William the Con·quer·or
(1027-1087) the king of England from 1066 until his death. He was also called William I. William was the Duke of Normandy (in northern France), and became king of England by defeating King Harold at the Battle of
Hastings in 1066. His arrival brought great changes in English society, and people see it as the end of the Anglo-Saxon period and the beginning of the Middle Ages.