KT3 Flashcards
When did William become King of England?
25th December 1066 at Westminster Abbey.
Why were the English unhappy with the Normans?
- Gyyha wanted revenge as he killed her son (Harold)
- Pride (hated a foreigner ruling)
- Loss of land (Saxons who rebelled lost land, given to Normans)
- Taxation (William taxed Saxons twice in his first 2 years as King, making them poor)
- Loss of power (Edwin & Morcar were still Earls but lost land to Norman knights)
- Numbers (Saxons outnumbered Norman’s yet they were in charge - angering them)
When a crowd gathered to celebrate William as king what did the Normans do?
Panicked & set fire to nearby buildings to scare the town as they thought they were gathering as an act of armed resistance. Most people fled, leaving him with just his supporters.
Who rebelled in 1067?
Eadric the Wild.
How did Eadric the Wild attack?
- Attacked Hereford on border with Wales (him & other Saxon landowners were replaced with Normans).
- At first William did nothing as he didn’t see him as a threat. He was in France with Edgar, Edwin & Morcar (his prisoners).
- 1069 he returned, raiding English lands & burned Shrewsbury (Norman town).
- Defeated by William’s men.
What did William do due to Eadric’s attack?
Creates 3 new Earldoms along Welsh border. These men were told to build big stone castles to defend England from Welsh.
What was the Revolt in Exeter?
- Gytha (Harold’s mother) & Harold’s family’s supporters were there: thousands joined her.
- William besieged Exeter & defeated the rebels.
- William swore an oath he wouldn’t plunder the city, punish people of Exeter or demand extra taxes from them
- However he took all of Gytha’s lands.
When & what were the rebellions of Edwin & Morcar?
- 1068, William returned to England & released them.
- William promised Edwin he could marry his daughter.
- William didn’t keep his promise.
- Edwin & Morcar met with Saxon landowners in Mercia, agreeing to rebel.
- 1069 William built castles on Edwin’s lands & told his men to kill any Saxons.
- When Edwin & Morcar heard about this they quickly surrender & submitted again.
- William let them live but they lost some land.
William was known as a…
Tyrant
When & what was the Harrying of the North?
- 1069-70
- Norman army defeated by Saxon rebels at Durham.
- Northerners rebel, defeating Norman soldiers in York (Edgar Aetheling leads)
- William’s men retake York & build castle. Edgar flees back to Scotland.
- Harold’s sons invade from Ireland, William’s commander defeats them.
- King of Denmark invades.
- Normans march North burning towns & executing people & cause a famine by burning crops, killing cattle & ploughing salt into the soil so nothing would grow for years.
When & what was the Rebellion at Ely?
- 1070-71.
- Denmark invades (King Swein)
- Saxon rebels flock to Isle of Ely to support the Danes (led by Hereward the Wake).
