Nineth of September 1087, as the sun rises, Duke William of Normandy, King of England, dies alone, unloved, unmourned and stripped naked of clothing and jewellery at Saint-Gervais, Rouen. He leaves behind a Kingdom that is broken and shattered by the ruthless tyranny of his reign. He thought he had conquered England when he won a battle near Hastings in 1066 : He had reckoned without the unconquerable spirit of the English, and the treachery of his own wife and sons.—Helen Hollick