William I

After Normandy was taken out of interdict, King Henry planned to take over Normandy. He believed that the ruling of Normandy by William and his ancestors was null and void. He planned to take it back. In 1054 Henry allied himself with Geoffrey Martel. Both of these men rallied knights, men-at-arms, and mercenaries to fight for them. Henry wanted to take Normandy and take over its capital city of Rouen. Henry divided his mass army into two groups. One he controlled himself, the other he gave control to his brother, Odo. There was a river called the Seine river that lead directly into Rouen. To prepare for this, William raised his levees and split his army into two. The one on the left bank of the Seine river he controlled himself, and he gave control of the army on the right bank of the river to his half-brother Robert of Mortain, Hugh of Gournay, and Hugh of Montfort. Henry and his army invaded Normandy by the main entrance and took over a few towns without resistance. Odo went along the right bank of the Seine river and came to a town called Mortemer-en-Braye. Here Odo and his army rested for the night. The Frenchmen squashed into all of the houses and over crowed the barns with their horses. When all of the Frenchmen were asleep, the Normans came out of their hiding places in the woods and set fire to all of the houses. The Frenchmen scrambled for their weapons and to get out before the fire took their lives. Then what took place can be called a massacre. The Normans and French battled in Mortemer-en-Braye. Many French knights were killed. Odo managed to escape on his horse. It is considered a Norman victory. The news of the victory was brought to William's attention that night. William decided to use a mental tactic against Henry than to fight him in combat. He sent out a knight to the camp of Henry and his army and instructed him to tell Henry and his companions that the other Frenchmen had all been killed at Mortemer-en-Braye. The shock of this news startled the Frenchmen and caused them to retreat. After all of this, Henry agreed to recognize William as the Duke of Normandy.