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WILLDENOW ago of 17 she opened a school in Berlin, and in 1807 took charge of an academy in Middle- bury, Vt. In 1809 she married Dr. John Wil- lard, and gave up teaching; but in 1814 she opened a boarding school in Middlebury. In 1818 she sent to Gov. Clinton of New York a plan for a female seminary. In his next mes- sage the governor recommended an appropria- tion by the legislature, and an act was passed giving to female academies a share in the litera- ture fund, and incorporating a female academy at Waterford. Mrs. Willard removed to that place, and published "A Plan for Improving Female Education" (1819). But special aid was not granted her, and in 1821 she removed to Troy. In 1838 she left the seminary and removed to Hartford, Conn. She had married Dr. Yates as her second husband, but was di- vorced in 1839, and resumed her former name. Besides several school books, she published a " History of the United States " (New York, 1828); "Poems" (1830); "Journal and Let- ters from France and Great Britain " (1833); "Universal History in Perspective" (1837); "On the Circulation of the Blood" (1846); "Respiration and its Effects" (1849); "Last Leaves of American History" (1849); "As- tronography " (1853) ; and " Morals for the Young" (1857). Her life has been written by John Lord (New York, 1873). WILLDENOW, Karl Lndwig, a German bota- nist, born in Berlin in 1765, died there, July 10, 1812. He was professor of natural history at the medical college in Berlin from 1798 to 1812, and subsequently of medicine at the university. His principal works are Grundriss der Krauter- Icunde (Berlin, 1792 ; 7th ed., 1831), and a new edition of Linnseus's Species Plantarum, with the addition of plants discovered since the pub- lication of that work in 1753, and arranged after the Linnaaan system (6 vols., 1798-1826; vols. v. and vi. completed by Link). WILLEMS, Florent, a Belgian painter, born in Liege about 1812. He studied at the academy of Mechlin, and in 1839 settled in Paris. He excels in genre pictures, and his female cos- tumes are especially fine. His best known pieces include "A Musical Party," "The Co- quette," "Visit of Maria de' Medici to Ru- bens," "The Betrothal Ring," "The Armor- er," "The Widow," "The Message," "The Farewells," "I Was There," "The Intimate Friends," "The Confidence," "The Sortie," " The Messenger," and " The Visit." WILLIAM I., surnamed the CONQUEROR, king of England, the first of the Norman dynasty, born at Falaise, Normandy, in 1027, died in Rouen, Sept. 9, 1087. He was the bastard son of Robert I. or II., duke of Normandy, called "Robert the Devil," and a young woman of Falaise, a tanner's daughter, named Arietta. Robert caused the Norman barons to receive William as their duke during his own lifetime, prior to his departure for the Holy Land. Wil- liam was left an orphan at the age of eight, and his youth was passed amid wars and dis- WILLIAM I. (ENGLAND) 629 sensions. Henry I. of France, at whose court he had spent his childhood, was sometimes his friend and sometimes his enemy. In In 1 7. with Henry's help, he defeated the Burgun- dian Count Guy at the battle of Val des Dunes, and he aided the French king against the count of Anjou. For several years William carried on contests with France, Anjou, and Brit- tany, increasing his dominions and reputation. Though of illegitimate origin, he claimed the throne of England through Emma, sister of his grandfather and mother of Edward the Con- fessor ; and when Harold, son of Earl Godwin, visited the Norman court in 1065, he was com- pelled to swear fealty to William and to prom- ise to support him. Edward the Confessor, it is asserted, had recognized William's claim, to the exclusion of the feeble Edgar Atheling; but on Edward's death in 1066, Harold pro- cured his own elevation to the throne. Wil- liam then prepared to enforce his pretension by arms. He overcame the opposition of his barons, gained the sanction of the pope, and enlisted thousands of military adventurers. A large fleet was assembled, and on Sept. 28, 1066, William landed at Pevensey near Hastings with 60,000 men. Harold had been engaged in the north, fighting his brother Tostig and the Nor- wegians, but arrived before William's camp on Oct. 13; and on the next day was fought the battle of Senlac or Hastings, in which, after an obstinate contest, the Saxons were defeated and their king was slain. William promptly advanced to London, where he was crowned, Dec. 25. At first his rule was mild and just, yet he was careful to keep all power in the hands of the Normans. The Saxon nobles, re- lying upon foreign aid, having leagued against him, he laid waste the whole country between the Tees and the Humber, and caused the death of 100,000 people. The Saxons were now treated as a conquered nation. The cur- few bell, on the ringing of which all fires and lights were to be extinguished, was introduced in 1068. The religious houses were plundered, and the principal Saxon clergy deposed or banished to make room for foreigners. An invasion of Scotland in 1072 led to the submis- sion of that country. An armed conspiracy of the Norman nobles in England was defeated. An attempt to subdue Brittany failed, and William gave his daughter Constance in mar- riage to the count. The dissensions between the king and his son Robert Courthose began in 1074; and in the war that followed, Robert had the support of the young nobility and of the king of France, in his demand for the sov- ereignty of Normandy and Maine. Conces- sions to Robert did not procure peace, and for years he was at the head of a party striving to deprive his father of his continental posses- sions. In 1081 William led an expedition into Wales. Most of the latter part of his reign he passed in Normandy, leaving England to be governed by his half brother Odo, bishop o: Bayeux. William allowed Peter's pence to be