William the Conqueror
Edward the Confessor died childless. The duke of Normandy, William, was the late king's second cousin. He had been expecting to receive the English throne when Edward died, but Edward's adviser had stepped in and taken the throne. William challenged this. He gathered an army and make plans to cross the English Channel and capture London. The English were waiting for William before London. They had positioned their army on a hill. Because of that advantage, William couldn't defeat them so he decided to pretend to retreat. The English fell for it. They thought he was retreating and chased after the Normans. When the two armies were on more level ground, the Normans turned and started fighting again. The leader of the English was killed during the battle, and the English people became confused and disorganized. The Normans easily won the battle of Hastings then. William did not become king right away. Some of the people still resisted so he raided and burned some of the towns before the English completely gave in. William the Conqueror became king of England on Christmas Day in 1066. Because William had defeated the English, he got rid of the old English nobility and introduced a nobility that was French. Normans also supplanted the English church positions. The French language because the language of the upper class and greatly influenced the development of the English language.
Here are a couple of links
William the Conqueror
Battle of Hastings
