William the Conqueror to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Although some of his supporters tried to dissuade him from undertaking the journey, Robert convened a council in January 1035 and had the assembled Norman magnates swear fealty to William as his heir before leaving for Jerusalem. He died in early July at Nicea, on his way back to Normandy. William faced several challenges on becoming duke, including his illegitimate birth and his youth: the evidence indicates that he was either seven or eight years old at the time. He enjoyed the support of his great-uncle, Archbishop Robert, as well as the king of
William, Duke of Brunswick the accession of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, the son of the Crown Prince of Hanover, in 1913. William died unmarried, but had a number of illegitimate children. William, Duke of Brunswick William, Duke of Brunswick (; 25 April 1806 – 18 October 1884), was ruling duke of the Duchy of Brunswick from 1830 until his death. William was the second son of Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and after the death of his father in 1815, was under the guardianship of King George IV of the United Kingdom. He became a Prussian major in 1823. When his brother, Charles,