William the Conqueror & Harold II swearing - 11th century.
Image: Adobe Stock - Erica Guilane-Nachez
William was the son of Herleva and Robert I, the Duke of Normandy, France, then known as “Francia”). William was frequently called a bastard, especially by his opponents. The reason was that his mother actually never married his father, Robert, most probably because Herleva was a simple Anglo-Saxon woman and not of noble birth.
Although he was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy Robert the Magnificent (also called "Robert the Devil"), after his father's death in 1035, William was named his successor at only eight years of age. Under the name of William II (in French: Guillaume II), the boy became the new duke of Normandy during a challenging time.
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