Hubert was besieged in his castle at Sainte-Suzanne by William's forces for at least two years, but he eventually made his peace with the king and was restored to favour. It was said that Walter, William's maternal uncle, was occasionally forced to hide the young duke in the houses of peasants,[23] although this story may be an embellishment by Orderic Vitalis. The lack of Norman response appears to have caused the Northumbrians to grow restive, and in the spring of 1080 they rebelled against the rule of Walcher, the Bishop of Durham and Earl of Northumbria. land company which eventually formed Tiverton and Little Compton, RI. Within the first century, between 1620 and 1720, research indicates that Gray was one of William the Conquerors companions in arms at the battle Edward was a leading citizen and Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but William's hold was mostly secure on England by 1075, allowing him to spend the greater part of his reign in continental Europe. This could have been either the [144] In the years since the Conquest, politicians and other leaders have used William and the events of his reign to illustrate political events throughout English history. William's government blended elements of the English and Norman systems into a new one that laid the foundations of the later medieval English kingdom. A John Gray was buried May 28, 1658. [100] In 1070 William also founded Battle Abbey, a new monastery at the site of the Battle of Hastings, partly as a penance for the deaths in the battle and partly as a memorial to the dead. In 1086, he ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all of the land-holdings in England along with their pre-Conquest and current holders. William was crowned King of England on December 25, 1066. of Rotherfield, Codmore, Wilton, Rhuthun, Groby and Rugemont, the Viscount Swein's death in 1014 allowed thelred to return home, but Swein's son Cnut contested thelred's return. by purchase from the Indians. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, Archbishop Matthew Parker saw the Conquest as having corrupted a purer English Church, which Parker attempted to restore. [82] Although Harold attempted to surprise the Normans, William's scouts reported the English arrival to the duke. T he surname is originally French, being first borne by Fulbert, Great Chamberlain of Robert, Duke of Normandy, who granted him the castle and lands of Croy or Gray in Picardy which he thereafter assumed as the family surname. Pardon was a grandson of Edward of Tiverton add very active in town government It was an annual tax based on the value of landholdings, and it could be collected at differing rates. taken to England where he was imprisioned. [e] His mother Herleva was a daughter of Fulbert of Falaise; he may have been a tanner or embalmer. Not an insignificant sum!! Famous Descendants of William the Conqueror of England This made Emma of Normandy his great-aunt and Edward the Confessor his cousin. [135] Coinage across his domains continued to be minted in different cycles and styles. that Edward and Thomas were to inherit. These controversies have led to William being seen by some historians either as one of the creators of England's greatness or as inflicting one of the greatest defeats in English history. After entrusting England to his second son, the elder William sent the younger William back to England on 7 or 8 September, bearing a letter to Lanfranc ordering the archbishop to aid the new king. [100] The historian David Bates sees this coronation as the ceremonial papal "seal of approval" for William's conquest. The name has various spellings and includes GRAY and GREY - sometimes different spellings occur in the same generation of a single family.The first Gray to arrive in the United States was John Gray in about 1620.The origins of the name would seem to be multiple. Sir John Gray, Knight of Berwick, 1372, was father The Conquest brought the kingdom into closer contact with France and forged ties between France and England that lasted throughout the Middle Ages. Norwich was besieged and surrendered, with the garrison allowed to go to Brittany. John Gray was married before going to Stapleford, and [112] Roger was a Norman, son of William fitzOsbern, but had inherited less authority than his father held. [105] William then turned his attention to the continent, returning to Normandy in early 1073 to deal with the invasion of Maine by Fulk le Rechin, the Count of Anjou. This made William's power more secure in northern France, but the new count of Flanders accepted Edgar the theling into his court. [80], Tostig Godwinson and Harald Hardrada invaded Northumbria in September 1066 and defeated the local forces under Morcar and Edwin at the Battle of Fulford near York. [2] William returned to England in December 1067 and marched on Exeter, which he besieged. Gray, had become proprietors of the island of Nantasket in Boston Harbor Although William of Jumiges's claim that the ducal fleet numbered 3,000 ships is clearly an exaggeration, it was probably large and mostly built from scratch. William responded swiftly, ignoring a continental revolt in Maine, and symbolically wore his crown in the ruins of York on Christmas Day 1069. Regarding the Grays of Scotland being of the same family, Nesbits says, Although some sort of formal assembly probably was held, it is unlikely that any debate took place, as the duke had by then established control over his nobles, and most of those assembled would have been anxious to secure their share of the rewards from the conquest of England. Before we called him William the Conqueror, he had a much more ignoble nickname: William the Bastard. He also retained control of much of the lands of Harold and his family, which made the king the largest secular landowner in England by a wide margin. [4] In an effort to improve matters, King thelred the Unready took Emma, sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy, as his second wife in 1002. [2], While William was in Normandy, a former ally, Eustace, the Count of Boulogne, invaded at Dover but was repulsed. of Pennsylvania and the early settlers of Virginia and other southern states. The seal shows a mounted knight and is the first extant example of an. [79] Harold kept his forces on alert throughout the summer, but with the arrival of the harvest season he disbanded his army on 8 September. On the death William's movements during 1084 and 1085 are unclear he was in Normandy at Easter 1084 but may have been in England before then to collect the danegeld assessed that year for the defence of England against an invasion by King Cnut IV of Denmark. By the end of 1081, William was back on the continent, dealing with disturbances in Maine. As King Edward's heir, he controlled all of the former royal lands. [5], Danish raids on England continued, and thelred sought help from Richard, taking refuge in Normandy in 1013 when King Swein I of Denmark drove thelred and his family from England. [2] William then marched to Southwark, across the Thames from London, which he reached in late November. The corpse was too large for the space, and when attendants forced the body into the tomb it burst, spreading a disgusting odour throughout the church. Waltham Abbey, which had been founded by Harold, later claimed that his body had been secretly buried there. [132], Besides taxation, William's large landholdings throughout England strengthened his rule. The name Gray is of local origin, or, it follows the name of a place He then proceeded to buy off the Danes. William of Jumiges claimed that Harold was killed by the duke. of John included John Lord Grey of Groby who married Elizabeth Wydville, Although William of Poitiers and William of Jumiges disagree about where the fleet was built Poitiers states it was constructed at the mouth of the River Dives, while Jumiges states it was built at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme both agree that it eventually sailed from Valery-sur-Somme. from tree Kittredge Family Tree (Private) Birth. of Lisle, the Earl of Stamford, the Marquis of Dorset, and the Duke of [78] William of Poitiers also relates that the duke obtained the consent of Pope Alexander II for the invasion, along with a papal banner. [13] Conditions in Normandy were unsettled, as noble families despoiled the Church and Alan III of Brittany waged war against the duchy, possibly in an attempt to take control. A descendant or member of the same family became Chamberlain [64] William appointed a Norman to the bishopric of Le Mans in 1065. John, baptized 1612. William I | Biography, Reign, Achievements, Facts, & Death day. In that year he gave Rhuthun to Reginald de Grey. He left his half-brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux, in charge of England along with another influential supporter, William fitzOsbern, the son of his former guardian. [20], The anarchy in the duchy lasted until 1047,[21] and control of the young duke was one of the priorities of those contending for power. was a son of Gray in Chillingham, Northumberland, England, who came to To deal with Norman affairs, William put the government of Normandy into the hands of his wife for the duration of the invasion. At an early period there were also Grays He died in early July at Nicea, on his way back to Normandy. Guillaume "Le Btard", or William the Conqueror, transformed the Middle Ages and laid the foundations of a new Europe. Alfred returned to England in 1036 to visit his mother and perhaps to challenge Harold as king. This second force defeated the invaders at the Battle of Mortemer. (see Famous Descendants of William the Conqueror of England ) William Henry Gates IV (1955- ), CEO of Microsoft. He Was Illegitimate. Not all of the Normans who accompanied William in the initial conquest acquired large amounts of land in England. it is Gray. [n][79] Events after the invasion, which included the penance William performed and statements by later popes, do lend circumstantial support to the claim of papal approval. Six of the names in the John Gray had two sons, both named John. and Maine. With a swift campaign, William seized Le Mans from Fulk's forces, completing the campaign by 30 March 1073. Orderic also related that Odo had attempted to persuade some of William's vassals to join Odo in an invasion of southern Italy. Included among them were Robert of Belleme, William de Breteuil, and Roger, the son of Richard fitzGilbert. [2], William left England towards the end of 1086. [96] Once in Normandy the new English king went to Rouen and the Abbey of Fecamp,[94] and then attended the consecration of new churches at two Norman monasteries. In England and Ireland Grey is still used, in Scotland An early documented person was Anchetil de Greye - a vassal of William the Conqueror of Normandy (now part of France) and who accompan. But after he was killed in February 1071 at the Battle of Cassel, Robert became count. The information that follows was researched and kindly provided by Rodney John, Lord of Gray, whose son Anschetil de The legates ceremonially crowned William during the Easter court. The elder John de Gray had a son, Henry [59] Edward had married Edith, Godwin's daughter, in 1043, and Godwin appears to have been one of the main supporters of Edward's claim to the throne. Hereward escaped, but Morcar was captured, deprived of his earldom, and imprisoned. Mary was the widow of King Louis XII of France, who had [46][k] The marriage was important in bolstering William's status, as Flanders was one of the more powerful French territories, with ties to the French royal house and to the German emperors.