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Britain 1066–1500

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William's Problems and his Solutions

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Learning objectivesL

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What problems did William face in governing his new kingdom?

How did William deal with resistance?

How did William run the country?

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On Christmas Day 1066 William was crowned king in Westminster Abbey. However, his position was far from being secure. Many of the English thought he had no right to the throne. In their eyes he was a foreigner who had taken the country by force.

William's problems

William managed to crush any potential resistance in the south of England almost as soon as he invaded. But he had much more to do before he could control the whole country.

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Northern England

William’s problems began in the north. At this time northern England had closer ties with Scandinavia than with France.

Many Viking raiders had settled in the north of England during the 9th and 10th centuries. Northern culture and language had taken on a strong Scandinavian flavour.

For much of the 11th century, the Danish King Cnut and his descendents had ruled England from their seat in York.

Just because the south of England had fallen to William, didn’t mean the north would obey him.

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William’s early reign saw constant rebellions, especially in the north. The worst years of crisis were 1068–69.

In 1068 William tried to raise taxes in the north. The people rebelled and were promptly crushed. William built two new castles at York and left soldiers there to deal with any further trouble.

Unfortunately this strategy didn’t work. The rebels enlisted the support of the Danes, and fresh violence broke out in 1069. This time William dealt with the rebels with immense cruelty. His actions became known as the Harrying of the North.

Crisis and rebellion, 1068–69

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The Harrying of the North

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...Prince Edgar and the rebels came to York and the people of the city joined them. William came from the south and surprised them, ravaging York and killing hundreds. Then the Danes came with 240 ships into the Humber and joined the English leaders. With huge and joyful army they stormed York, killed hundreds of Normans, burned the castle…

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The Harrying of the North

Read this account of the start of the rebellion. Do you think the blame for the outbreak of violence

can be placed on one side or another?

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William came to York only to learn that the Danes had fled. The King ordered his men to repair the castles. He set out to search the forests … stopping at nothing to hunt down the rebels … He cut down many, destroyed the lairs of others and burned homes. Nowhere else had William shown such cruelty … He ordered that all crops, herds and food be burned, so that the whole region north of the Humber had nothing to live on…

Orderic Vitalis (1130)

Do you think William was right to behave as he did? What other options did he have?

The Harrying of the North

Now read this source. What is the attitude of the writer towards William’s treatment of the rebels?

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Securing control of a conquered country

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Keeping control

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The feudal system was an old Norman way of organizing and controlling society through land ownership. It wasn’t anything new – William simply imported it to England.

William took English land away from the Saxon earls and shared it out among the Norman noblemen who had supported him. In return, they paid homage to William. This means that they promised to be loyal to him and to provide soldiers – knights – in time of war.

The Norman noblemen, or barons, were each given too much land to look after on their own. So they parcelled it out to their followers – the knights. The knights in turn divided their estates up amongst their peasants, who had the job of farming the land.

The feudal system

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How the feudal system worked

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Hereward the Wake

Not all Saxons took the loss of their lands lying down. One of the Englishmen who defied William was Hereward the Wake.

Hereward was abroad in Flanders when William invaded in 1066. When he returned to his family estates in Lincolnshire, he found that his lands had been given to a Norman nobleman and his brother’s head was impaled on a stake above the entrance.

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Hereward’s revenge

Like a dog I was driven into the marshes. I lay

low, planning my revenge. Under cover of darkness I stormed the house, killing all I could find. When morning came, my brother’s head was gone. In its place were the heads of 15 Norman knights.

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Hereward, resistance leader

The rebels were only defeated when the Normans bribed the monks of Ely to guide them over the marshes to the Isle.

Hereward made his base on the Isle of Ely. It was a good choice for a stronghold, surrounded on all sides by treacherous marshes.

That wasn’t the end of the story. Hereward soon became the leader of a mixed band of Saxons and Danes who were opposed to the Norman occupation.

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Hereward – the end of the story

Most of my men were killed in the Norman assault on the Isle.

I managed to escape into the fens with a few of my followers and continue the struggle.

In the end I made peace with William. I married my daughter to a Norman, and got my lands back in return. Well… you can’t hold a grudge forever.

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In 1085 William decided that he needed to raise more money. He ordered his officials to make a survey of the goods and property owned by every person in England. In this way he could work out how much tax each person ought to pay.

All the information was taken to Winchester where it was put together to form the Domesday Book. No later king or queen has achieved anything like it.

The Domesday Book

Commissioners were sent out all over the country. Nearly all of England was surveyed. It was said that not a yard of land nor a cow nor a pig was left unrecorded.

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What did the Domesday Survey ask?

Is there a priest and a

church?

How much ploughed land is

there?

How much meadow is there?

How many smallholders are there?

What is the manor called?

How many cows, goats, oxen, horses, pigs,

beehives?

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The Domesday Book: source work

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William’s final method of control was to build castles around the country, especially in areas where his hold was weakest.

Initially these castles were made of wood, but in time they were strengthened using stone.

Castles

One of William’s first stone castles – the White Tower at the Tower of London.

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Crush the resistance!