He beat our ancestors fair and square, that was one in the eye for Harold......our monarchy started with him :o)

He is better known as William the Conqueror and he became King of England after defeating Harold Godwinson (Harold II) at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. As for how he got "good control" over England. . .see below (feudal system). ----------------------- Following text from http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MA/NORMANS.HTM Once free from monarchical intrusion, the Norman dukes began to solidify an administrative system over their territories. This system became the model for subsequent medieval government: the feudal system. The Normans faced sporadic resistance from nobility within their domains. To counter this nobility, the Norman lords made clergy, who were largely drawn from the nobility, as their vassals since the monastic and church lands were on lands owned by the duke. All the knights resident on church and monastic lands the dukes forced into military loyalty. They used this core of vassals and knights to overcome the nobility which were forced to enter into feudal obligations to the duke. The word, "feudal," comes from the word, "feud." A feudal obligation, then, was essentially built off of clan or tribal protection. For the early tribal Scandinavians, the only way to enforce law was through clan protetction and blood-feuds. Should a crime be committed against a member of the clan, it was the job of the entire clan to either seek retribution or enforce a penalty. It was on this ground that the dukes of Noramndy built their feudal system. Under this system, lay nobility were allowed to control a certain amount of territory. They were required, however, to enter into oaths to the duke; these oaths required their military service should the duke require it. The feudal system allowed the Norman dukes to control a vast amount of territory independently of the Capetian kings. It gave the dukes large military resources guaranteed through a network of loyalties.

Although the south of England submitted quickly to Norman rule, resistance in the north continued for six more years until 1072. During the first two years, King William I suffered many revolts throughout England (Dover, western Mercia, Wales, Exeter). Also, in 1068, Harold's illegitimate sons attempted an invasion of the southwestern peninsula, but William defeated them. Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_England

No, William only gradually assumed tighter control over England, and rebellions continued to break out on the borders for a long while. The best known of these was by Hereward the Wake, possibly a son of Leofric of Coventry and Lady Godgifu (Godiva) who held out in the fens of East Anglia for a long while before disappearing (probably dying). It was for this reason that William had the great Norman castles built eg Cardiff, Wales, Pevensey in Sussex and Portchester in Hampshire Warwick, Nottingham, York , Lincoln, Cambridge and Huntingdon. This ensured that all areas of England would have permanent fortifications to assist against uprisings. William's methods of control included the castles, but also horrific retaliation for any rebellion. He would lay waste whole areas to such an extent that some areas took a generation to recover. This effectively cowed much of the population. To make sure that they stayed that way, he instituted a pyramidal form of rule, with himself at the top. Below him were the tenants in chief, who consisted of his close relatives (eg Odo of Bayeux, his half brother and Hugh Lupus, his nephew). They controlled large swathes of England, but in no one region (to make sure that no one of them had a large enough base to challenge him). Below the tenants-in-chief were the lower tenants, and below them, the small landholders. The tenants-in chief were bound to raise armies at a moment's notice, should they be called upon, and were responsible directly to William. It largely worked, but totally transformed British society. Even today, most of the nobility is heavily Norman in ancestry, although there were never more than a few thousand of them in England.

Castles! William garrisoned castles with his men. He also gave control to only a few of his companions, based on the feudal system of things.