Anglo-Saxon Resistance & the Harrying of the North
The Revolt of Edwin & Morcar, 1068
Although Earls Edwin and Morcar had submitted to William at Berkhamsted, they grew increasingly resentful of Norman rule. William had promised Edwin a marriage to one of his daughters, but the marriage never happened. Norman lords were being given English lands, and Edwin and Morcar felt their power slipping away.
In 1068, Edwin and Morcar fled north and raised a rebellion. William responded with his usual speed and force. He marched north, building castles at Warwick and Nottingham on the way to demonstrate his power. The rebellion collapsed without a major battle — Edwin and Morcar submitted again, and William built a castle at York to tighten his grip on the north. He also placed a Norman, Robert de Comines, as the new Earl of Northumbria to assert direct control over the region. However, the underlying causes of resentment remained: heavy taxation, loss of land, and the replacement of English lords with Normans. The north would soon revolt again, with far more devastating consequences.
Edgar the Aethling and the Northern Rebellions, 1069
In January 1069, the Norman-appointed Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines, was killed along with 900 of his men when the people of Durham rose in revolt. This triggered a wider northern rebellion. Edgar the Aethling returned from exile in Scotland and joined the rebels. The northern English attacked and destroyed William’s castle at York, killing the Norman garrison.
In the summer of 1069, a Danish fleet of around 240 ships arrived in the Humber, sent by King Sweyn of Denmark. The Danes allied with Edgar and the northern rebels, creating the most serious threat William had faced since Hastings. Together they captured York.
William marched north once more. He bribed the Danish fleet to withdraw (they would leave in spring 1070) and then systematically destroyed the rebellion. But this time, William did not simply rebuild his castles and accept submissions. He decided to make an example of the north that would prevent rebellion from ever happening again.
Hereward the Wake was an Anglo-Saxon thegn who led the last major English resistance. In 1070, he allied with a Danish raiding force and attacked the wealthy monastery at Peterborough. When the Danes withdrew, Hereward retreated to the Isle of Ely in the marshy Fens of East Anglia — a natural fortress surrounded by impassable wetlands.
Earl Morcar and other rebels joined Hereward at Ely. William besieged the island, building a causeway across the marshes. When the causeway reportedly collapsed, he tried other approaches. Eventually, the monks of Ely showed the Normans a secret path through the marshes (possibly bribed or threatened). The rebellion collapsed in 1071. Morcar was captured and imprisoned for life. Hereward’s fate is uncertain — some sources say he escaped and was later pardoned, while others say he was killed. The fall of Ely marked the end of organised Anglo-Saxon resistance.
The Harrying of the North, 1069–70
The Harrying of the North was William’s most brutal act. Over the winter of 1069–70, William’s army systematically destroyed everything between the Humber and the Tees — and later extended the destruction to Cheshire and Shropshire. Crops were burned, livestock slaughtered, farming tools and seed corn destroyed, villages razed, and wells poisoned. The aim was total devastation: to make the region incapable of supporting rebellion.
The chronicler Orderic Vitalis wrote that over 100,000 people died of famine following the Harrying. While this figure may be exaggerated, the Domesday Book (1086) recorded vast areas of northern England as “waste” — land that was still unproductive 17 years later. Some historians consider it an act of genocide.
Immediate impact: Mass famine across the north of England. Refugees fled south or to Scotland. Communities that had existed for centuries were wiped out. Land values collapsed — the north became the poorest region of England.
Long-term impact: The north never again posed a serious military threat to William. The Domesday Book (1086) still recorded huge areas as “waste” — showing the north had not recovered even after 17 years. The Harrying demonstrated that William would use extreme violence to maintain control, deterring future rebellion elsewhere. It also generated lasting bitterness and is considered by some historians as the darkest chapter of the Norman Conquest.
The Harrying achieved its military objective: the north was broken as a source of resistance. There were no further northern rebellions during William’s reign. But the human cost was enormous. Refugees fled south or crossed into Scotland, and some sources describe survivors resorting to cannibalism. The Harrying shaped the character of Norman rule for decades to come — demonstrating that William’s power ultimately rested on the threat of extreme violence. Even the normally sympathetic chronicler Orderic Vitalis, himself half-Norman, wrote that William would have to answer to God for the suffering he caused.