William the Conqueror King Henry in a campaign against him, the last known cooperation between the two. They succeeded in capturing an Angevin fortress, but accomplished little else. Geoffrey attempted to expand his authority into the county of Maine, especially after the death of Hugh IV of Maine in 1051. Central to the control of Maine were the holdings of the Bellême family, who held Bellême on the border of Maine and Normandy, as well as the fortresses at Alençon and Domfront. Bellême's overlord was the king of France, but Domfort was under the overlordship of Geoffrey Martel and Duke William was Alençon's
William the Conqueror household departments. William cultivated close relations with the church in his duchy. He took part in church councils and made several appointments to the Norman episcopate, including the appointment of Maurilius as Archbishop of Rouen. Another important appointment was that of William's half-brother Odo as Bishop of Bayeux in either 1049 or 1050. He also relied on the clergy for advice, including Lanfranc, a non-Norman who rose to become one of William's prominent ecclesiastical advisors in the late 1040s and remained so throughout the 1050s and 1060s. William gave generously to the church; from 1035 to 1066, the Norman aristocracy