William's Servants Looted His Corpse

In 1087, William the Conqueror was injured during an attack on Mantes, possibly when his horse leaped over a ditch and drove his protruding stomach against the saddle's pommel. The impact reportedly ruptured his internal organs, and William died at age 59. After his death, household servants seized his weapons, vessels, clothes, linens, and royal furnishings. They abandoned his almost naked body on the floor, leaving a common knight to arrange the funeral.

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