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 Aquitaine Magyars. William died soon after. In 924 the duke Raoul of Burgundy came up to the Loire river and William was forced to make his submission to him. Upon which Raoul, relieved that such a powerful vassal accepted his suzerainty, gave him back the counties of Berry and Macon and the town of Bourges. William II, Duke of Aquitaine William II the Young (died 12 December 926) was the Count of Auvergne and Duke of Aquitaine from 918 to his death, succeeding his uncle William I. William was son of the Acfred I of Carcassonne and Adelinde, William I's sister