The life and deeds of William the Conqueror (1027-1087) belong to the distant past, but the figure of the Norman Duke, who became the King of England, is of interest not only to professional historians. Having survived the bloody whirlwind of wars and rebellions, the illegitimate son of the ruler of Normandy managed not only to restore order in his possessions with an iron fist, but also to seize the Kingdom of England, introducing there feudal orders that were progressive for their time. Wilhelm was rude, cruel, uneducated, but his political flair and energy helped bring about transformations in the political and cultural fields that determined the development of Europe for hundreds of years to come. This is the opinion of the famous French historian Paul Zumthor, the author of the biography of William the Conqueror, first published in the series “ZhZL”