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
History of the French in Holyoke Métis peoples and was ultimately hung for treason. In the literary world the city also hosted a banquet honoring French Canadian poet laureate Louis Fréchette . A recipient of the Académie française's Prix Montyon, he was the first Canadian author to receive such an honor from a European nation. A group of the city's French-Canadian residents would organize a banquet welcoming him to the United States, held at former-Mayor Whiting's Windsor Hotel on January 31, 1882. Fréchette was received at this banquet by several city and state officials, including former Holyoke mayors William B. C. Pearsons and William Whiting, as