The Englisc Resistance to the Norman Usurpers!

WILLIAM’S MARCH ON LONDON

After the construction of the cairn or Mountjoy, on Caldbec Hill,  William returned to the camp at Hastings. Here he waited five days,  partly to rest his troops and partly to await any arrival of a  deputation from the English. When none came, he struck his camp and  marched from that site with his remaining forces, no doubt leaving a  strong garrison behind. The numbers of his army must have been severely  weakened after both the Battle for Senlac “Blood Lake” Ridge, and the  struggle at the Mal-fosse “Evil Ditch”, perhaps even by 25 to 30 per  cent of his original invasion force, and by the end of October much  needed reinforcements had arrived from across the English Channel “and  William was going to need them”.
William’s route can tentatively be reconstructed from chroniclers’  reports and the areas of waste recorded in Domes-day Book. He moved  towards Dover, detaching troops en route to punish the town of Old  Romney whose inhabitants had killed either the crew of two stray Norman  invasion ships or a foraging party. Dover submitted and the usurper had a  castle built within the Roman fortress on the cliffs. Squires fired  several houses but the usurper made reparation for them. While here the  army was stricken with dysentery, but, leaving the sick behind, the  usurper proceeded to Canterbury where representatives came out to submit  before he reached the city. The men of Kent also now submitted. The  usurper himself was taken ill but was determined to press on as forage  was needed for the army.

In London there was panic as the Norman invaders approached. Either or  both Stigand of Canterbury and Ealdred of York elected the young Edgar  Atheling as king, probably supported by Earls Edwin and Morcar. There  seemed no set plan of resistance, however. Wary of the power of the city  of London, the Usurper veered westwards. A large detachment advanced to  the city where it sacked and burnt Southwark after skirmishing with  Londoners who had crossed London Bridge. The Usurper may have hoped to  seize the city by surprise, or it may have been a diversionary tactic to  allow the main army to pass by to the south. The detachment rejoined  the main force that continued into Hampshire and Berkshire, dividing  into columns that wasted the countryside partly for food and partly to  intimidate London. Winchester’s submission now meant that the capital  and the south-east ports were under the usurper’s control.

He crossed the Thames at Wallingford where Archbishop Stigand came to  submit and dissociate himself from Edgar. After having built a castle in  the English burh the usurper now moved north and east, finally turning  south to (most probably Little) Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire. Here he  was met by Ealdred, Edgar and several magnates who possibly included  Edwin and Morcar. The latter earls, having declined to fight at  Hastings, according to Malmesbury, now tried to make one or the other of  themselves king and when that failed disappeared northwards, hoping  that their safty lay in Northumbria. If so, they may have submitted at  Barking after the coronation.
The usurper is supposed to have been wary of immediately accepting the  crown because of the numerous rebels still to be dealt with.

He was persuaded by the army and also by the English delegation who  wished to have a King and who pointed out that as King he would be more  able to suppress further revolt, obviously this was incorrect, since  although they had submitted to the Usurper’s Rule, it would not mean  that all Englishmen would do likewise if William the “Bastard Usurper”  took the invitation and was proclaimed King, and as time was to prove,  it would take more than William excepting the Crown of England, to  subdue any English Revolt.

William came down to London and appears to have entered without  incident, though Jumieges tells of a skirmish at the gates and the  Carmen describes elaborate siege works and negotiations. The march from  Hastings had covered more than 350 miles. William was crowned in Edward  the Confessor’s new church at Westminster on Christmas Day, 1066 AD. At  the shout of acclimation the Norman soldiers stationed outside thought a  riot had begun and began firing the nearby houses. As fighting broke  out between the English and the Norman soldiers, many of those within  the Church rushed outside while William the “Usurper King”, it was  reported, trembled like an aspen leaf. Having come so far and caused so  much suffering and bloodshed that even at the very time of coronation it  seemed that his dreams might be thwarted. Given the panic, the sound of  fighting and the burning buildings, as the smell of smoke blew into the  Church, it must have appeared that God himself had declared him unfit  for the sacred office, the office he’d usurped by violence and  bloodshed, an office that wasn’t his by right, but the half-empty  interior, Archbishop Eldred placed the Crown of England on William the  “Bastard Usurper’s” head.

THE CONQUEST BEGINS

We have been taught wrongly that the Battle for Senlac Ridge (BLOOD LAKE  RIDGE) “Hastings” was the final act of Conquest, but if anything that  is far from the truth. The Battle was certainly a decisive victory for  the Norman Invaders, but it was a costly one, both for the Normans and  the English, especially for the English, since Harold our last true King  and two of his brothers, as well as many of the cream of the native  English nobility, were now dead. Also counting the slaughter of good  English fighting men at both the first two bloody engagements Fulford  and Stamford Bridge not only assisted the Usurper, since it reduced  Harold’s immediate potential, but also helped neutralize a serious  concerted threat from the North of England. In addition, the lack of  castles or fortified positions in England before the Norman Invasion was  seen as a reason for the ease of the Usurpers takeover. There were no  fortified pockets  from which the English could ambush or attack his  forces and supply lines during a march. By contrast, the Usurper threw  up castles everywhere. However, it would take twenty more years before  he could feel secure in his new Kingdom.

THE BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH RESISTANCE

The English resistance to the Usurper’s Rule at first manifested its  self not in armed defiance, but in stubbornness, when English monks at  Peterborourgh not only elected one of their own to replace the recently  deceased abbot, but sought out Edgar Atheling, whom they themselves  declared was the only true King of the English, to approve this  appointment. William was not happy with this blatant English  stubbornness to his rule so soon after his coronation, and sent armed  men to show them his wroth. Fortunately William was always greedy for  gold and allowed himself to be bought off with a hefty fine. Afterwards  William returned to Normandy in March 1067 AD, leaving Bishop Odo and  his seneschal, William FitzOsbern in charge but their methods were heavy  handed which lead to out-right armed revolt.


EDRIC THE WILD AND THE BEGINNING OF ARMED ENGLISH REVOLT

Real armed rebellion in 1067 AD, was brewing in the hilly Marcher land  of the Welsh Borders. Here the two Norman Earls who belonged to Families  who settled in that area during the reign of Edward the Confessor, in  their usual Norman greed for land, used the confusion caused by the  Usurper’s seizing of the English throne, to extend their land holdings  at the expense of local English Thanes. They attacked those lands held  by Edric, who was soon to become known as ‘the Wild’. This Edric is  thought to be the Edric the Steersman who commanded the English Channel  Fleet in 1066. There was already bad blood between Edric and his Norman  neighbours and now that bad blood exploded into open warfare. In revenge  for raids on his land Edric, in alliance with two Welsh princes,  Bleddyn and Rhiwallon, devastated Herefordshire and eventually sacked  Hereford itself, before withdrawing back into the hills ahead of the  Usurper’s revengeful army.  

William the “Usurper” returned to spend Christmas in London and in early  1068 AD marched on Exeter, which submitted and was given a castle. The  castellan later pushed into Cornwall to establish Norman Rule. In the  summer three illegitimate sons of Harold landed from Ireland but were  beaten off by the men of Somerset. When revolt broke out in Devon and  Cornwall the following year the men of Exeter, mindful of the royal  power, dealt with the trouble.

William’s wife, Mathilda, came over in the spring of 1068 AD, to be  crowned at Westminster. At about this time Edgar removed himself to  Scotland while Edwin and Morcar began to foment trouble; Edwin was said  to have been denied the promise of William’s daughter in marriage. The  northern earls allied with their nephew, Bleddyn of Wales, and a  northern insurrection seemed likely. William the “Usurper King”  proceeded to march north to deal with it, building castles as he went.  While one of those castles was being built at Warwick, Edwin and Morcar  submitted; while was beginning on the castle at Nottingham, York was  surrendering. Malcolm of Scotland made peace with William’s  representative, the Bishop of Durham. William then built a motte in York  itself (probably what is now known as Clifford’s Tower, although the  stone work on the summit is 13th century in date. The second motte  across the river, the Old Bailey, may be that built the following year  in response to further unrest.)
William then returned south, placing castles at Lincoln, Huntingdon and  Cambridge. The following year 1068 AD, the north again rose in  rebellion. In January of that year, William the “Usurper King” appointed  a certain Robert de Commines or (Comines), as Earl of Northumberland  and the first Norman Earl of Northumbria, without any attempt to ask the  English of Northumbria if they were willing to accept a Norman Overlord  rather than the English Earl Morcar. Of course the result of this  blatant act of Norman arrogance was that the English rose in rebellion  and massacred Robert and the 900 Norman troops while they were staying  in the city of Durham. Edgar Atheling took advantage of this rebellion  and massacre, and came south from Scotland and received the men of  Northumbria at York. At this, William acted swiftly and marched north  and with complete surprise he sacked the city of Durham killing hundreds  of the English population and torched the city.

In 1069 AD, Harold’s sons were back raiding the west of England again,  unfortunately for them they were met and defeated at the hands of Earl  Brian of Penthievre, at which they withdrew back to Ireland. More or  less at the same time that Harold’s sons were raiding Cornwall, Edric  the Wild and his Welsh allies had broken out from their Marcher hills  and sacked a took Shrewsbury before moving onto Chester. William the  “Usurper King” was tied up dealing with the rebellion in the North so  had to leave Edric to his own devices until he’d dealt with Earl’s Edwin  and Morcar who were supported by the Danish King, Swein Esthrithson,  who also had a claim to the English throne.

The Danish Fleet of around 240 and 300 ships, which also included three  of Swein‘s sons and a brother. Plundered their way north via Dover,  Sandwich, Ipswich and Norfolk before sailing into the Humber. Fighting  alongside them were the Earl’s Waltheof and Gospatrick, together with  Edgar Atheling. As the northern rebellion spread, the English and their  Danish allies marched on York and attacked both the City and the new  Norman Castle. William Malet the Norman Constable of York, sent word  that he could not hold out much longer in York and William the “Usurper  King” marched rapidly toward the city, in a march that can almost be  compared with King Harold’s march north in 1066 AD. The Constable of  York fired the houses surrounding the castle (Clifford’s Tower) to  prevent them being used but the flames spread throughout the city even  to the Minster, the Norman garrison made a sortie which was defeated and  the Norman garrison was slaughtered, after which heroic verses were  sung about Earl Waltheof’s exploit in slaying many Normans with his  long-axe as they tried to escape through one of the cities many gates.  After William had retaken York the English and their Danish allies  withdrew, and a second castle was built on the other bank of the Ouse  (Now known as the Old Bailey – or from the Old French word baile.)

William the “usurper King” continued his campaign in the north of  England laying waste as he went, leaving his subordinate commanders to  deal with the revolts in Devon and Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset, and  Cheshire. The Danes took to their ships and began raiding the east coast  of England, seeking help from their brethren in the Dane-Law part of  England, which included the marshy wetlands of the Fens, where other  problems were brewing.

The “usurper” left part of his forces to watch the Fens while he crossed  the Pennine hills to face the threat posed by Edric and the Welsh  princes. Edric now had a formidable force bolstered by the fighting men  of Cheshire and Staffordshire. The “usurper” rode with his force and  joined Earl Brian, who had marched up from the West Country after  dealing with our dead King Harold’s sons. Edric became wary and withdrew  to the hills with his fighting men from Herefordshire and Shropshire.  The Welsh, with the remaining English, fought on and were defeated at  the Battle of Stafford. The “Usurper” true to his violent and  destructive nature proceeded to devastate the surrounding countryside  laying it waste. A further revolt in the West Country, that seemed to be  aimed at individual Normans, fizzled out in the face of Norman forces  drawn from London and the south east and through internal arguments  amongst the insurgents.

The “usurper” now dealt with the problem of Northumberland, a problem  that had feasted and grown with the stepping up of the revolt in the  Fens lead by the local landholder, one Hereward the Wake. After a hard  march north along a route determined by violent resistance, broken  bridges and swollen rivers, the “usurper” took and re-entered York  without a fight. The Danes had fled and the men of Northumberland,  dispirited by the “usurper’s” ability to advance despite the hazards set  before him by both nature and the English, fled into the hills, pursued  by the Normans. With grim determination, the “usurper’s” army set about  their usual task of destroying homes and crops, and extinguishing all  Human and animal life from the Humber to the Wash. Those Englishmen,  women and children who avoided violent death, died from exposure or  starvation.

The bloodletting didn’t end there, but continued even while the “Bastard  usurper” William celebrated Christmas at York, complete with a feast  served on silver plate especially brought up from Winchester, while the  English suffered and starved. Christmas over, the “usurper” pursued the  men of Tees around the Cleveland hills. The “usurper’s” harrowing of the  north had its effect on the leaders of the northern rebellion, as  Waltheof and Gospatrick both came to an accommodation with him. The  usurper made his way back to York in atrocious conditions, seeking bands  of Englishmen as he and his army went, suffering heavy losses of men in  the process. Here he re-erected the castles that the English and their  Norse allies had burned down and re-garrisoned them. He was now able to  turn his destructive attention to Chester, which was still defiantly  refusing to recognise him as their King. Chester was at the northern  extremity of the Welsh Marches and at the same time offered access to  the Norse based in Ireland, should they decide to help their brethren  living in Cumberland.

In the January of 1070 AD, a Norman army marched across the Pennines in  bad weather through land that offered them no sustenance since they  themselves had laid it waste. The usurper’s army suffered badly in the  hills to both the weather and continues English ambushes and hit and run  attacks both during the day and at night. The men, who were mainly  mercenaries from the northern provinces of France, mutinied, so he  abandoned them to their fate, and their just fate was freezing to death  or butchered by the vengeful English.

The usurper with a reduced force consisting of only Normans, he arrived  at Chester, and it submitted without a fight. He then busied himself  building castles to hold the north down. He also spent money on buying  the Norse, under their leader, Jarl Osbjorn, off with large Danegeld.


HEREWARD THE WAKE AND RESISTANCE IN THE FENS

The revolt in the Fens, lead by Hereward, had been strengthened by  refugees from the bloody Usurper’s ravages in the north the harrowing of  Northumberland, including Earl Morcar. At the same time Osbjorn was  taking the Norman bribe had also weakened the English revolt in the  North, and to some extent the revolt in the Fens. However, whilst his  brother, Jarl Osbjorn, and his fleet had been bought off, King Swein of  Denmark and a new Norse Fleet hadn’t! What happened during the years  1070 and 1071 AD is as much apart of legend as it is of recorded fact.  We know that the usurper made at least two or more unsuccessful  attempts, either in person, or through his lieutenant, to take the Isle  of Ely where Hereward and his stubborn English and Norse forces were  based. We also know that Hereward kept his Norse allies paid by allowing  them to sack Peterborough and its Cathedral, which was now controlled  by a Norman Abbot. What we do not really know are the exact facts of  either Hereward’s resistance operations, or the reason why eventually  Swein, allowed himself to be bought off, was it perhaps that Swein saw  himself in a no win situation, that he let himself be bought off, or  some other reason, what ever the truth of the reason, Hereward lost his  Norse allies, and after continues Stubborn English resistance the  Normans later took the Isle of Ely, the legend is that the resistance in  the Fens ended after local monks betrayed the secret causeways through  the Fens allowing the Normans access to the Isle, it may be legend or it  may be fact but what ever the reason the Isle was taken. But although  Ely fell some time in the year 1071, Hereward escaped and, with a band  of true followers, continued to be a thorn in the Usurper King’s side  for many years to come.

There will be more on Edric, Hereward and other English Leaders later on  in this article in the continuing story of the English Nation.

THE ENGLISH RESISTANCE CONTINUES

1072 AD, and this time the trouble comes from the Scots, whom with their  numbers swelled by many English, including Edgar Atheling, the usurper  took a Norman army across the border and confronted Malcolm the King of  Scots at Abernethy. But Malcolm lost the fight in him and accepted what  he thought was the inevitable and made peace.

By the year 1073 AD, the usurper felt that at last he had conquered the  English. And it was perhaps just as well, when he had news that his  French subjects in Main were in revolt. The army that the usurper King  William took with him to subdue his French subjects was largely English.  And these Englishmen were going to show that they had watched their new  Norman Over-lords well, for it was they who devastated Main in the same  manner as the Normans had done to their lands in the north, in  Cheshire, Northumberland, Cumberland, and North Derbyshire and  Yorkshire, so perhaps the English had had some of their bloody revenge.  But back in England, the Usurper King’s feelings that he had finally put  an end to any English Resistance were perhaps a bit premature, apart  from some roving bands of bandits praying on their new Over-lords,  England was still very much quietly brooding both in that year of 1073  and in the following years.

“THE REVOLT OF THE EARLS”

THE STORM OF ENGLISH REBELLION BRAKES OUT AGAIN

The English storm broke yet again in the year 1075 with the rebellion  known as the “Revolt of the Earls”. The two Earls were both half English  and half French, and previously they had supported the usurper King in  his claim to the English throne in that bloody year of usurpation and  change AD 1066. Ralf, Earl of East Anglia, who was English on his  father’s side and had been born in Norfolk, but had grown up in  Brittany. And Roger, Earl of Hereford, who was English on his mother’s  side and who was born in Hereford, was Ralf’s brother-in-law. These two  Anglo-French Earls plotted to bring in Danish support, they were also in  communication with both Edric the Wild and Earl Waltheof for their  support. Waltheof declined his support and would not get involved in any  plot, but also declined to betray them. If this rebellion was  successful, the simultaneous rising of the Earls would split England in  two. But as fate would have it the timing of the revolt was out of  alignment and the usurper King was able to crush Earl Roger’s forces,  before dealing with Earl Ralf’s forces. The only memorable event was the  stubborn defence of Norwich by Ralf’s new bride, Emma, where she  withstood the bloody Norman siege for three long hard months after her  husband had left to seek support and aid from the Danes. The Norse fleet  of perhaps 200 ships were too late to lift the siege. What of the two  Anglo-French Earls though, well Ralf made it to his Breton holdings to  be joined by his wife, and there they continued their fight against the  Normans. Ralf’s punishment was the losing of all right to his English  lands. Earl Roger was also disinherited. But unfortunately for him he  had been captured and spent the rest of his life in prison. But what of  Earl Waltheof, well having refused to take part in the “Revolt of the  Earls”, and had nonetheless sworn an oath of secrecy, but on the advice  of Lanfranc, the Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, he revealed the whole  plan to the usurper King William. And at first the usurper accepted  Waltheof’s protestations of innocence but, some have said that on the  information given to him by his niece Judith, Waltheof’s wife, the  usurper later charged the Earl of Northumerland with treason and had him  beheaded. But the English and as it turned out many of the Normans were  against the execution. Sometime after Earl Waltheof’s execution  miracles were reported at Waltheof’s tomb and it rapidly became a place  of pilgrimage. Many contemporaries have said that the usurper King’s  look changed from then onwards as a result of Divine judgment.  

THE USURPER’S TROUBLES CONTINUE

The usurper’s troubles were now coming from France and the borders with  Scotland where Malcolm and his English supporters were regularly  raiding. The Welsh too were becoming a growing cause for Norman concern.  And he was still having a few problems with the English from the mid  1070’s onward, but the major problem with the continuing English  resistance came in 1080 AD, when the men of Gateshead slew the Norman  Bishop of Durham and massacred a hundred Frenchmen, and in the year 1086  AD when Edgar Atheling was again in revolt. And throughout the rest of  his reign, the usurper would have no real peace from his English  subjects and he would continue to be threatened by the Norse, even in  the following year 1087, the year of the “Bastard Usurper’s” death he  was still having trouble from the Norse, who new that any landing they  made on the East Anglia or Northumberland coasts they would find strong  support from their brethren in the Old Dane-law.

Even in those later years, when it seemed to the new Norman Over-lords  that the English were getting used to their new masters, things were not  as peaceful as they looked. Evidence of this is the Murdrum fine.  Because of the high rate of homicide being inflicted on the Normans and  their French allies by the English, William the usurper King legislated  that all Frenchmen who settled in England after the invasion were to be  in the King’s peace and therefore he was their protector in an alien  land. Its introduction was to be recognised at the time as being  necessary due to the stubborn hatred of the Normans by the English, and  the growing number of attacks on them. The fine was a high one of 46  Marks. This sum was to be paid by the lord of the dead man to the Crown  if the perpetrator was not soon caught. If the killer could not  reimburse the victim’s lord, then the Hundred where the crime had been  committed had to.

In view of the strength and longevity of the English resistance to their  new usurper King, why did it fail, if it really failed at all? Well one  vital element was the Usurper’s determination and immense energy that  saw him going from one end of England to another, fighting out brakes of  resistance and stamping on the smouldering embers of resentment, a  resentment that never really died in the hearts of the English. Another  important element was that, once an area had been secured, castles were  raised and garrisoned to keep the English in check. But the key element  was that the viable leadership of any form of English resistance was  effectively neutralised when the last true native English King, Harold,  was killed at the Battle of Senlac Ridge (Blood Lake Ridge) Hastings.  There was no King, and therefore no united English leadership or heart  in the remaining English. Until a new king was elected, the defence of  the English realm devolved on the noble ealdormen – who were either  dead, or recovering from Stamford Bridge or Fulford. Under the ealdormen  came the king’s thanes and shire-reeves (men like Edric the Wild or  Hereward the Wake, Harold’s son Swein or any one of a myriad of other  resistance leaders who continued to remain a problem to the new Norman  Over-lord’s) who did continue fighting against the Usurper King in their  own areas. Those English nobles who were left after the defeat on  Senlac Ridge seemed to be driven by their own personal needs, or quest  for their own survival, co-operating with each other on occasions, but  then only to head off on their own agenda when it suited them. Without a  decisive leadership, no English army could take the field.

Without a doubt, this fact was to be advantageous to the Usurper, which  would have given him time to recover, take London and Winchester and  force the acknowledgement of his accession from the remaining members of  the English Witan. But it did take until 1075 until the usurper felt  confident in his control of England. But then it was the turn of the  Anglo-Norman barons to rebel against him, claiming a wish to return to  the laws and rights of Englishmen during the ineffectual rule of Edward  the Confessor. And always there was the threat of Norse invasion,  supported by the men of the Dane-law.

But as time passed the English and Normans slowly came together through  the necessity of living side by side and also through marriage. With  many of the common Normans, and their French brethren, being men of  small worth, they had little option, but to inter-marry with their  English neighbours, leaving their noble masters to carry on the illusion  of being French. But as the years passed, even they, with their  children being raised by English nannies and their English Reeves and  stewards managing their estates, began to adopt first the title of  Anglo-Norman, and then the title of Englishmen. An Anglo-Norman  chronicler, Orderic Vitalis, who in 1125, even applauded the continued  resistance of the English to William the ‘usurper Bastard’. In short,  the continued English Resistance won through, the English continued to  be English, the English language continued until even their Norman  Over-lord’s were speaking English, English songs and verse continued as  did English identity and history. The English remained themselves, they  didn’t become Norman, the Normans became English, or the invaders had to  adapt to the English and in the end were absorbed by the English, so in  the end the English had finally won.

And the Englisc Resistance still continues to this day!!