops at Misilmeri, about eight miles Southeast of Palermo. For the first and the last time the Saracens had acted under a unified command and from now on any organised resistance on the island was impossible. On August 5 1068 Robert Guiscard now with all of the Norman Barons and Counts behind him laid siege to Bari the last major stronghold of the Greeks in Italy. It would not be until April 1071 though that the city would finally surrender.

For William 1069 was a year of exceptional peril, he was confronted with uprisings in; York, Durham, Dorset, Chester and North Wales and most importantly Swein the King of Denmark came to England along with Malcom King of Scotland and certain of William's Saxon magnates they stormed and sacked York. William's responded to the minor revolts by crushing them one by one and then he gathered his full strength and moved on York. William's response to the revolt of the northern magnates was truly terrible, his men ravaged all the way through the north while on-route to York. Many towns were decimated and many villages were totally destroyed and all of the men were killed. So total was the devastation that William's men wrought on the land and its people that twenty years later the Domesday record states that many of the areas were still waste. Finally William arrived at York and after surprising the Defending army he routed them and many hundreds were killed, but Prince Edgar managed to escape and fled back to Scotland.

The Greek presence in Italy ended with the fall of Bari in 1071, it had held out for two years and eight months and had received two relief fleets, but in the end they saw Robert Guiscard's army swell with the arrival of Roger and his army from Sicily and they had also witnessed the catastrophic routing of the main Byzantine relief fleet by Roger's navy. Thus the inhabitants now with no hope of relief and with mass starvation in the city opened the city gates on April 16 and let Roger Guiscard into Bari. Having settled Bari and having assembled his fleet and army at Otranto, Robert headed for Sicily in 1072. Roger had gone to Sicily shortly after the Fall of Bari and met Robert at Messina, now with their forces combined they moved on Palermo. After a long a bloody struggle the city surrendered to Robert and Roger on 10 January 1072. The defending navy was a charred wreckage in the harbour and there had been extensive famine in the city, thus all real opposition had ended and Robert appointed Roger as 'Great Count' of the island. Now southern Italy and Sicily were theirs and a new kingdom had started to emerged in the Mediterranean.

 Back in England William was finally able to move against Malcom III of Scotland. Malcom had married Margret (later St Margret) sister of Edgar Atheling ('Atheling': a prince of the royal family) and he had in 1070 devastated Durham and Cleveland and he had aided Edgar. William now carried hostilities in to Malcom's territory and quickly Malcom's posturing melted away. Malcom pledged himself as William's vassal, and he gave William his eldest son as hostage, also to ensure the peace of the area William had a large castle constructed at Durham.

After several years of peace 1078 saw the beginning of real problems for William in Normandy. William's eldest son Robert Curthose - a jesting nickname as it poked fun at his short legs - allied himself to Philip I of France and started a revolt against his father. He attempted to take Rouen and failing to do so he went to Philip's court in France to bide his time. If Robert was William's trial then his daughter Adela was William's joy for in 1080 she married Stephen I, count of Blois thus improving William's position in Normandy - she would later be the mother of Stephen king of England.

In 1082 William finally managed to patch things up with his son Robert but just as things started to look good for him William was forced to arrest one of his most staunchest supporters, Bishop Odo of Bayeux. Odo's crime was not recorded but apparently he was guilty of a treachery that William found especially galling. He was imprisoned at Rouen where he remained without pardon until William's death, and even then at first William refused to include Odo in a general amnesty and it was only after the impassioned pleas of those standing around him that William changed his mind.

Robert Guiscard with his eyes again set on Byzantine possessions moved to Corfu to wait for spring and then to launch his forces against Constantinople, but before he could do anything epidemic swept his army - properly typhoid fever - and while he was on-route to Cephalonia to join his advance party he was struck down with the fever and died.  Who knows what might have been if he'd lived.

King William of England commanded into existence the Domesday Book in 1086. It is one of the most far-reaching and comprehensive evaluations of material wealth that history has ever known, and enabled William to tax his Kingdom more efficiently than any other king had ever been able to tax his kingdom before.

Finally losing patience with the constant raids by the French into the Norman Vexin in 1087 William gathered his forces and crossed the channel and sallied into French territory. His policy was the usual one of total destruction which peaked when William gave the town of Mantes over to his troops for pillage. In the midst of this looting he was injured when his horse was startled by falling debris and he returned to Rouen immediately. William was obviously dying so he was moved to the priory of Saint-Gervais which was quieter than the busy city of Rouen. William shortly confessed and received absolution and then he commanded that those he had imprisoned should be liberated, reluctantly including his half-brother Odo in this order. William then bequeathed England to his son William Rufus, Normandy to his son Robert Curthose and to his son Henry Beauclerc he willed a small sum of five thousand pounds of silver. Shortly after that he received the last rites and on the next morning 9 September 1087 William I, the Conqueror died.

William as a man and a king is best summed up by what is said of his passing in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle (the ASC is not one continuos work, but it is actually made up of the annals written in the monasteries of, Winchester, Canterbury, Pererborough, Abingdon and Worcester). 'Though stern beyond measure to those who opposed his will, he was kind to those good men who loved God. - He was so stern and relentless a man that no one dared to do aught against his will, Earls who resisted his will were held in bondage. Bishops he deprived of their sees and abbots of their abbacies, while rebellious thanes he cast in to prison. - Among other things we must not forget the good order he kept in the land, so that a man of good substance could travel unmolested throughout the country with his bosom full of gold. No man dared to slay another, no matter what evil the other might have done him. If a man lay with a woman against her will, he was forthwith condemned to forfeit those members with which he had disported himself'.

William II was crowned on the 26 of September and almost straight away he was beset by problems mainly caused by the shortly released Odo, and Odo's brother Robert of Mortain. They were intent on having William II replaced by his brother Robert who was count of Normandy and in 1088 Sussex, Durham and Kent were in revolt against the King. Within six weeks William had besieged Pevensey and captured both of his uncles. William then turned his attention on Rochester which was the centre of the revolt against him. Again Odo showed his treacherous nature when having surrendered to the king he went with the Kings men to Rochester to order its surrender (it was his personal castle), probably by design, he 'fell' into the hands of the city garrison, who then prepared to stand with him against the King. William was not long in coming and he commanded that all men both French and English who were loyal to the crown should join him, shortly his army invested the castle in siege. The defensives held out but in the end the rebels were driven to surrender by starvation and sickness. All of the rebels were striped of rank and lands and most were exiled from England, their lands and titles were passed on to those who had supported the King. Odo for the second time lost the earldom of Kent and later he fled to France where he continued to plot against William.

Great Count Roger of Sicily was again on the move. Noto the last remaining part of Saracen occupation of Sicily fell to him and finally Robert could look without his kingdom for new conquests. In 1088 Malta fell to him without any sort of a fight and he now controlled a huge portion of the Mediterranean.

Rumours, intrigues, clerical unhappiness and the deeply troubled state in Wales coupled with a wide spread plot by his nobles goaded William Rufus into a binge of disinheriting's, killings and mutilations in 1094. Thoroughly frightened and no longer capable of organised resistance the nobles watched William become ever more the tyrant, and the common people suffered even more taxes and those who had paid all of them were still pressed into labour for the King.

Peter the Hermit had landed in Bari in 1089 on his way home from Jerusalem, he carried a letter from the Patriarch of Jerusalem begging for help against the Muslims who were allegedly harassing Christian pilgrims and desecrating their shrines. Pope Urban II was in southern Italy at that time and Peter met him in the crypt of San Nicola and he exhorted the pope to rise to the defence of the Holy Land. Urban held a council at Piacenza where two hundred bishops, four thousand clergy and thirty thousand laity were addressed by ambassadors of the Greek Emperor, Alexis Comnenus. The ambassadors pleaded that they were sorely pressed by the Seljuk Turks who had taken Jerusalem and destroyed the main Byzantine field army and they needed help to restore the balance of power.

Urban considered their appeal and put of making a decision and instead called for a second synod to be held at Clermont in southern France. With the Pope's call Clermont was soon submerged in a sea of visitors, thousands came to hear Urban speak. And so it was at Clermont in November 1095 that Urban had just started his harangue when cries of Deus Vult! ('God wills it') started to echo across the city, and with each of his exhortations the cries got louder and louder. At the crowds peak of religious ecstasy Urban then called to all those assembled that they must hasten to carry aid to their brethren in the East and that any who went would receive full remission for their sins. All who wished to go were told have their affairs in order for August 15 (the Feast of the Assumption).

Many answered Urbans call including some of what can only be called the 'lunatic fringe' - a band of Germans followed a goose they held to be God inspired. From all over Europe there not only came the counts and barons with their well armed and trained retinues but there also came other motley hordes of enthusiasts following the like of Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless. Where these bands marched through Germany and the Balkan lands they plundered and destroyed as they went and thousands of Jews were murdered.

In August 1096 Bohemund was in the company of the two Roger's - his half brother and his uncle, the great count - outside the walls of Amalfi setting up a siege of the city. Bohemund had seen all of the pilgrims heading to the southern ports in preparation for the launch date of the crusade. Without warning he appeared one morning at the siege wearing a crusaders red cross on his shoulder, within days the siege collapsed as many of the men present abandoned it and too the cross with Bohemund. By late summer he had gathered around himself over five hundred Knights, including five other grandsons and two great-grandsons of Tancred de Hautville and a large body of foot soldiers. Bohemund's men were properly the best equipped that went on the first crusade. All of his men were also accustomed to fighting Greeks and Saracens and other Normans and many could speak both Arabic and Greek. The rabbles that followed Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless were already either starving in Anatolia or the were now slaves in Arab cites, and most of the bands led by northern nobles were encumbered by hoards of such people.

In Normandy Robert Curthose was doing his bit for the Crusade. Though he made yet another colossal mistake (the sort he was getting to be well know for) when he mortgaged his dukedom to William Rufus for a paltry ten thousand marks of silver. William Rufus had waited for Robert to make such a mistake, thus allowing the reunion of England and Normandy.

In the Holy Land the crusade had stalled before the city wall of Antioch, even after several bloody assaults the crusaders had failed to make any progress in taking the city. Before long with the land stripped clean around Antioch by the crusaders starvation started in the army and desertions became common and numerous. Alexius liaison officer slipped away from the crusaders army thinking all was lost and on 2 June Stephen of Blois led his troops away from the siege to the coast and then he returned to France by boat. Seeing his men hungry and seeing it shrink daily Bohemund acted and found someone to betray the city to him and in short order Antioch fell to the crusaders. Finally on 15 July 1099 the crusaders stormed Jerusalem and amid scenes of appalling butchery they moved through the city killing men, women and children and looting and raping as they went led by Raymond of Toulouse (Bohemund had stayed in Antioch to nurse his new realm). After a short while the rule of Jerusalem was offered to Ramond of Toulouse who declined it as did Robert Curthose. Finally it was accepted by Godfrey of Bouillion who became Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre. Shortly Bohemund came to Jerusalem to complete his vow and he and Godfrey kneeled before the newly appointed papal legate and swore fealty to him as legate of the Pope, and thus Bohemund received the investiture of Antioch and the pope as his feudal over lord. Along with Godfrey, Bohemund was a unique position as he owed no allegiance to an over lord apart from the pope and he was now free of Alexus claims on Antioch.

William Rufus, a keen exponent of the chase, was in the new forest at the end of July 1100 indulging his passion for the hunt. On 2 August William Rufus went out late in the afternoon hunting with his usual hunt party, with William was a young nobleman, Walter Tirel, count of Poix in Ponthieu. Allegedly while shooting at a stag Walter Tirel missed and hit William Rufus and killed him. Tirel may have been innocent (he stuck to his story of innocence right to his deathbed), but he immediately jumped on a horse and rode to Poole where he boarded the first boat to Normandy. All of the other members of the hunting party also scattered, leaving the dead king where he had fallen. Later William Rufus's corpse was found by a peasant who recognised the king and carried him on a cart to Winchester. By some coincidence William's brother Henry Beauclear was also in the area and on hearing of his brothers death he immediately rode to Winchester and seized the treasury. Without waiting for the kings burial Henry had himself crowned three days later at Westminster Abbey. It was not long before Walter Tirel returned to England and he was much honoured by the new king. In an attempt to bring peace between England and Scotland Henry married Edith, the daughter of Malcolm III king of Scotland. On her marriage Eidth took the continental name of Matilda but she was still well known as a member of the Saxon royal house, as a great-niece of Edward the Confessor.

Almost the only one to lose out at William's death was Robert Curthose who returned to Normandy several weeks after Henry's coronation. He fortunately brought with him his new bride Sybil of Conversano who was the great-niece of Robert Guiscard and Roger of Sicily. Sybil was also wealthy enough to redeem Robert's pawned duchy and restore his reputation, something that had been also enhanced by his exploits in the crusade. Still furious at being cheated out of what was rightfully his Robert invaded England in 1101, but even with support from some English nobles the best that he could do was to come to terms with Henry where they both renounced their claim's to the others realm.

The antagonism between Henry and Robert Cuthose again boiled to the surface in 1105. Henry had lost patience with Robert and finally he went with his men to Normandy after Robert had written to all the Barons in England pointing out that he was the eldest son and should be king. Henry cited that he was the only son 'born to the purple' meaning he was born after William I was king of England, and upon landing in Normandy he called for all loyal troops to join him. In September 1106 Henry laid siege to Tinchebari castle and Robert came upon Henry with his army. After a short clash Henry's mounted knights charged into Robert's army and scattered most of it. Robert was taken alive and Henry had him placed in 'honourable captivity' a state that he was to live in for twenty-eight years.

King Philip of France died on 29 July 1108 and he was succeeded by his son Louis IV 'the fat'- brother in-law of Bohemund of Antioch - at twenty seven Louis was already a seasoned military campaigner and cynically hardened. Inherited enemy Henry I of England would find that he had met his match in Louis and that Louis did not suffer from his fathers "lack of energy' when it came to confronting Henry.

With all the correct ceremony fitting the event Princess Matilda, the eight year old daughter of Henry I of England was sent to Germany as the betrothed of King Henry V the aspiring (but not crowned until 1111) Holy Roman Emperor in 1110. The marriage however would not take place for another four years. Prestige being important to kings and alike and thus Henry gained untold prestige from this event.

At seventeen years of age Roger II of Sicily achieved his majority and assumed the running of Sicily in 1112. Meanwhile King Baldwin I of Jerusalem (crowned upon the death of his brother in 1100) was short of funds and he was also short of a wife. Having already cast aside his second wife an Armenian princess Baldwin needed a wife, and a wealthy one at that if he was to continue paying the troops he needed to defend Jerusalem from the Muslims. And so it was that Baldwin approached Roger II about marring Adelaide, which happened in 1113. Adelaide left Sicily in August and went to Baldwin, as well as her own enormous wealth she was also given a large sum from Roger in all it filled nine ships. But all was not well for Adelaide, within five years she was back in Sicily scorned and cast off by her husband. Baldwin had spent all of her wealth and on the grounds that she had not produced an heir for him convinced the Pope Paschal II to annul their marriage. Shame destroyed Roger's mother she would die within a year, and Baldwin had be forced to admit for the divorce the he had not divorced his first wife the Armenian princess. Roger would never forgive the treatment of his mother nor would he forget that he would have inherited Jerusalem if Baldwin and Adelaide had remained without son, and that the act had been contrived with papal blessing meant that Roger would not in future aid the pope or any of his enterprises. It was a severe loss as Roger had easily the wealthiest and most powerful kingdom in the Mediterranean.

In England events were progressing well for Henry Beauclerc, shortly his daughter would marry Emperor Henry V of Germany and his son William had married Matilda of Anjou. Henry also had his young nephew Stephen living in England as his ward and he was accepted as Henry's favourite after William. Stephen was the third son of William the Conqueror's daughter Adela, who married Count Stephen of Blois, the defector from the siege of Antioch. Adela had demanded that Stephen should return to the holy land and clear his name of such an infamous defection, which he did but it cost him his life in 1102. Henry not only knighted Stephen but he also gave him the lands of the count of Mortain, one of the nobles who had supported Robert Curthose at Tinchebrai and been captured with him.

Henry and his family and the court had been to Normandy in 1120 and determined to return to England before winter storms prevented him Henry left Barfleur on the evening of 25 November. However William 'who by his fathers indulgence, possessed every thing but the name of king, commanded another vessel to be prepared for himself'... And so it was well after dark the William and his companions set sail all of them very drunk and still drinking and celebrating their return to England. Unfortunately the intoxicated crew managed to run the ship up on a rock and it started sinking. William being of the highest rank on board was put in a small boat and headed for shore, but upon hearing the cries of his illegitimate sister, the countess of Perche he ordered the boat about and back to the stricken ship to save her. It was his undoing because as the boat came to by the ship a large number of people jumped in it and it sank killing all of them. Only one of the crew survived to tell the sorry tale and it is said that Henry Beauclerc never smiled again.

Henry even in his grief could not forget about the succession dilemma that was now apparent so in 1121 he married Adela of Louvain (Matilda had died in 1118) and hoped for a new heir. Unfortunately Adela bore Henry no children and now the succession was looking like a nightmare to one and all. Robert Curthose was still alive, though still in prison and his son William Clito, the last surviving descendent of the Conqueror in direct male line was also waiting. There was also Stephen of Blois, a grandson of William I and last but not least Henry's own brood of illegitimate children, eight males and ten females still surviving at the time.

In 1122 a Saracen fleet aided by the Almoravid Muslims of Spain attacked the coast of Calabria doing a vast amount of damage to the area. Roger II of Sicily responded to this as one would have expected a Norman to react, he assembled three hundred ships, over one thousand knights and over thirty thousand foot soldiers and sailed for North Africa. Roger's first expedition to North Africa was a disaster, but one from which he learned many useful lessons and most importantly for Roger he found in his ranks George of Antioch, a man who was of dedicated loyalty, and peerless in his political and military abilities.

For Henry of England the dilemma over the succession still weighed heavily upon him. As things stood it was likely that William Clito would be the next occupant of the throne. What Henry could not have known was that William Clito would die three years later in 1128 of wounds suffered in a battle. Unexpectedly Emperor Henry V of Germany died in 1125 and Henry summoned Matilda back to England realising that she could still provide him with a grandson-heir. Apparently enjoying her role as dowager empress Matilda resisted her fathers summons for nearly a year, Matilda finally arrived in England on 29 September 1126. When Matilda did her fathers bidding she 'brought back to England three things from Germany: the richly jeweled crown she had worn, the (alleged) sword of Tristan, and the most imperious temper that ever placed a nation into conflict. Henry showed his intent to his nobles straight away when 'by the kings command , all of the nobles of England and Normandy swore fealty to her (including) Stephen.

But Matilda was not to stay in England for long. In 1127 Henry pulled of a coup by marring Matilda to Geoffrey, count of Anjou. For Henry it was a political triumph as Anjou had been pro France for generations and had been tied by marriage and politics to the French crown. For Matilda though it was a bitter fate. She had in a short while fallen from being an empress in the most glittering and wealthy court in Europe, and out ranking all of the queens of Europe to being married to a mere count. The title countess was not to her liking and she insisted as being addressed as Empress, and insisted on it for the rest of her life.

In the south Duke William of Apulia had died and Roger II laid his claim for all of Southern Italy. His claim was more than reasonable since William had no heir and he ham declared Roger to be his heir. But Honerious II (pope since 1124) would have none of it and he had forbidden Roger from taking the position of duke. Honerious II was determined that Roger should not acquire such land, wealth and power as it would make him more powerful than all of his compatriots put together and the pope would have him right on his southern doorstep.  Roger infuriated by Honerious went to Italy and marched on Rome to confront the Pope. Having reached Rome he left part of his army there and then journeyed around Southern Italy raising support and taking oaths of fealty from the Barons and Counts. Midsummer 1128 occasioned one of the most monumental face-downs of the middle ages. Honerious had raised as large an army as he could and set of with the intention of crushing Roger and enforcing papal rule. Both armies confronted one and other across the Branano river and Roger had raised over two thousand knights and about five thousand foot troops, which were easily a match for the papal army. For a month there was a stand off with nothing happening, but finally Honerious was forced by trouble within his army to send word to Roger saying that he was willing to negotiate with him. The first meeting went well until Roger refused to allow his investiture to happen on papal land due to the symbolic interpretation that might be later made from it. A few days later the Pope and Roger met again on the Leproso Bridge out side Benevento and in front of twenty thousand spectators and their troops Roger placed his hands in those of the pope and swore fealty to him and Honerious invested Roger with the duchies of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily. Roger at the age of thirty-two emerged from the meeting as one of the wealthiest and most powerful rulers in Europe.

On the Death of Honerious II in 1130 the Church of Rome was again caught up in a papal schism. As the sided drew up behind each pope Innocent II was supported by most of the European nations, and Anacletus was only supported by Roger. Roger got what he wanted for his support when on 27 September Anacletus issued a papal bull from Benevento granting to Roger and his heirs the royal crown of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily. Even the eventual failure of Anacletus to become accepted as pope did not take the royal crown from Roger.

Throughout his reign Henry I maintained an active building program and in 1133 he had an Augustinian priory and castle built at the old Roman shore fort at Porchester near Portsmouth. The cannons did not stay at Porchester for long and in 1145 they were moved to Southwick when the castle was strengthened when their presence was felt to be inappropriate within the confines of the castle.

'Emperess' Matilda had left Geoffrey of Anjou (or he had demanded that she leave) several times, but succession thinking Henry always managed to get her to go back. And on 5 March 1133 his patience paid off when Matilda gave birth to the future Henry II of England to be followed in later years by Geoffrey and William.

Robert Curthose after twenty eight years in prison passed away in 1134 aged about eighty. The largest threat to the succession of the English crown was dead but Henry did not have long himself to feel satisfied about it. After exercising the kingly right of gluttony: apparently he ate too many lampreys after a hunt in the forest of Lyons near Gisors in the Norman Vexin. Henry also knew that the fish always disagreed with him and his physician had warned him against eating them. And so after his meal of lampreys Henry suffered 'a sudden and extreme disturbance, under which his aged frame sunk into a deathly torpor; in the reaction against which, Natures in her struggles produced an acute fever, while endeavoring to throw of the oppressive load. But when all power of resistance failed, this great king died on the first of December'.

Upon hearing the news of Henry's death, true grandson of William the Conqueror that he was, Stephan immediately took ship for England. Upon his arrival in England Stephen found Dover and Canterbury closed to him, he moved on to Winchester and got his brother Henry of Blois the Bishop of Winchester to support his claim for the crown of England. Henry of Blois held a conclave of the leading church men and debated Stephens claim; and on 22 December 1135, just three weeks after Henry's death Stephen was crowned king of England. If the barons felt any guilt about breaking their vows of 1126 to Matilda with their choice of Stephen, then Pope Innocent II eased their consciences by approving Stephen's accession.  After nearly a year of raids by Matila and Geoffrey's troops on Normandy and other possessions of his Stephen decided to cross the channel and confront them in 1137. Generally he was well received by the barons and counts and he did homage for Normandy to King Louis VI of France. But in the end his mission achieved little at all. Stephen found that not all of the barons and knights were behind him so for the engagements against Geofrey he had to rely on mercenaries from Flanders, who did more to hurt his cause than help it. Eventually Stephen made a truce with Geoffrey and agreed to pay him a fixed sum each year and he retired back to England.

While on pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela William X, duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitou suddenly died. King Louis VI was galvanised into action, the addition of Aquitaine and Poitou would double his lands and seriously threaten the position of Geoffrey of Anjou. By mid-year Louis VII son of the king of France married the widow Eleanor of Aquitaine and fulfilled his father's desire. Louis VI did not enjoy his success for long as he passed away in August and Louis VII succeeded his father to the throne of France.

All the schismatic politics of the papacy came to nothing when on 25 January 1138 anti-Pope Anacletus II, his health broken by the long struggle died. Innocent did not ascend to the throne of St Peter straight away as a certain Victor IV occupied it for several months before he laid the crown aside and let Innocent II become Pope.

That Stephen could never be an effective king was now becoming apparent to his supporters. Bold and courageous in war Stephen was to much of an appeaser in politics, giving all his royal prerogatives away and by setting many poor precedents the barons soon started to pay little attention to him. To make matters worse for Stephen, Matilda and her half brother Robert of Gloucester arrived in England in September 1139. Robert immediately headed for his castle at Bristol (one of the largest castles in Europe) while Matilda stayed with her mother at Arundel. In a move that was to become typical of Stephen not only did he allow Matilda safe passage to Bristol, but he even provided her with an escort.

Finally in his throne, and without an anti-pope to contend with Innocent II decided the time was at hand to settle with Roger of Sicily. Thus at the Lateran Council of April 1139 Pope Innocent pronounced sentences of excommunication against Roger, his sons and any southern bishop who had been consecrated by Anacletus. By June Innocent was on the march aided and abetted by a turncoat vassal of Rogers, one Robert of Capua. Robert of Capua had also been confirmed by Innocent in his principality in defiance of Rogers claim of it for his son Alfonso. Roger met Innocent but nothing was resolved with Roger refusing to recognise Robert of Capua, and Innocent refusing to recognise Rogers kingship, tired and frustrated Robert marched away and bided his time.  The Papal army was no different to any other of the time as it went through Roberts realm; towns were ravaged, fields fired and the earth scorched as the army progressed. Finally the Papal army came to the town of Galluccio and without caution as they knew that Roberts army was elsewhere they advanced upon the town. High up on a ridge Roger's son the young Roger waited with over one thousand knights and watched the papal army advance in to the valley below him. At the last moment when it was already to late Rogers men were seen, and Innocent suddenly frightened and realising that he had walked right into Roger's trap panicked, and called for an immediate retreat. Roger's army charged down the mountain side a punched into the papal army heading straight for the pope. Trying to out run one and other in an every-man-for-himself debacle the papal troops were mown down by the advancing Normans, and many were either trampled in the rout or drowned in the Garingliano River. The papal army was utterly decimated and the pope was later captured after he was discovered hiding in the basement of a small local chapel, but Robert of Capua escaped much to young Robert's annoyance.

Innocent had to face up to the fact that he had caused the Papacy the greatest humiliation since Duke Humphry de Hautville and Robert Guiscard had destroyed the army of Pope Leo IX at Civitate eighty-six years before. Thus finally with no other option and no friends to rally around and help him he recognised Rogers kingship and confirmed young Roger as duke of Apulia and Alfonso's claim to the princedom of Capua. With the pope humbled and Robert of Capua abandoned, all of the barons immediately fell in to line and Roger was finally and totally in control of his realm.