Talk:William the Conqueror

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Move discussion in progress

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There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:William I (disambiguation) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 18:32, 10 August 2023 (UTC)Reply

"Last words"

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David Douglas in William the Conqueror says that Wiliam's last words were "I commend myself to Mary the holy Mother of God, my heavenly Lady, that by her intercession I may be reconciled to her Son our Lord Jesus Christ." Mark Hagger concurs, although he just says that "just as the bells of the cathedral were ringing for prime, William the Conqueror raised his eyes to heaven, commended his soul to St Mary, and died." David Bates, speaking of the two sources describing Wiliam's death, says "There are two accounts of the scene at William the Conqueror's deathbed, but neither of them is fully trustworthy. Far and away the best is Orderics, even though the lengthy speeches he gives are more an indication of what he thought should happen when a great princes died, than of what actually took place. The second, the so-called 'De Obitu Willelmi' is a tract, written in the early twelfth-century, which has been shown to have been copied almost word for word from two ninth-century sources, with the names being changed where necessary. It is of little value. We have to rely on Orderic for most of the basic facts, with some extra evidence supplied by William of Malmesbury and in a charter." - so none of the three academic biographies of William done in the last 60 years support the speech given by the youtube source. Ealdgyth (talk) 18:49, 29 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

Pinging Stickhandler who has re-added the speech. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 19:55, 29 May 2024 (UTC)Reply
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Would someone with edit privs mind please add brackets around Danegeld to link the article? 142.183.237.6 (talk) 19:10, 26 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

It was already linked at its first occurrence. Celia Homeford (talk) 08:56, 27 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

Is there a reason his name isn't noted in Norman French?

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I realize this is a British English article, but shouldn't his name at birth be noted (in parenthesis at least) in the language he spoke? CRoseJ (talk) 04:07, 9 August 2024 (UTC)Reply

See footnote a, where the name is given in Old Norman. Celia Homeford (talk) 09:00, 9 August 2024 (UTC)Reply