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:
William FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Cleveland and Common Pleas, and Comptroller of the Seal and Green Wax Offices. The dukedom became extinct upon his death; however, it was recreated for his grand-nephew William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland. William FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Cleveland William FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Cleveland, 2nd Duke of Southampton (19 February 1698 – 18 May 1774) was an English nobleman, styled Earl of Chichester from birth until 1730. In 1730, he succeeded his father Charles as Duke of Southampton, Duke of Cleveland and Chief Butler of England. In 1731, he married Lady Henrietta Finch, the daughter of Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl