Study Section 5 – The (Very) Basic Points
NOTE: Use these notes TOGETHER with all your other work. You must not rely
on these solely for revision, unless you want to get no more than a D!
This Study Section in particular is very complex. Remember that you need to
know the particular details of who these people were and the political and
social temperament of the areas where they rebelled. Don't simply rely on
these notes to revise from.
Focus: The opposition to William's rule and how he dealt with it
The opposition immediately after Hastings
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There was natural opposition to the Norman conquest from the outset.
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, William and his army faced
resistance from the Saxon population , and William spent his march towards
London heavily preoccupied with dealing with said resistance.
The remaining English magnates elected Edgar the Aethling as their new
king.
In order to crush the remaining opposition, William surrounded London and
cut off the food supply by pillaging and/or burning the areas around London
and thus removing the main food supply into the city. Eventually the resisters
were forced to give in to the Normans.
William also quickly secured the royal treasury at Winchester soon after
Hastings.
The opposition after 1066
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William was crowned on 25th December 1066 after the eventual surrender of
the London based magnates, but opposition to his rule was still ongoing
around the country.
1067 - Exeter rebelled. The city of Exeter, which was held by Harold's mother
Gytha, rebelled against William in late 1067. William's response was to lay
siege to Exeter, forcing them to surrender to him, but only after they had held
out for 18 days! However, William was lenient with the locals. He built a castle
and placed a Norman (Baldwin) in charge of the area, but stopped short of a
widespread, barbaric punishment.
Issues with the Border Nations (Wales and Scotland)
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The border nations of Scotland and Wales were havens for rebels against
William, particularly Scotland.
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1067 - Eadric the Wild, an old English thegn annoyed at the loss of his lands,
attacked the city of Hereford with the assistance of Welsh raiders. The rebels
ravaged the countryside but were unable to take the castle, but before they
could be completely crushed, they fled back to Wales. This tactic of attack
and retreat (before returning to attack again) is known as Fabian Tactics.
1069 - Eadric rebelled again in Shrewsbury as William was preoccupied with
the rebellion in the north, but once again Eadric was unable to take the castle
and was easily dealt with by William.
1071 - Once again, Edwin and Morcar rebelled against William, probably due
to frustration at having much less power than the Norman magnates William
had promoted himself. Edwin journeyed towards Scotland to prepare his
rebellion there, but on the way he was murdered by his own men, who in all
likelihood killed him to save their own skins (by preventing a rebellion and
thus the potentially vicious reprisals of William). Morcar joined Herward the
Wake on the Isle of Ely (in East Anglia). William conquered the two rebels,
with Hereward managing to flee in the nick of time, but Morcar was caught
and imprisoned in Normandy. He would spend his remaining days in prison,
first under William I in Normandy before being moved to England and reimprisoned by William Rufus, William I's son and king of England from 1087
onwards.
1071/72 - William negotiated with Malcolm of Scotland and came to an
agreement, whereby Malcolm declared William his "feudal overlord". Edgar
the Aetheling was also banished from Scotland.
1080 - After a raid into Northumbria by King Malcolm of Scotland (who
probably felt able to do this with William preoccupied in Normandy), Bishop
Odo forced Malcolm back across the border and re-negotiated with the King
of Scotland.
Rebellions in the North
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1068: chaos in Northumbria - William had replaced Morcar as earl of
Northumbria with Copsig after paying homage to him after Hastings. However,
Copsig had been a deputy of Tostig, which naturally went down badly with the
people of Northumbria. Copsig was murdered after just 5 weeks as earl!
Eventually, William gave the earldom to Gospatric (a Saxon), who paid
William a large amount of money for the privilege. However, after just a year
as earl, Gospatric rebelled against William's rule alongside Edgar the
Aetheling and Edwin and Morcar.
This rebellion was swiftly dealt with by William. Edgar and Gospatric fled to
Scotland, and thus Gospatric was stripped of his earldom. It was granted to a
close Norman ally of William's, Robert de Comines. Edwin and Morcar were
forgiven by William. In direct response to this rebellion, William built castles in
York, Lincoln and Cambridge.
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1069 - After less than six months in charge, the unpopular Robert de Comines
was viciously murdered by the inhabitants of Northumbria. The same rebels
who had murdered Comines then proceeded to move further south, joined by
Edwin, Morcar, Edgar and Gospatric. This forced William to intervene when
the rebels reached York.
Later in 1069, King Sweyn of Denmark dispatched a party of Vikings led by
Osbeorn to attack England alongside a rebel force led by Edgar, Gospatric
and Waltheof. It was when they reached York that the only recorded incident
of a Norman castle being taken by force occurred. William responded to the
growing rebellion and crushed it with force, with the rebels using Fabian
tactics. The Danes were paid off by William.
It was in the latter months of 1069 and the first few months of 1070 that
William stepped up his control of the north of England with grizzly
consequences for the local population - The Harrying of the North.
The Harrying of the North, in basic terms, involved the decimation of the north
of England, with crops and animals destroyed to eliminate the local food
supply, alongside the murder of thousands of the local population and the
destruction of their villages. The Norman writer Orderic Vitalis put the number
of deaths at around 100,000. No major northern rebellions followed for the
rest of William's reign.
Other incidents of opposition
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1070 - King Sweyn of Denmark, disappointed with the efforts of Osbeorn in
1069, joined Hereward the Wake in attacking the English city of
Peterborough, but after diplomatic negotiations with Willaim, Sweyn quickly
realised how difficult taking control of England would be and fled with the
treasures he had acquired from the Peterborough.
1075: The Revolt of the Earls - William faced a rebellion, but this time most of
the earls who rebelled were not English! William refused to sanction the
marriage of Emma (William fitzOsbern's daughter) to Ralph de Guader (earl of
East Anglia). The two married anyway, and soon after Ralph rebelled against
William's rule alongside Roger de Breteuil (earl of Hereford) and Waltheof (the
Saxon earl of Northumberland).
However, soon after the rebellion started, Waltheof stepped down from the
rebellion by confessing to Archbishop Lanfranc (acting as regent at the time).
Ralph and Roger were dealt with effectively by the Norman magnates
including Bishop Odo, Geoffrey de Montbray and Wulfstan; the English fyrd
also dealt with the rebellion, symbolising a major milestone as the English
were now working for William to defend his reign. Ralph fled England, and
Roger and Waltheof were imprisoned. Waltheof was later executed in 1076.
Waltheof was the last Saxon earl left in England at this point, so in a way his
death symbolised the very end of pre-Norman England.
Methods of dealing with opposition
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Castles: William built castles as a means of controlling local populations.
Castles could hold soldiers in great numbers who could be mobilised from the
outset of any trouble. As well as being used as a method of control, the
castles were a visual deterrent against rebellion, reminding the locals of the
Norman presence and the potential reprisals. The most common type of
castle built by William in the first few years of his reign were Motte & Bailey
castles. Made from wood, Motte and Bailey castles were quick and easy to
build, only taking around 2 weeks to fully construct. Huge concentrations of
castles could be seen in areas prone to trouble, such as along the Welsh
borders.
Pillaging: Initially (after Hastings but before his coronation), William pillaged
the area surrounding London to starve out the opposition in the capital, forcing
them to give in to him and accept him as their new king.
The creation of an Anglo-Norman state: William tried to keep the important
Englishmen on side (initially at least) by creating an Anglo-Norman state.
Though many Normans followed him to England and took up senior positions,
William recognised the usefulness of keeping important English magnates in
his camp. For example, he allowed Archbishop Stigand to keep both of his
positions in the church (Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of Winchester)
despite the fact that this went directly against the wishes of the Pope. Another
example is the English thegn Eadnoth, who in 1068 helped fight off Harold
Godwinson's sons who were raiding from Ireland.
Taking Edwin, Morcar, Stigand and Edgar the Aetheling to Normandy in
1067: William took the four magnates to Normandy with him in the latter half
of 1067. This could simply have been William trying to display his immense
power, but it could also have been William keeping four potentially dangerous
sources of rebellion out of England.
Laying siege: Laying siege to cities who were rebelling was a tactic used by
the Normans in both Normandy and England. In basic terms, sieges involved
surrounding cities to cut off supply routes, as well as bombarding the city with
small but fierce attacks.
The Harrying of the North: Facing multiple rebellions from a lawless group?
One way of significantly reducing this problem is by completely destroying the
area that they live in, murdering thousands whilst you do this. Destroy crops
and animals so people starve and leave the area virtually uninhabitable. As a
result of this, few (if any) of the locals will rush to rebel again, for fear of your
reprisals!
Diplomacy: One example of this is William's dealings with King Malcolm of
Scotland in 1071/72. Neither men engaged in battle and in turn negotiated
and came to an agreement, which was beneficial for both sides. Importantly
for William, he removed the threat of Scotland as a harbour for rebels (for the
time being at least). One could also refer to William's forgiveness of some of
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the rebels - initially forgiving Edwin and Morcar, and he also forgave Edgar on
multiple occasions. He also paid off the Danes in 1069, rather than engaging
them in battle.
Feudalism: To some extent, feudalism acted as a way of dealing with
opposition in that William transformed the makeup of English landholding and
effectively removed the power bases of Saxon England e.g. Wessex. William
chose to break the land of England into much smaller earldoms and shires,
thereby removing the potential for earls or magnates to garner huge amounts
of power and influence in large areas of the country. William allowed large
seats of power to disappear/wane over time e.g. Wessex (Harold was never
replaced); Ralph was never replaced as Earl of East Anglia; Waltheof was
never replaced as Earl of Northumbria and Roger de Breuteuil was never
replaced as Earl of Hereford.
William's leadership: William took a very active role in dealing with
opposition, particularly early in his reign.
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