William the Conqueror: The Birth of the English Monarchy

An old soldier in full armour rides slowly through the smoking ashes of a French town. A sparking ember spooks the horse and the rider is thrown to the ground. Within a few days the veteran dies and the funeral is abandoned when his bloated corpse explodes. It is the absurd ending to an astonishing life, and the opening to this epic film in which the full story of the founder of the English realm is told for the first time. It is the story of the illegitimate lovechild of a murdered father, growing up in a dangerous world that is drenched in blood. Knighted at the age of twelve and married for love, promised the Crown of England, cheated out of it, avenged of his enemies, and crowned King of England. William, the legend who ruled with an iron fist and founded a thousand year dynasty.