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Home / People / William the Conqueror

Historical person

William the Conqueror

1028–1087

William the Conqueror was duke of Normandy before invading England and defeating Harold II at Hastings in 1066. He secured the kingdom through further warfare, castle building, redistribution of land and the suppression of revolts, including the devastating Harrying of the North. His reign transformed the English aristocracy and government and culminated in the survey recorded as Domesday Book.

William is the central figure of Georgette Heyer’s The Conqueror and appears in Helen Hollick’s I Am the Chosen King, which tells the story of the succession crisis and conquest through several viewpoints. Many other novels about 1066 contrast his claim, ambition and military organisation with Harold’s defence of the English crown.

In non-fiction, William the Conqueror is discussed in Tracy Borman’s Crown & Sceptre, Tracy Borman’s Matilda, and Gareth Russell’s A History of the English Monarchy. In Tracy Borman’s Crown & Sceptre, the original edition ended with Elizabeth II and carried the subtitle A New History of the British Monarchy from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II; the revised edition extends the narrative to Charles III.

Historical context

Historical periods linked to William the Conqueror

Harrying of the North 1069–1070 CE

Series

Series featuring William the Conqueror (12 series)

Norman Genesis in Order

by Griff Hosker 11 books 4.5

Norman Genesis follows the Scandinavian roots of Normandy, beginning with Hrolf/Rollo and the Viking world that produced the first Norman rulers. The series shows raiding, Frankish politics, settlement and the gradual transformation of a war band into a ducal dynasty. It acts as a prehistory to later Norman…

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Wolves of Odin in Order

by Simon Turney 6 books 4.5

The Wolves of Odin series follows Halfdan and the crew of the Sea Wolf from eleventh-century Scandinavia into the interconnected world of Byzantium, Italy, Normandy, England and Norway. Their blood feud begins amid Christianisation but soon becomes a wider search for wealth, honour and belonging among rulers who…

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Conquest in Order

by Griff Hosker 4 books 4.6

Conquest follows England after the Norman victory of 1066. The books use Hastings, rebellion, occupation and the consolidation of William the Conqueror’s rule to show how conquest continues long after a single battle is won. The series is strongest as a post-Conquest saga about dispossession, resistance, new lordship…

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Aelfraed in Order

by Griff Hosker 3 books 4.4

The Aelfraed trilogy follows Saxon survivors through the violent aftermath of 1066. Beginning before the Battle of Hastings and continuing through resistance, outlawry and exile, the series uses the collapse of Harold Godwinson’s England to follow housecarls and rebels forced to decide whether to keep fighting, submit to…

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Historical Romances in Order

by Georgette Heyer 9 books 4.3

This collection brings together Georgette Heyer’s historical novels set outside her main Regency-romance sequence. The settings range from medieval England and France to the Norman Conquest, Elizabethan maritime conflict, the escape of Charles II and the Peninsular War. The list follows the ordering supplied by the Fantastic Fiction…

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The Bloody Hand Saga in Order

by David Pilling 9 books 4.3

The Bloody Hand Saga follows Thorkell Skaldsson from the English resistance to Norman rule into exile and service in the Byzantine world. Beginning with rebellion in the Danelaw and the Harrying of the North, the series expands into the wars of Emperor Alexios I, the Norman invasion of…

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The Wolf of Kings in Order

by Richard Cullen 3 books 4.3

The Wolf of Kings follows Styrkar the Dane, a surviving housecarl of Harold Godwinson, through the resistance to William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings. Oath Bound begins on Senlac Hill in 1066 and turns Styrkar’s loyalty to his dead king into a campaign of personal vengeance…

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Wild Hunt in Order

by Elizabeth Chadwick 2 books 4.2

The Wild Hunt sequence follows interconnected families living in the militarised Welsh Marches after the Norman Conquest. Arranged marriages, disputed lordships and shifting royal favour force its characters to build trust while defending estates exposed to both local rivalry and wider political upheaval. The Coming of the Wolf…

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The Norman Series: in Order

by Jean Plaidy 3 books 4.3

The Norman trilogy follows William the Conqueror and his heirs as they seize and consolidate the English crown. The sequence moves from the Norman Conquest through the reign of Henry I to the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, showing how conquest, inheritance and baronial loyalty reshaped England.

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The Medieval Saga in Order

by David Field 7 books 4.3

The Medieval Saga follows interlinked fictional families through two centuries of English dynastic conflict, beginning with the invasions of 1066 and ending with Simon de Montfort’s challenge to Henry III. The sequence places ordinary soldiers, household officers and landed families beside the rulers whose wars repeatedly reshape their…

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Celtic World in Order

by Morgan Llywelyn 8 books 4.1

The Celtic World is a thematic sequence of novels moving from the migrations and sacred traditions of ancient Celtic peoples into the heroic cycles and medieval history of Ireland and Britain. Its subjects include the legendary origins of Ireland, the warriors of the Ulster and Fenian cycles, Saint…

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Standalone books

Standalone books featuring William the Conqueror (6 books)

Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring William the Conqueror (3 books)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.