William the Conqueror was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of the Viking Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward.

After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England six years later. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands and by difficulties with his eldest son Robert.