William the Conqueror probably secured earlier. Papal sanction of the marriage appears to have required the founding of two monasteries in Caen – one by William and one by Matilda. The marriage was important in bolstering William's status, as Flanders was one of the more powerful French territories, with ties to the French royal house and to the German emperors. Contemporary writers considered the marriage, which produced four sons and five or six daughters, to be a success. No authentic portrait of William has been found; the contemporary depictions of him on the Bayeux Tapestry and on his seals and coins are conventional
Richard, son of William the Conqueror Richard, son of William the Conqueror Richard of Normandy (c. 1054 to between 1069 and 1075) was the second son of William the Conqueror, King of England, and Matilda of Flanders. Between 1069 and 1075, Richard died in a hunting accident in the New Forest. He was buried at Winchester Cathedral. In a twist of fate, his younger brother, King William Rufus, and a nephew, also named Richard, were also killed in the New Forest twenty-five years later. Richard is sometimes referred to as the "Duke of Bernay", as if part of his father's continental possessions, as in Burke's Peerage;