The Revolts against William

Earl Edwin and Earl Morcar's Revolt

Edwin and Morcar led a revolt against William of Normandy in 1068. The causes of Edwin and Morcar's revolt can be split into personal causes that annoyed Edwin & Morcar. However, there were things that William did that annoyed more nobles and local peasants.

Causes of the revolt - Edwin and Morcar

Edwin and Morcar were the two people who led the revolt.
Edwin (Earl of Mercia) and Morcar (Earl of Northumberland) had both had their earldoms shrunk and some of their land taken when William took power in 1066.
When William first won over the support of the English nobility, he supposedly promised that his daughter would marry Edwin (Earl of Mercia). However, by 1068, Edwin had not married William's daughter.

Causes of the revolt - societal causes

There were divisions between the Anglo-Saxon people who had lived in England before the Norman invasion and the Normans. Norman people took over as the leaders of the Marcher earldoms and there were reports that Norman people were mistreating Anglo-Saxons and raping local women.
Marcher Earls were Norman and did not have to pay taxes to William. However, the geld tax, which William used to fund his private army, was very high and was mostly paid by the Anglo-Saxon earls, instead of the Norman earls.
The castles being built in Anglo-Saxon towns were funded by taxes on local people, protected the Norman elite and soldiers and often led to the demolition of local people's housing.

Events of the revolt

In response to the revolt, William sent his private army into Edwin's earldom, Mercia and Morcar's earldom, Northumbria.
His army captured the towns of Warwick and Nottingham in Mercia. After this military success, the two brothers (Edwin and Morcar) backed down.
Edwin & Morcar were welcomed back into King William's court. Other nobles who had joined the rebellion, including Edgar Aethling, the man appointed as king in 1066, ran away to Scotland (north of Northumbria).
There was some other resistance in the Marcher earldoms, with 'Eadric the Wild' launching a campaign against the Marcher earls.

Outcomes of the revolt

Morcar and Edwin returned to William's court, so no long term damage was done to their positions and livelihoods.
Edgar Aethling had left England and was now living in Scotland.
William realised that the earls controlling the north of England was dangerous for his power base. He appointed a man called Robert Cumin to rule over the north of England.
- The power given to Robert Cumin would help to cause later revolts.

Edgar the Aethling's Revolt

Edgar the Aethling provided the most significant resistance to Norman rule in 1069.

Background

After Edwin and Morcar's revolt, Robert Cumin was installed to have power in the north of England.
In January of 1069, Robert Cumin was made an earl in northern Northumbria (in Morcar's earldom). During a skirmish between local people and Cumin's military forces, Cumin was killed (in the city of Durham).

The revolt by locals and Edgar

Then, in February 1069, the governor of York and some of his garrison were killed, again by local people/militia.
Edgar the Aethling, tried to get involved in the revolution. He marched to England from Scotland with some troops to try to take power from William.
William intervened. He defeated the rebel forces, destroyed York and built a new range of castles across the north of England.

The Danish invasion of England

In September of the same year (1069), only 7 months after the York revolt, the King of Denmark, King Sweyn invaded England.
Edgar the Aethling had allied with King Sweyn and together, they tried to capture the north of England.
On the 21st of September, the rebels led by Edgar and King Sweyn, laid siege to York. They killed thousands of Norman soldiers in York.

Outcome of Edgar's revolt

Native Anglo-Saxon resistance to the Normans became a guerrilla war. They hid with local people and raided/attacked Norman resources and Norman soldiers, just like Vietnamese rebels did against the USA in the Vietnam War in the 20th century.
There were attacks on Normans across the North of England in this guerrilla war.
William had to do something to get control of the north of England. The harrying of the north was a response to this guerrilla war.

Hereward the Wake's Revolt

Hereward the Wake's rebellion at Ely (near Cambridge) in 1070 was the last major Anglo-Saxon rebellion against William.

Who was Hereward the Wake?

Hereward was a member of the nobility who was banished by Edward the Confessor as a troublemaker.
He returned to his home in Ely after exile and found that his land and the local town had been overrun by Normans. They owned his land, ruled over his people, and as suggested by the fact he had been banished previously, probably had some anger management issues.

The revolt of 1069-1071

So, in 1069, Hereward began to rebel against the Normans in charge in Ely.
Somehow, Hereward managed to join up with some of King Sweyn's Danish soldiers. They raided Peterborough Abbey, which was a local monastery, to either save or steal the treasure contained there. Nobody knows what happened for sure to the treasure.
Morcar joined forces with Hereward and the Danes, where they resisted until 1071. However, they lost the battle and this was the final real insurrection against the Normans.

1Anglo-Saxon England & The Norman Conquest, 1060-66

1.1Anglo-Saxon Society

1.1.1The Monarchy & Government

1.1.2Edward the Confessor (1003-1066)

1.1.3The Legal System

1.1.4Local Government

1.1.5The Economy & Social Structure

1.1.6Towns

1.1.7The Church

1.1.8End of Topic Test - Anglo-Saxon England

1.1.9Grade 9 - Anglo-Saxon Society

1.2Edward the Confessor & The Succession Crisis

1.2.1The House of Godwin

1.2.2Harold Godwinson's Succession

1.2.3The Rebellion Against Tostig

1.2.4Edward the Confessor's Death

1.2.5End of Topic Test - Edward the Confessor

1.3The Rival Claimants for the Throne

1.3.1William of Normandy, Harald Hardrada & Edgar

1.3.2The Witan & the Reign of Harold Godwinson

1.3.3The Battles of Gate Fulford & Stamford Bridge

1.3.4Grade 9 - Anglo-Saxon & Norman England

1.4The Norman Invasion

1.4.1The Battle of Hastings

1.4.2Reasons for William's Victory

1.4.3End of Topic Test - Rival Claimants for the Throne

2William I in Power: Securing the Kingdom, 1066-87

2.1Establishing Control

2.1.1The Submission of the Earls

2.1.2Getting Control of England

2.1.3Reasons for Building Castles

2.2Causes & Outcomes of Anglo-Saxon Resistance

2.2.1The Revolts against William

2.2.2End of Topic Test - William I in Power

2.3The Legacy of Resistance to 1087

2.3.1Harrying of the North, 1069-70

2.3.2Changes in Land Ownership 1066-1087

2.3.3William I Maintains Royal Power

2.4Revolt of the Earls, 1075

2.4.1The Revolt - 1075

2.4.2End of Topic Test - Legacy of Resistance

2.4.3Grade 9 - Legacy of Resistance

3Norman England, 1066-88

3.1The Feudal System & the Church

3.1.1The Norman Feudal Hierarchy

3.1.2The Nature of Feudalism & Forfeiture

3.1.3The Role of the Church in England

3.1.4The Extent of Change to Anglo-Saxon Society

3.1.5End of Topic Test - The Feudal System

3.2Norman Government

3.2.1Norman Government - Regents

3.2.2The Sheriff & the Forest

3.2.3The Domesday Book

3.3The Norman Aristocracy

3.3.1Aristocratic Culture & Language

3.3.2Bishop Odo

3.4William I & His Sons

3.4.1William I

3.4.2William's Death & the Succession

3.4.3End of Topic Test - Norman Government

3.4.4Grade 9 - Norman Government

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