William’s consolidation of power

Question 1

Three main methods

Answer 1

• Crushing rebellions
• Doomsday Book
• The Church

Question 2

What were the main rebellions against William I?

Answer 2

• Kent Rising (1067)
• Welsh Border (1067)
• Exeter Rising (1068)
• Northern Rising (1069-1070)
• East Anglia (1070-1071)
• Revolt of Norman Earls (1075)

Question 3

Causes of the Kent Rising

Answer 3

• Odo was given control of Kent and behaved in a tyrannical manner
• As a result, locals became upset and revolted against his rule, appealing to Eustace of Boulogne for help

Question 4

Events of the Kent Rising

Answer 4

• Rebels attempted to take Dover, but failed to wait for English military support so were defeated, by Odo’s men

Question 5

William’s response to the Kent Rising

Answer 5

• Cheshire, Shrewsbury and Hereford created on the border, ran by trusted Normans

Question 6

Causes of Exeter Rising

Answer 6

• Harold’s mother and his sons were in the south west, and had refused to submit to William

Question 7

Events of the Exeter Rising

Answer 7

• Early 1068, William laid siege to Exeter, which held out against him for 18 days
• Summer of 1068, Harold’s sons landed on the Somerset coast but were repelled by troops
• There was no central figure for troops to rally around, so uprisings were limited in size and effectiveness

Question 8

William’s response to the Exeter Rising

Answer 8

• He gave lenient terms and built a castle to ensure future control
• Marched to Cornwall where he showed his power, receiving the submission of Bristol and Gloucester on the way
• William ended 1068 with a series of rides through Warwick, Nottingham, York, Lincoln and Cambridge to show his presence as the new King
• William’s loyal followers Brian of Brittany and Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances restored order against Harold’s sons, who attacked again from Ireland in 1069 with 60 ships, whilst William was preoccupied elsewhere in his kingdom

Question 9

Causes of the Northern Rising

Answer 9

• Earls Edwin and Morcar, and Edgar Aetheling left William’s court and fled north in 1068 because they felt they had been treated badly by William
• 1069, people of Northumbria made a bid for independence, Northumbria had long resisted English rule and they had an ongoing history of continuous rebellion

Question 10

Events in the Northern Rising

Answer 10

• King of Denmark (Swegn Estrithsson) and King of Scotland joined forces with Edgar Aetheling, summer of 1069, Viking army of 240 ships led by Swegn landed in England and marched on York
• Together, they seized York and their success encouraged revolts in Dorset, Somerset, Staffordshire and Cheshire
• Also in 1069, the men of Shrewsbury joined a raid on the town by Eadric the Wild to rise up against the new castle built there by Roger de Montgomery
• The whole of northern England was in revolt, uncoordinated and opportunistic, but nonetheless united in its opposition to the Northern King

Question 11

William’s response to the Northern Rising

Answer 11

Harrying of the North
- Left Roger de Montgomery to deal with the Welsh raid of Eadric on his own
- Marched north to York and built new castles at Warwick and Nottingham on the way
- Edwin and Morcar went on the run, Eadric the Wild retreated back into Wales, unable to do any more than set fire to the town of Shrewsbury
- He reached York, ravaged the city, burnt it to the ground and killed the male population
- Moved to Northumbria, he systematically ravaged it, burnt the crops and destroyed houses
- Caused a famine in Yorkshire- 80% of the wasteland recorded in the Domesday Book was in Yorkshire, it had been left as a desert by William
- William payed the Danes to leave, seeing their allies defeated they knew the rebellion was futile, so left

Question 12

Causes of rebellion at the Welsh border

Answer 12

• Eadric the Wild raised a revolt in Herefordshire

Question 13

Events during rebellion at the Welsh border

Answer 13

• Managed to gain support of Welsh princes but they failed to secure control at the border
• Further rebellions in Cheshire and Shropshire in 1069

Question 14

William’s response to rebellion at the Welsh border

Answer 14

• Commanders of Mercia were unable to completely suppress the revolt, so William had to deal with it in person, inflicting an easy victory

Question 15

When and why was the Domesday Book created?

Answer 15

• Compiled in 1085-1086
• Describes landholdings and resources present in the 11th century in remarkable detail
• Had legal, military and financial purposes

Question 16

Legal and Property

Answer 16

• Allowed William to know who held lands and ownership of resources, which was then written down and documented
• This meant that long, drawn out disputes and legal hearings which had been long unresolved could be legally settled
• Allowed William to legalise his conquest

Question 17

Military

Answer 17

• Threat of invasion from Denmark and Norway in 1085 meant that accurate military information was vital
• Allowed William to find out how much he needed to pay for the army and where his commanders and soldiers were located
• To strengthen his position, William summoned all the major landowners to Salisbury in August 1086 and had them swear an oath of allegiance to him

Question 18

Financial

Answer 18

• Provided William an exact record of the local