Death of William the Conqueror

September 9, 1087

Mortally injured when his horse stumbled during a siege at Mantes, the Conqueror died at Rouen after days of agony. His corpse was stripped by servants, the abbot had to buy the land for its burial, and the body swelled so that it burst open during the funeral. The indignity of his death stood in sharp contrast to the iron authority he had wielded for twenty-one years.