Territorial evolution of France face up to the formidable challenge with which they were presented. The Duke of Normandy William the Conqueror became King of England in 1066 through his victory at Hastings over the Saxons. On the extinction of his male line of descent, his heir was the Duke of Anjou, Henry Plantagenet, grandson by his mother of Henry I of England. Two months before he ascended to the English throne, as Henry II, he married Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, the richest heiress in the French kingdom and ex-wife of the King of France. The kings of France nevertheless, held some trump cards:
Laws of William the Conqueror Laws of William the Conqueror William the Conqueror, the first Norman King of England who reigned from 1066 until his death in 1087, created 10 laws for the English people to abide by after the Battle of Hastings. The first law stated that "First that above all things he wishes one God to be revered throughout his whole realm, one faith in Christ to be kept ever inviolate, and peace and security to be preserved between English and Normans." The second law stated that every freeman shall make an oath that he will be loyal to king William and protect