Although
William “the Conqueror” of Normandy defeated King Harold Godwinson and seized
the throne of England in 1066, pockets of resistance continued to fight back
against the new Norman regime. Two branches of Anglo-Saxon royals continued to
inspire resistance against William. Until around 1068 or 1069, the surviving
sons of the late Harold Godwinson launched unsuccessful raids from Ireland against
William’s lands and vassals. Alternatively, Northumbrian lords looked with hope
to Edgar the Ætheling (grandson of King Edmund Ironside, r. 1016). Edgar, a
teen when the conquest occurred, was quickly declared king of England upon
Harold Godwinson’s death, but William the Conqueror consolidated power quickly
enough to stop Edgar from being officially crowned. Nevertheless, the
Northumbrians continued to fight on Edgar’s behalf.
Friction
between the Normans and the Northumbrians began to increase in 1067 and 1068,
when William the Conqueror imposed taxes on his conquered land and started a
great construction spree to build castles that would cement his power in
England. Heightened tax, civil unrest, and increasing Norman military presence
in Northumbria forced Edgar the Ætheling to flee to Scotland in 1068. A
breaking point occurred in early 1069, when Northumbrian rebels ambushed and
killed the Norman earl, Robert de Comines, who had been given an administrative
role in the north. After slaying the Norman earl, the Northumbrian rebels
converged at York and Edgar the Ætheling reportedly returned from Scotland to
meet with them. Yet, William the Conqueror quickly mobilized an army and
confronted the rebels near York before they could grow into a bigger threat. King
William won the battle, but the rebellion leaders, including Edgar the
Ætheling, were able to escape. After dispersing the rebels, William the
Conqueror reportedly let his troops pillage York and increased the local
garrison, additionally building new forts in the city.
Although
pushed back by the Normans, the Northumbrian rebels would soon find outside
help. The Anglo-Saxon nobles and royalty apparently reached out to their
friends in Denmark, and successfully arranged for a Danish fleet to arrive in
England by September, 1069. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and
the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, the Danes sent to England 240
ships, led by Jarl Asbjörn, the brother of King Sweyn II of Denmark. Edgar the
Ætheling and his followers were said to have joined this Danish fleet, and
together they moved against the Normans at York. By this time, William the
Conqueror and the bulk of his army had withdrawn from the city, leaving behind
only a garrison. This barracks of Normans in the city, however, soon learned of
the approaching coalition, and, knowing that they did not have the strength to
resist an attack, the Normans in York reportedly adopted drastic measures to
spite the Danes and rebels. According to the Chronicle of Florence of
Worcester, “The Normans, who garrisoned the forts, set fire to the adjacent
houses, fearing that they might be of service to the Danes in filling up the
trenches; and the flames spreading, destroyed the whole city, together with the
monastery of St. Peter” (AD 1069).
Despite
the Normans setting York alight in hopes of making their forts impregnable, the
Danes and rebel Northumbrians still found a way to scale the fortifications and
defeat the garrison. The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester went on to
report, “the Danish fleet arrived before the city was entirely consumed, and
the forts being stormed the same day, and more than three thousand of the
Normans killed…the ships drew off laden with plunder” (AD 1069). Unfortunately
for Edgar the Ætheling and the Northumbrian rebels, the reliability of Jarl
Asbjörn and the Danish fleet was wanting. When William the Conqueror marched
once again toward York to restore order, he was reportedly able to strike up a
deal with Asbjörn, allowing the Danish troops to forage and pillage Northumbria
without hindrance as long as they left after winter was over. With such a deal
in place, William the Conqueror was able to force Edgar the Ætheling and the
rebels back into hiding, and York was once again occupied by the Normans.
By
this point, all in 1069, the city of York had been twice seized by rebel forces
and twice retaken by William the Conqueror’s Normans. In the second round of
hostilities, York had the further misfortune of being burned by the Norman
garrison and looted by the opportunist Danes, before being exposed to more
punitive actions once William the Conqueror’s forces regained the city. While
these direct consequences of war hit the city hard, war’s more indirect effects
also caused havoc. As armies of Anglo-Saxons, Normans, and Scandinavians had
been frequently trampling through Northumbria since 1066, with each group
demanding food and resources from the region’s people and land, the English
north was beginning to experience extreme famine. As the Chronicle of Florence
of Worcester colorfully stated, “throughout nearly the whole of England, so
severe a famine prevailed in most parts of the kingdom, but chiefly in
Northumbria and the adjacent provinces, that men were driven to feed on the
flesh of horses, dogs, cats, and even human beings” (AD 1069).
Written
by C. Keith Hansley
Picture
Attribution: (The Bayeux tapestry elucidated (1856), [Public Domain] via
Creative Commons).
Sources:
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by Benjamin Thorpe in 1861 and republished by Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester translated by Thomas Forester. London: Petter and Galpin, originally published 1854.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edgar-the-Aetheling
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Malcolm-III-Canmore
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