William's claim was rather tenous. The Norman Conquest barely succeeded after narrowly winning the Battle of Hastings. The English had put down a rebellion in t

William's claim was rather tenous. The Norman Conquest barely succeeded after narrowly winning the Battle of Hastings. The English had put down a rebellion in the north in the preceeding weeks, then just prior to the Battle of Hastings Harold Godwinson defeated a viking invasion at Stamford Bridge, and in a few short weeks force marched from Northern England to Hastings to meet William. It still took the Normans all day to defeat the battered and tired English army, but the resulting slaughter of English lords left a power vacuum and England ripe for the Norman's picking. P.S.: "New England" properly rendered in Old English would be "Níw Englaland".