Lady of Willesden) was in the 15th century an object of pilgrimage, but by the middle of the century following the ceremonies had fallen into abuse, and the shrine was suppressed.
WILLETTE, LEON ADOLPHE (1857–), French painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer, was born in Chalons sur Marne. He studied for four years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Cabanel—a training which gave him a unique position among the graphic humorists of France. Whether comedy or tragedy, dainty triviality or political satire, his work is instinct with the profound sincerity of the artist. He set Pierrot upon a lofty pedestal among the imaginary heroes of France, and established Mimi Pinson, frail, lovable, and essentially goodhearted, in the affections of the nation. Willette is at once the modern Watteau of the pencil, and the exponent of sentiments that move the more emotional section of the public. Always a poet, and usually gay, fresh, and delicate, in his presentation of idylls exquisitely dainty and characteristically Gallic, illustrating the more "charming" side of love, often pure and sometimes unnecessarily materialistic, Willette frequently reveals himself bitter and fierce, even ferocious, in his hatreds, being a violent though at the same time a generous partizan of political ideas, furiously compassionate with love and pity for the people—whether they be ground down under the heel of political oppression, or are merely the victims of unrequited love, suffering all the pangs of graceful anguish that are born of scornful treatment. There is charm even in his thrilling apotheosis of the guillotine, and in the introduction into his caricatures of the figure of Death itself. The artist was a prolific contributor to the French illustrated press under the pseudonyms "Cémoi," "Pierrot," "Louison," "Bébé," and "Nox," but more often under his own name. He illustrated Mélandri's Les Pierrots and Les Giboulles d'avril, and has published his own Pauvre Pierrot and other works, in which he tells his stories in scenes in the manner of Busch. He decorated several "brasseries artistiques" with wall-paintings, stained glass, &c., notably Le Chat noir and La Palette d'or, and he painted the highly imaginative ceiling for La Cigale music hall. His characteristically fantastic "Parce Domine" was shown in the Franco-British Exhibition in 1908. A remarkable collection of his works was exhibited in 1888. His "Valmy" is in the Luxembourg, Paris.
WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhâdlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod. Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth, vilja, and "helm," Goth, hilms, Old Norse hiâlmr, meaning possibly "one who wills to protect"), a masculine proper name borne by many European sovereigns and others, of whom the more important are treated below in the following order—(1) kings of England and Scotland. (2) Other sovereigns in the alphabetical order of their states. (3) Other ruling princes. (4) Prelates, Chroniclers, &c.
WILLIAM I. (1027 or 1028-1087), king of England, surnamed the Conqueror, was born in 1027 or 1028. He was the bastard son of Robert the Devil, duke of Normandy, by Arletta, the daughter of a tanner at Falaise. In 1034 Robert resolved on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Having no legitimate son he induced the Norman barons to acknowledge William as his successor. They kept their engagement when Robert died on his journey (1035), though the young duke-elect was a mere boy. But the next twelve years was a period of the wildest anarchy. Three of William's guardians were murdered; and for some time he was kept in strict concealment by his relatives, who feared that he might experience the same fate. Trained in a hard school, he showed a precocious aptitude for war and government. He was but twenty years old when he stamped out, with the help of his overlord, Henry I. of France, a serious rising in the districts of the Bessin and Cotentin, the object of which was to put in his place his kinsman, Guy of Brionne. Accompanied by King Henry, he met and overthrew the rebels at Val-des-Dunes near Caen (1047). It was by no means his last encounter with Norman traitors, but for the moment the victory gave him an assured position. Next year he joined Henry in attacking their common enemy, Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou. Geoffrey occupied the border fortress of Alençon with the good will of the inhabitants. But the duke recovered the place after a severe siege, and inflicted a terrible vengeance on the defenders, who had taunted him with his base birth; he also captured the castle of Domfront from the Angevins (1049).
In 1051 the duke visited England, and probably received from his kinsman, Edward the Confessor, a promise of the English succession. Two years later he strengthened the claims which he had thus established by marrying Matilda, a daughter of Baldwin V. of Flanders, who traced her descent in the female line from Alfred the Great. This union took place in defiance of a prohibition which had been promulgated, in 1049, by the papal council of Reims. But the affinity of William and Matilda was so remote that political rather than moral considerations may have determined the pope's action. The marriage was zealously opposed by Archbishop Malger of Rouen and Lanfranc, the prior of Bec; but Lanfranc was persuaded to intercede with the Curia, and Pope Nicholas II. at length granted the needful dispensation (1059). By way of penance William and his wife founded the abbeys of St Stephen and the Holy Trinity at Caen. The political difficulties caused by the marriage were more serious. Alarmed at the close connexion of Normandy with Flanders, Henry I. renounced the alliance which had long existed between the Capets and the house of Rollo. He joined forces with Geoffrey Martel in order to crush the duke, and Normandy was twice invaded by the allies. In each case William decided the campaign by a signal victory. The invasion of 1034 was checked by the battle of Mortemer; in 1058 the French rearguard was cut to pieces at Varaville on the Dive, in the act of crossing the stream. Between these two wars William aggrandized his power at the expense of Anjou by annexing Mayenne. Soon after the campaign of Varaville both Henry I. and Geoffrey Martel were removed from his path by death (1060). He at once recovered Maine from the Angevins, nominally in the interest of Herbert II., the lawful count, who became his vassal. In 1062, however, Herbert died and Maine was formally annexed to Normandy. This acquisition brought the Norman frontier almost to the Loire and isolated Brittany, long coveted by the Norman dukes, from the rest of France.
About 1064 the accidental visit of Harold to the Norman court added another link to the chain of events by which William's fortunes were connected with England. Whatever doubt hangs over the details of the story, it seems clear that the earl made a promise to support the claims of his host upon the English succession. This promise he was invited to fulfil in 1066, after the Confessor's death and his own coronation. Harold's perjury formed the chief excuse for the Norman Conquest of England, which in reality was a piratical venture resembling that of the sons of Tancred d'Hauteville in Lower Italy. William had some difficulty in securing the help of his barons. When consulted in a great council at Lillebonne they returned an unfavourable reply, and it was necessary to convince them individually by threats and persuasions. Otherwise the conditions were favourable. William secured the benevolent neutrality of the emperor Henry IV.; the influence of the archdeacon Hildebrand obtained for the expedition the solemn approval of Pope Alexander II. Philip I. of France was a minor under the guardianship of William's father-in-law, the count of Flanders. With Tostig, the banished brother of Harold, William formed an alliance which proved of the utmost service. The duke and his Normans were enabled, by Tostig's invasion of northern England, to land unmolested at Pevensey on the 28th of September 1066. On the 14th of October a crushing defeat was inflicted on Harold at the battle of Senlac or Hastings; and on Christmas Day William was crowned at Westminster.
Five years more were to elapse before he became master of the west and north. Early in 1067 he made a progress through parts of the south, receiving submissions, disposing of the lands of those who had fought against him, and ordering castles to be built; he then crossed the Channel to celebrate his triumph in Normandy. Disturbances at once occurred in Northumbria, on the Welsh marches and in Kent; and he was compelled to
