Anglo Saxon and Norman England: 2.4

Question 1

Who was involved in the Revolt of the Earls (1075) ?

Answer 1

• Waltheof
  [] Northumbrian earl
  [] the last remaining Anglo-Saxon earl
  [] son of earl Siward (LARGELY followed in Northumbria, though this is kind of irrelevant after the Harrying of the North)
• Roger de Bruteil
  [] earl of Hereford (Marcher earldom)
  [] Norman
  [] son of William FitzOsbern (who died abroad in 1071)
• Ralph de Gael
  [] East Anglian earl
  [] Norman
  [] son of the previous East Anglian earl appointed by William

Question 2

Describe the key reasons for the Revolt of the Earls in 1075

Answer 2

• resentment
  [] loss of lands that should have been inherited (Roger de Breuteil’s Hereford was smaller than his father’s, etc.)
  [] loss of privileges
  [] loss of power (William reduced political powers of the Marcher earls by re-introducing his own sheriffs)
• opportunity
  [] William away in Normandy, with Archbishop Lanfranc as his regent
  [] previous Anglo-Saxon rebelliousness
  [] strong link to the Vikings as allies via Waltheof

Question 3

Describe the key events of the Revolt of the Earls, 1075

Answer 3

• at Ralph’s wedding feast, talked to Roger and Waltheof about taking over the country and splitting the land three-ways
• revolt failed to get widespread Anglo-Saxon support as they had hoped, and Waltheof lost faith in the rebellion
• Waltheof informed Lanfanc of the rebellion plans
  [] Lanfranc wrote to Roger trying to convince him not to rebel, then excommunicated him from the Church after it became apparent that he wouldn’t change his mind
• Bishop Wulfstan bottled Roger up in Herefordshire
• Norman and Anglo-Saxon troops bottled Ralph up in East Anglia
• William arrived back in England at the same time as the Viking fleet (they were late)
  [] despite the fleet being big enough to decimate William’s own forces quickly, the Vikings didn’t want to go into battle with William himself, as they feared his prowess
  [] instead, simply raided the northern coast and York cathedral before going back to Scandinavia as usual
• Ralph fled to Brittany
  [] his English followers were blinded
• Waltheof escaped but then was tricked into returning
  [] imprisoned
  [] executed in May of 1076
• Roger was imprisoned for life and William attacked his castle in Normandy
  [] William was overpowered during this attack and had to retreat; shows that his tactics only worked as smoothly as they did in England because the English and Scandinavians were unfamiliar with Norman styles of combat

Question 4

Describe the effects of the Revolt of the Earls, 1075

Answer 4

• showed William that he had to be wary of giving his own followers too much power
• the Anglo-Saxons began to accept and even support William’s rule and the Norman settlers
• Waltheof’s execution showed that William began to grow tired of rebellion and understood that he needed to be more ruthless with rebels overall
• William began to replace pretty much all Anglo-Saxons that had power, regardless of the sector
• the Viking threat of invasion ceased after their failure in 1075
  [] William however didn’t know this, and was still very wary of them; for example in 1086, had a huge oath-taking ceremony and prepared for a massive Viking invasion

Question 5

Explain briefly why the Revolt of the Earls, 1075, failed

Answer 5

• the Viking fleet arrived too late and were uncommitted
• Waltheof was uncommitted and had little faith in the rebellion
  [] perhaps wanted to appear more loyal to William by informing Lanfranc and abandoning the rebellion, however this backfired on him due to his history of rebellion
• WILLIAM HAD THE ANGLO-SAXONS’ SUPPORT; THEY FOUGHT FOR HIM EVEN WHEN HE WAS NOT PRESENT