 In 1070, Pope Alexander II ordered the Normans to do penance for killing so many people during their conquest of England.In response, William the Conqueror vowed to build an abbey where the Battle of Hastings had taken place, with the high altar of its church on the supposed spot where King Harold fell in that battle on Saturday, 14 October 1066.William started building it, dedicating it to St. Martin, sometimes known as "the Apostle of the Gauls," but died before it was completed.