(born circa 1028, Falaise, Normandy—died Sept. 9, 1087, Rouen) Duke of Normandy (1035–87) and king of England (1066–87). Though born out of wedlock, he succeeded his father as duke of Normandy, subduing rebellions and becoming the mightiest noble in France. In 1051 Edward the Confessor promised to make him heir to the English throne, but on Edward's death in 1066, Harold Godwineson, earl of Wessex (Harold II), was accepted as king. Determined to assert his right to the throne, William sailed from Normandy with an invasion force, defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and was crowned king. The Norman Conquest was thus completed, though English rebellions continued until 1071. To secure England's frontiers, William invaded Scotland (1072) and Wales (1081). In 1086 he ordered the survey summarized in the Domesday Book. He divided his lands between his sons, giving Normandy and Maine to Robert II and England to William II.
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(born Aug. 15, 1688, Berlin—died May 31, 1740, Potsdam, Prussia) King of Prussia (1713–40). The son of Frederick I, he received valuable military experience in the War of the Spanish Succession. Realizing that Prussia's military and financial weakness made it dependent on the relations between the great powers, he built up an army that became a strong military presence on the Continent, instituted economic and financial reforms, centralized his administration, encouraged industry and manufacture, mandated compulsory primary education (1717), and freed the serfs on his own domains (1719). He was succeeded by his son, Frederick II.
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