The siege of Alençon occurred in the town of

Alençon Alençon (, , ; ) is a commune in Normandy, France, and the capital of the Orne department. It is situated between Paris and Rennes (about west of Paris) and a little over north of Le Mans. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alen� ...

, in present-day France, in the year 1047. It was fought between

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

, duke of the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple, King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a r ...

, and

Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou Geoffrey II, called Martel (1006 – 14 November 1060), son of Fulk the Black, was a French knight and Count of Anjou from 1040 to 1060 and Count of Vendôme from 1032 to 1056. He fought battles against William VII, Duke of Aquitaine, Theob ...

and his supporters. The battle started over the Count of Anjou claiming the semi-autonomous region of Maine, which was a contested border territory between Normandy and Anjou. Supporters of the Count of Anjou seized Alençon and another fortress at Domfront. During their occupation of the town, the rebels hung animal hides, a reference to his mother being the daughter of a tanner. In response to this, after the surrender of Alençon, William had the rebels'

hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "han ...

and

feet The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of ...

cut off so as to defend his mother's honor. This victory made William the undisputed Duke of Normandy.

References

{{coord missing, France Sieges of the Middle Ages Battles involving the Normans History of Orne 1047 in Europe