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William I in power: Securing the kingdom (1067-1087) - Coggle Diagram
William I in power: Securing the kingdom (1067-1087)
Establishing control
Submission of the earls
After Hastings, Harold's army fled to London to re-group, the Witan declared Edgar Aetheling king
The archbishops of Canterbury and York, the surviving earls gathered in London
William marched around London, which was a walled city at the time
Once William reached Berkhamstead, The earls and Edgar submitted to him there, in return, William promised to be a "gracious lord"
Marcher earldoms
William relaised he needed to consolidate his border with troublesome Wales. So he created new "marcher" earldoms centred around Hereford, Shrewsbury and Chester
Marcher earldoms were much smaller and compact than other earldoms, making them easier to defend, control and ensure they were not too powerful
Marcher earldoms had much more independence, which encouraged settlers from Normandy
They had more independence on law-making, allowing them to deal with resistance
Rewarding followers and punishing rebels
William declared that all land in England belonged directly to him
He then split the land into smaller, less powerful and more numerous earldoms, which were awarded mainly to family and close followers
Some loyal Anglo-Saxons also remained in power, ie, Edwin and Morcar alongside Gospatric of Northumbria, albeit with significantly less power and land
All Anglo-Saxon survivors of hastings had their lands confiscated
Building castles
William built lots of "motte and bailey" castles, which were walled, moated compounds centred around a main building on a hill
These were built in strategic locations to quickly put down rebellions or simply to deter them
Anglo-Saxon resistance 1068-1071)
Revolt of Edwin and Morcar (1068)
Result of Edwin and Morcar developing resentment for new king over poor government, oppression of Anglo-Saxon nobles, taxation and loss of land
Edwin and Morcar feld William's court and assembled with most of the remaining Saxons in power in the north
William responded swiftly taking Warwick, York and Nottingham, The rebels quickly surrendered
The rebellion led to the house arrest of Edwin and Morcar, Edgar Aetheling fled to Scotland, and removal of almost all Anglo-Saxon leaders, leaving exclusivly Normans as the ruling class
Return of Edgar Aetheling and the north (1069)
New earl Robert Cumin was murdered by locals for being oppressive
This opened an opportunity for Edgar to return with a fighting force, which took York
King Sweyn of Denmark gathered a fleet to aid the rebels
In response William paid the Danes to leave, leaving the rebels defenceless, they quickly collapsed
William embarked on the Harrying of the North, a slaughter of the north in pure rage and retaliation, up to 100,000 people died (around 5% of the entire population of England) and the land was deemed uninhabitable
This sent a clear message to the north, where rebellion had been finally stamped out
Hereward the Wake/Ely (1071)
Hereward was a Anglo-Saxon earl who returned to his lands to find them confiscated and under Norman control.
Outraged, Hereward began a guerrilla warfare campaign in East Anglia, backed by the Danish
William held his base, the Isle of Ely under seige, but failed to penetrate until a monk showed him a second route over the marshland.
Morcar was arrested and probably later died in prison, but Hereward escaped, never heard from again
This was the final significant Anglo-Saxon rebellion
Revolt of the Earls (1075)
In 1075, William was away in Normandy, 3 earls, Roger de Bruteill, Ralph de Gael and Waltheof planned to take over and split the country between them
This was a result of a loss of power, land and independence among the earls, who received Danish backing
Waltheof betrayed them and reported the coup to regent Lanfranc
They did not receive backing of the people, the Danes arrived too late, and forces were gathered under regent Lanfranc rapidly before William returned
The revolt was over before it started
Ralph fled to Britanny
Roger was imprisoned for life
Waltheof was imprisoned and later executed, despite his reporting of the planned coup