The issue of William the Conqueror is a difficult one. Kryananda is known for mixing truths with lies (when they are to his advantage) and for his inclination toward self-aggrandizement. On the other hand, Durga Ma also hints at Yogananda being WTC in a previous life. And Durga Ma is surely a reliable source.
Since I tend to disregard what Kryananda wrote, I tend to believe that WTC did not remember at all his previous lives as an exalted Yogi and lived a life as a mere pawn of God, that is, he served some purpose in God's plot, a purpose he was unaware of, he just single-mindedly pursued what he had to do.
Also, re. Gengis Khan, he probably was not as cruel as the western historians depict him. Late in his life, he also adopted a Taoist master as his spiritual advisor. Of course he lived in the brutal times of kali yuga, when ruthlessness was the rule.
While not always in agreement with your assessments Lucca, I find them a possible explanation to unfolding events at those periods in time, as an example of God’s possible justice working out on behalf of karma in a hellish time of history.
