Transcript 5. William's Problems and his Solutions

Britain 1066–1500
William's Problems and
his Solutions
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Learning objectives
Learning objectives
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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William's problems
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 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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Crisis and rebellion, 1068–69
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.
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The Harrying of the North
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The Harrying of the North
...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
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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The Harrying of the North
Now read this source. What is the attitude of the
writer towards William’s treatment of the rebels?
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?
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Securing control of a conquered country
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Keeping control
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The feudal system
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.
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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
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.
Hereward made his base on the
Isle of Ely. It was a good choice
for a stronghold, surrounded on
all sides by treacherous marshes.
The rebels were only defeated when the Normans bribed the
monks of Ely to guide them over the marshes to the Isle.
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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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The Domesday Book
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.
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.
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.
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What did the Domesday Survey ask?
What is the manor called?
How much
ploughed land is
there?
How many
smallholders
are there?
Is there a
priest and a
church?
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How many cows,
goats, oxen,
horses, pigs,
beehives?
How much
meadow is there?
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The Domesday Book: source work
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Castles
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.
One of William’s first stone castles – the
White Tower at the Tower of London.
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Crush the resistance!
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