Revolts Against the Normans, 1067 – 1075 (AQA GCSE History)

Summary

After his victory over Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, William was eager to establish his authority as the new King of England. Despite getting the Anglo-Saxon earls to swear oaths of allegiance to him and being officially coronated as king, it did not stop a series of rebellions and attempts to overthrow him. These occurred all over the country and started on the Welsh borders and the South Coast port of Dover. Harold Godwinson’s brother-in-laws led a revolt in 1068 and William crushed a rebellion in Exeter in the same year. The last Anglo-Saxon rebellion occurred in the Fenlands of the east of England and was led by Hereward the Wake in 1070 and 1071. Once that was defeated, William’s position with the Anglo-Saxons was more secure. However, he was then faced with a rebellion by his own Norman earls in 1075.

The Submission of the Earls

• After his victory at the Battle of Hastings, William still needed the Anglo-Saxon earls to surrender to him and recognise him as their king

  • After securing the South Coast and capturing Canterbury, he led his troops towards London

  • He also sent soldiers to capture Winchester and the Royal Treasury

  • The Normans destroyed homes and farms on the way to London and towns quickly surrendered to avoid being attacked

• The people of London, however, were willing to resist William’s invasion and felt they could hold out behind the city’s fortifications

  • Rather than attacking London head-on, William took his troops to Berkhamstead which was around 30 miles from London 

  • This drew the earls away from London’s defences and they all swore oaths of allegiance to William

  • William promised to be a ‘gracious lord’ to them

• William was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas day in 1066

• However, despite the submissions and oaths of loyalty, William continued to face revolts over the following months and years

The Welsh Borders, 1067

• The border between England and Wales had been difficult for Anglo-Saxon and Viking kings to control

• William faced difficulties which were started by a thegn from Herefordshire called Edric the Wild in 1067

  • Edric the Wild started a revolt that gathered support from both Anglo-Saxons and the Welsh princes

• Although slow to take hold, by 1069 the rebels had burned down Shrewsbury and fought against William at the Battle of Stafford

  • William personally led the efforts to suppress the rebellion and was eventually successful

  • It is unknown what happened to Edric but he no longer appeared as a landholder in 1086 when the Domesday Book was completed

The revolt of Eustace, 1067

• Eustace, the Count of Bologne and brother-in-law of Edward the Confessor launched an attack on Dover Castle in 1067

  • He had been encouraged to rebel by locals who were unhappy with the actions of their new Norman masters

  • Eustace took advantage of William’s journey to Normandy to launch his attack whilst England was being governed by William’s half-brother Odo

  • The knights of Dover Castle easily withstood Eustace’s attack

  • Eustace’s powerful friends and connections meant he remained an influential figure and an important landowner

  • He later reconciled with William

Edwin & Morcar’s revolt, 1068

• Edwin and Morcar were Harold Godwinson’s brothers-in-law who had led the Anglo-Saxon forces against the Vikings at the Battle of Fulford Gate

  • After Harold’s defeat at the Battle of Hastings, Edwin and Morcar submitted and swore an oath of loyalty to William at Berkhamsted

• Despite this, their loss of land and importance led them to lead a rebellion against Norman control in 1068

  • They planned to overthrow William and replace him with Edgar the Atheling

Key Events of Edwin and Morcar’s Revolt

• Edwin and Morcar’s rebellion was one of William’s motives for the Harrying of the North

• Edwin and Morcar submitted to William once again but both became involved in further acts of resistance against Norman rule including:

  • Edgar participated in further rebellions in the north of England in 1069 

  • Morcar participated in the Fens uprising

The South-West & Exeter, 1068

• The city of Exeter had refused to swear loyalty to William

  • Many of Harold Godwinson’s supporters, including his mother Gytha, lived in the area and began plotting against William

• William feared it might lead to a serious challenge to his authority so he returned from Normandy to personally lead the siege of Exeter

  • After 18 days, Exeter surrendered

• To prevent future rebellions, William built a castle in Exeter and placed it under the command of his half-brother - Robert of Mortain

Hereward the Wake, 1070-1071

• Hereward the Wake was a thegn from Ely in the marshy Fens region in the east of England

  • He emerged as a key figure in the rebellion against William and collaborated with King Sweyn of Denmark and Morcar

A flow diagram showing why Hereward the Wake became a rebel to William the Conqueror

• Hereward used guerrilla warfare tactics to ambush Norman soldiers and then merge back in with the local farmers

• When King Sweyn sent a Danish fleet to England in 1070, it established a base in Ely and formed an alliance with Hereward

  • Soon after, they raided Peterborough Abbey together

• In 1071, after learning that William was planning to arrest him and his brother Edwin, Morcar joined forces with Hereward

  • William assembled an army to crush the rebellion and Hereward and Morcar went to the Isle of Ely for protection

• Ely was isolated and surrounded by marshland which initially prevented William’s forces from capturing it

  • The two-mile-long causeway or bridge the Normans built collapsed which led to many soldiers drowning in their heavy armour

  • The huge siege tower that was built to dominate the marshland was burnt down

• Finally, some monks from Ely Abbey were persuaded or bribed to reveal a secret route through the marshlands 

  • The rebel base was soon overrun and Morcar was captured although Hereward managed to escape

• William never managed to capture Hereward but the defeat of his forces marked the end of Anglo-Saxon rebellions against Norman rule

Revolt of the Norman Earls, 1075

• William also faced a revolt from Normans who he had made earls in England

  • In 1075, Roger de Breteuil, the Earl of Hereford, and Ralph de Gael, the Earl of Norfolk, became angry at their reduced power and influence

  • They began to plot to overthrow William 

  • An Anglo-Saxon earl named Waltheof joined the planned rebellion

  • They also received support from the Danes and encouragement from the King of France 

• William learned of the plot early through Waltheof who, according to different accounts, told either William or Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury

  • William ordered Bishops Odo and Lanfranc to crush the rebellion and they did so brutally

  • Despite helping William by betraying his fellow plotters, Waltheof was found guilty of treason and executed

  • Roger de Breteuill and Ralph de Gael were stripped of their titles and lands