y Geoffrey, recovered his
dominions on the latter's death. He at once "commended" himself to
William, thus making the duke his heir. On his death in 1063, William
took possession of Le Mans and the county of which it was the
capital--an acquisition which extended his southern frontier nearly to
the Loire, almost severed Brittany from the rest of France, and paved
the way for the subsequent junction with Anjou.

It was apparently soon after this event, in the year 1064, that
Harold, then Earl of Wessex, visited Normandy, and, according to
legend, was entrapped into an oath to support William as heir to the
English throne. When Harold was elected and crowned King of England
(1066), William's first step was to send an embassy to him demanding
the fulfilment of his promise. The purport of the demand is as
uncertain as that of the pledge; but, whatever it was, Harold rejected
it. The duke thereupon summoned a council of his supporters, who
advised him to call together an assembly representing the whole duchy.
This assembly, a typical feudal parliament, met at Lillebonne. While
acting together it appears to have opposed the scheme for the conquest
of England which William laid before it, but its members were won over
singly. He then made a compact with Tostig, the banished brother of
Harold; he came to terms with the Emperor Henry; he conciliated
Philip, King of France, by offering to hold England as his vassal;
and--most important of all--he obtained the sanction of Rome.

Pope Alexander II., not only issued a bull declaring William to be the
rightful heir to the throne, but sent him a ring and a banner as
symbols that the blessing of heaven was on his claim. Embarking at St.
Valery, William landed, on 28th of September, at Pevensey. The battle
of Senlac or Hastings (October 14, 1066), was a decisive victory for
the Duke of Normandy; but it took five years more to complete the
conquest of England.

Early in 1067 William made a progress through the eastern and central
parts of his new dominions. All that had as yet submitted to him was
comprised in the old kingdoms of Wessex and East Anglia, and a small
portion of Mercia. He at once secured his hold over these districts by
the erection of fortresses in London, Norwich, and elsewhere. He
received homage from the great men; he confiscated the lands of those
who had resisted him; and, while keeping a large number of manors for
himself, he granted others to his followers. Even