William the Conqueror and his family from England. Swein's death in 1014 allowed Æthelred to return home, but Swein's son Cnut contested Æthelred's return. Æthelred died unexpectedly in 1016, and Cnut became king of England. Æthelred and Emma's two sons, Edward and Alfred, went into exile in Normandy while their mother, Emma, became Cnut's second wife. After Cnut's death in 1035, the English throne fell to Harold Harefoot, his son by his first wife, while Harthacnut, his son by Emma, became king in Denmark. England remained unstable. Alfred returned to England in 1036 to visit his mother and perhaps to challenge Harold as
William the Conqueror of the creators of England's greatness or as inflicting one of the greatest defeats in English history. Others have viewed William as an enemy of the English constitution, or alternatively as its creator. William and his wife Matilda of Flanders had at least nine children. The birth order of the sons is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters. There is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William. William the Conqueror William I (c. 1028 – 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the