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 II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg William II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg William II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (about 1300 – 1369) was the Prince of Lüneburg from 1330 to 1369. William was born around the year 1300 as the fourth child of Otto the Strict and his wife, Matilda of Bavaria.<br> On his father's death, William took over the reins of state jointly with his brother Otto III. This was against his father's will because Otto II had wanted the state to be divided after his death. The focus of the brothers' reign in the early years was the territorial consolidation of the principality. For example, they