Rebellions Flashcards
Hereward the Wake
• 1070 - major rebellion in East Anglia
• in June 1970 Ely was attacked by the Danes - took control of town and abbey
• English thegn, Hereward, attached abbey at Peterborough 30 miles from Ely
• Hereward took the abbey’s treasures and gave them to the Danes who had taken Ely
• joined forces and they created a strong base on the island of Ely to defend against the power of the Normans
• William met with Danish King, Svein, and they agreed the Danish army would leave - weren’t in fighting condition and left with treasures.
• William went back to Normandy. Abbot of Ely supported William, rebels gathered to join him and his reputation grew
• Earls Edwin and Morcar decided to join, possible that Edwin died on the way.
• William came back in 1071 and laid seige to Ely
• easy to send ships to block of supplies and prevent the rebels leaving by sea
• Williams army reached Ely by building a causeway over the marshes
• English surrendered
• rebels were imprisoned, maimed or blinded
• Hereward escaped and continued resistance - never posed such a threat again
First Uprisings 1066-1068
• after battle of Hastings, Witan chose Edgar Aethling to be King
• Edric the Wild began the first uprisings against the Normans but was not a serious threat.
• first large uprising took place near Hereford in August 1067 - Edric lost most of his land to Norman knights
• King Harold’s mother, Gytha, plotted a more serious rebellion in Exeter. By the end of 1067, spies told him trouble was coming. When William returned to London, Exeter strengthened their defences. Gytha sent Harold’s sons to Ireland to gather an army and contacted the Danish King, hoping he would invade from the East. Asked them to swear an oath of loyalty, but they refused, adding he would not be allowed in the city and they would not pay anymore tax to him.
• William besieged the city by undermining the walls - after 18 days Exeter surrendered and offered precious objects and holy books, begging for mercy
What happened to Edric the Wild?
• joined with Welsh princes to raid Norman held land and destroy Hereford itself
• lived in open as an outlaw and became a folk hero
• raids were never a serious threat
Rebellions in East 1070-1071
• church played a key role in rebellions in the East because William’s reforms were unpopular - dealing with rebellions cost him a lot of money, confiscated money and treasures that had been hidden in the monasteries
• in 1070, Danes attached and captured Ely - East Anglia had been a Viking stronghold, so people hoped the Dane would get rid of William
• 1071 - laid seige
• William was not prepared to deal with such blatant rebellion - gathered an army and marched to Exeter
Rebellions in the North (1068-1070)
• summer of 1068 - William received a letter from the North of England saying if he tried to enter their lands, they would fight him - agreement between powerful lords, eg Edgar Aethling, Earl Edwin and Earl Morcar
• William gathered an army and marched North, built a castle at Warwick in the middle of Edwin’s lands. Built another castle in Nottingham. Edwin and Morcar surrendered, power and influence were damaged
• Edgar Aethling and other rebel leaders attacked York. After a vicious battle, William retook it. Rebel leaders escaped, William built a second castle in York and put William FitzOsbern in charge
• sent troops to destroy the land and root out rebels in the Harrying of the North Crops, animals and food were destroyed, caused widespread famine. Domesday book shows some areas were depopulated
