By the summer of 1068, William the Conqueror had been King of England for more than a year. But he was having difficulty establishing his authority. He had recently had to deal with resistance at Exeter, and trouble was starting in the Midlands and the north.
It was two brothers that were causing it. Edwin, Earl of Mercia, and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria. Both had been important before the Norman Conquest. They had led English forces against the Norwegian invasion at the Battle of Fulford, near York, in September 1066.
Following Harold Godwinson’s defeat at Hastings, the brothers had accepted William. They had even accompanied him to Normandy in 1067, along with several other leading English nobles. But accepting William did not mean they were happy.
The arrival of Norman lords and the redistribution of English lands were already starting to change the balance of power.
There may also have been a more personal grievance. The medieval chronicler Orderic Vitalis wrote that Edwin had been promised marriage to one of William’s daughters, but the marriage had not happened. We can’t be sure how much this actually influenced Edwin’s decision to rebel, but it may well have added to his growing dissatisfaction.
In 1068, Edwin and Morcar challenged William’s rule. They were not the only English nobles who were unhappy with the situation. Edgar Ætheling, who had been considered for the throne following Harold’s death, remained a possible rival to William.
William gathered his forces and marched north, establishing a castle at Warwick as he advanced. Faced with the king’s army, Edwin and Morcar eventually submitted again, and the immediate rebellion ended without a major battle between them.
William continued through Nottingham and on to York, establishing castles and leaving soldiers behind to hold these important locations.
When we think of Norman castles, we usually imagine enormous stone buildings. But many of William’s earliest castles were much simpler structures, built using earth and timber. They had defensive ditches, banks and wooden palisades, and could be built relatively quickly.
These castles allowed Norman soldiers to maintain a presence in towns and surrounding areas, even after William had moved on with his army.
York was especially important because it had long been a major centre of power in northern England. Establishing a garrison there was an important part of William’s attempt to bring the region under his control.
Their rebellion had ended, but the troubles in northern England were far from finished. In 1069, William would have to face another challenge. This time his response would have terrible consequences for the people living there.
Do you think Edwin and Morcar were right to submit again, or do you think they should have continued to resist William while they still had the chance?
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Image info:
Warwick Castle, engraving by William Miller after Clarkson Stanfield, 1844. A later view of the castle established by William the Conqueror in 1068. Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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