ABSTRACT
IN 1066 1 the founder of the modern English monarchy, William the Bastard, was 38 years old. 2 He was a stout, bald man with the strong arms of an athlete and a stern face, terrible in its cold rage, who loved nothing but politics, war, and the chase. 3 His life was disciplined and chaste, his character taciturn, deliberate, and stubborn, and he was capable of working silently for a long time in the execution of a plan he had formed and waiting for his opportunity. His early life had been harsh and insecure but from the age of 20 he ruled Normandy without rival. He had snatched the rich countryside of Maine from the powerful Angevin dynasty but his principal anxiety was to secure the English inheritance. There can be little doubt that he had been preparing its annexation for a long time. Many incidents in English politics from 1042–1066 are obscure and inexplicable if we hesitate, as most historians do, to assume this secret preparation but, once admitted, everything is explained.
