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
Jaromír, Duke of Bohemia assassinated by one of the Vršovci clan. Jaromír, Duke of Bohemia Jaromír (died 4 November 1035), a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia, in 1003, from 1004 to 1012, and again from 1034 to 1035. He was the second son of Duke Boleslaus II the Pious (d. 999). His mother may have been either one of his father's two wives: Adiva or Emma of Mělník. In 1002, Jaromír rebelled against the rule of his elder brother Boleslaus III, who had him castrated and expelled with his mother and his brother Oldřich to the Bavarian court at Regensburg.