How many King Williams have there been? Inside the reign of every English monarch called Will

WILLIAM, Prince of Wales, has a name which carries with it a lot of history.

There have been a number Kings of England called William, each of whom made his own mark on the country — here's what we know about each one's reign.

How many King Williams have there been in England?

Since England became a single, unified state in the 10th century, there have been four monarchs with the name William.

Prior to this, England was divided into the kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia.

Each of these four kings have sat on the throne at very different points in history, and while some inherited the crown, others took it by force.

William I 'the Conqueror'

Historians are not certain of the exact year William I was born, but it is believed to be around 1027.

Born in the Duchy of Normandy in modern-day France, William was a descendant of the viking warrior Rollo through his father, the Duke of Normandy.

However, as he was born from an extramarital relationship between the Duke and a tanner's daughter, he was nicknamed 'William the Bastard'.

He inherited his father's title in 1035, when he was still a child, but consolidated his rule as an adult.

William then set his sights across the Channel when his distant relative, King Edward of England, died childless — and by 1066, he was ready to invade.

His Norman army clashed with Saxon soldiers fighting for the new English king, Harold, in what is considered to be one of the most important battles in British history; the Battle of Hastings.

William was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day of that year, with his victory earning him the new name 'William the Conqueror'.

As a ruler, William I is often remembered for ordering the compilation of the Domesday Book, a large-scale survey of all the land holdings in the country.

He died on September 9, 1087 and was buried in Normandy.

William II (William Rufus)

William II was the third son of William the Conqueror.

He succeeded the English throne after the death of his father, who had left Normandy and money to his other surviving sons.

This William became known as 'William Rufus' — Rufus meaning 'the Red' in Latin — due to either his red hair or his ruddy complexion.

William Rufus' reign saw him successfully extend his influence into Scotland, but his time on the throne is mainly remembered in terms of two main mysteries: his sexuality and his death.

Some have speculated that William, who never married nor had any heirs, might have been homosexual, but there is no overwhelming evidence to either support or disprove that.

The other big question mark hangs over the day in 1100 that he was struck by an arrow and killed in the New Forest.

He was on a hunting expedition with his younger brother Henry when he was shot in the chest by an arrow which pierced his lungs.

While many argue that it was an assassination plot by Henry so that he could be crowned king, others point out that hunting accidents were very common at the time, so we will likely never know what caused William's death.

William III (William of Orange)

There was a gap of almost 600 years between the reigns of Williams II and III.

'Willem' Hendrik was born in the then Dutch Republic in 1650 and had the title Prince of Orange from birth.

He was the son of a Dutch sovreign and Mary Stuart, the daughter of the recently-executed King Charles I of England.

A staunch Protestant, he took part in wars against other Catholic monarchs including Louis XIV of France.

After the English monarchy was restored and the crown had passed from Charles II to his brother James II, many in England were opposed to this Catholic line of succession and urged William to intervene.

This began what became known as the Glorious Revolution.

In 1688, he landed at Brixham in Devon with 40,000 men and marched on to London, where he was crowned king of England, Scotland and Ireland within months.

Many in Ireland were still loyal to James and resisted William's rule, but they were defeated by the new king's army at the infamous Battle of the Boyne.

William III died of pneumonia in 1702 — to this day, he remains the last person to have successfully invaded England by military force.

William IV

The fourth William to sit on the throne was born at Buckingham Palace in 1765.

As he had two older brothers, William IV never expected to be king and spent his youth in the Royal Navy, which later earned him the nickname the 'Sailor King'.

He spent time in North America and the Caribbean and at one point even served under Horatio Nelson.

When both of his elder brothers died without legitimate hiers, William found himself becoming King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland at the age of 64.

I have my view of things, and I tell them to my ministers. If they do not adopt them, I cannot help it. I have done my duty.

King William IV

During his reign, several momentous socio-political changes took place.

One of these was the abolition of slavery throughout almost all of the British Empire — something he had previously resisted.

Under him, parliament also passed acts to limit child labour and introduced the Poor Law, which set out provisions for destitute people.

William's style of monarchy was more restricted than that of most of his predecessors; he once said "I have my view of things, and I tell them to my ministers. If they do not adopt them, I cannot help it. I have done my duty."

He died at Windsor Castle in 1837 with his devoted wife Adelaide by his side.

William IV had 12 children, but because 10 of them were illegitimate and two died in infancy, he was succeeded by his niece, Queen Victoria.