Teachers.io

Source A:

King William was a very wise and great man, and more honoured and more powerful than any of his predecessors. He was mild to those good men who loved God, but severe beyond measure to those who challenged him. He built churches across the land, and never before had Christianity been so well established in England. He was also a very stern and wrathful man, so that none dared do anything against his will. Being a greedy and gold-obsessed man, he surveyed the kingdom so thoroughly that there was not a single hide of land throughout the whole of which he knew not the possessor, and how much it was worth. He caused castles to be built and oppressed the poor. The king was also of great sternness, and so powerful that all who complained against him were powerless.

From the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written by English monks the year after William's death. The Chronicle was updated yearly as a chronological account of notable events that had happened in the previous year.