England's defining moment in history one thousand years ago. On one of the most important dates in English history a Norman duke led the last invasion of England to become king of England. Appointed Duke of Normandy at the age of eight on the death of his father he survived attempts on his life and grew up in a Medieval world full of intrigue, treachery and vengeance. After years of conflict he became the most powerful feudal warlord in Normandy and gained the friendship of his greatest rival, Harold, the Saxon earl, until the final confrontation on the field near Hastings gave him this in 1066, the legend of William the Conqueror.