Editing Norman Conquest (section)

==English resistance==

===First rebellions===
Despite the submission of the English nobles, resistance continued for several years.<ref name=Douglas212/> William left control of England in the hands of his half-brother [[Odo of Bayeux|Odo]] and one of his closest supporters, [[William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford|William fitzOsbern]].<ref name=Huscroft138/> In 1067 [[Kentish Revolt of 1067|rebels in Kent]] launched an unsuccessful attack on [[Dover Castle]] in combination with [[Eustace II, Count of Boulogne|Eustace II of Boulogne]].<ref name=Douglas212>Douglas ''William the Conqueror'' p. 212</ref> The [[Shropshire]] landowner [[Eadric the Wild]],{{efn|Eadric's [[Epithet|by-name]] "the Wild" is relatively common, so despite suggestions that it arose from Eadric's participation in the northern uprisings of 1069, this is not certain.<ref name=EadricDNB>Williams "Eadric the Wild" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref>}} in alliance with the Welsh rulers of [[Gwynedd]] and [[Powys]], raised a revolt in western [[Mercia]], fighting Norman forces based in [[Hereford]].<ref name=Douglas212/> These events forced William to return to England at the end of 1067.<ref name=Huscroft138/> In 1068 William [[Siege of Exeter (1068)|besieged rebels in Exeter]], including Harold's mother Gytha, and after suffering heavy losses managed to negotiate the town's surrender.<ref name=Harold186>Walker ''Harold'' pp. 186–190</ref> In May, William's wife [[Matilda of Flanders|Matilda]] was crowned queen at Westminster, an important symbol of William's growing international stature.<ref name=Huscroft140/> Later in the year Edwin and Morcar raised a revolt in Mercia with Welsh assistance, while [[Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria|Gospatric]], the newly appointed Earl of Northumbria,{{efn|Gospatric had bought the office from William after the death of [[Copsi]], whom William had appointed in 1067. Copsi was murdered in 1068 by [[Osulf II of Bamburgh|Osulf]], his rival for power in Northumbria.<ref name=Huscroft142>Huscroft ''Norman Conquest'' pp. 142–144</ref>}} led a rising in Northumbria, which had not yet been occupied by the Normans. These rebellions rapidly collapsed as William moved against them, building castles and installing garrisons as he had already done in the south.<ref name=Douglas214>Douglas ''William the Conqueror'' pp. 214–215</ref> Edwin and Morcar again submitted, while Gospatric fled to Scotland, as did Edgar the Ætheling and his family, who may have been involved in these revolts.<ref name=Williams24>Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' pp. 24–27</ref> Meanwhile, Harold's sons, who had taken refuge in Ireland, raided [[Somerset]], Devon and [[Cornwall]] from the sea.<ref name=Williams20>Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' pp. 20–21</ref>

===Revolts of 1069===
{{Main|Harrying of the North}}
[[File:Baile Hill, York.JPG|The remains of [[Baile Hill]], the second [[motte-and-bailey castle]] built by [[William the Conqueror]] in York, on the west bank of the [[River Ouse (Yorkshire)|River Ouse]]|thumb|upright=1.5|left]]

Early in 1069 the newly installed Norman Earl of Northumbria, [[Robert de Comines]], and several hundred soldiers accompanying him were massacred at Durham. The Northumbrian rebellion was joined by Edgar, Gospatric, [[Siward Barn]] and other rebels who had taken refuge in Scotland. The castellan of York, Robert fitzRichard, was defeated and killed, and the rebels besieged the Norman castle at York. William hurried north with an army, defeated the rebels outside York and pursued them into the city, massacring the inhabitants and bringing the revolt to an end.<ref name=Williams27>Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' pp. 27–34</ref> He built a second castle at York, strengthened Norman forces in Northumbria and then returned south. A subsequent local uprising was crushed by the garrison of York.<ref name=Williams27/> Harold's sons launched a second raid from Ireland and were defeated at the [[Battle of Northam]] in Devon by Norman forces under Count [[Brian of Brittany|Brian]], a son of [[Odo, Count of Penthièvre|Eudes, Count of Penthièvre]].<ref name=Williams35>Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' p. 35</ref> In August or September 1069 a large fleet sent by [[Sweyn II of Denmark]] arrived off the coast of England, sparking a new wave of rebellions across the country. After abortive raids in the south, the Danes joined forces with a new Northumbrian uprising, which was also joined by Edgar, Gospatric and the other exiles from Scotland as well as Waltheof. The combined Danish and English forces defeated the Norman garrison at York, seized the castles and took control of Northumbria, although a raid into Lincolnshire led by Edgar was defeated by the Norman garrison of [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]].<ref name=Williams35a>Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' pp. 35–41</ref>

At the same time resistance flared up again in western Mercia, where the forces of [[Eadric the Wild]], together with his Welsh allies and rebel forces from [[Cheshire]] and Shropshire, attacked the castle at [[Shrewsbury]]. In the southwest, rebels from Devon and Cornwall attacked the Norman garrison at Exeter but were repulsed by the defenders and scattered by a Norman relief force under Count Brian. Rebels from [[Dorset]], Somerset and neighbouring areas besieged [[Montacute Castle]] but were defeated by a Norman army gathered from London, [[Winchester]] and [[Salisbury]] under [[Geoffrey de Montbray|Geoffrey of Coutances]].<ref name=Williams35a/> Meanwhile, William attacked the Danes who had moored for the winter south of the Humber in Lincolnshire and drove them back to the north bank. Leaving [[Robert, Count of Mortain|Robert of Mortain]] in charge of Lincolnshire, he turned west and defeated the Mercian rebels in battle at [[Stafford]]. When the Danes attempted to return to Lincolnshire, the Norman forces drove them back across the Humber. William advanced into Northumbria, defeating an attempt to block his crossing of the swollen [[River Aire]] at [[Pontefract]]. The Danes fled at his approach, and he occupied York. He bought off the Danes, who agreed to leave England in the spring, and during the winter of 1069–70 his forces systematically devastated Northumbria in the [[Harrying of the North]], subduing all resistance.<ref name=Williams35a/> As a symbol of his renewed authority over the north, William ceremonially wore his crown at York on Christmas Day 1069.<ref name=Huscroft142/>

In early 1070, having secured the submission of Waltheof and Gospatric, and driven Edgar and his remaining supporters back to Scotland, William returned to Mercia, where he based himself at Chester and crushed all remaining resistance in the area before returning to the south.<ref name=Williams35a/> [[Papal legate]]s arrived and at Easter re-crowned William, which would have symbolically reasserted his right to the kingdom. William also oversaw a purge of prelates from the Church, most notably Stigand, who was deposed from Canterbury. The papal legates also imposed [[penance]]s on William and those of his supporters who had taken part in Hastings and the subsequent campaigns.<ref name=Huscroft145>Huscroft ''Norman Conquest'' pp. 145–146</ref> The [[see of York]] had become vacant following the death of Ealdred in September 1069. Both sees were filled by men loyal to William: [[Lanfranc]], abbot of William's foundation at [[Abbey of Saint-Étienne, Caen|Caen]], received Canterbury while [[Thomas of Bayeux]], one of William's chaplains, was installed at York. Some other bishoprics and abbeys received new bishops and abbots, and William confiscated some of the wealth of the English monasteries which had served as repositories for the assets of the native nobles.<ref name=Bennett56>Bennett ''Campaigns of the Norman Conquest'' p. 56</ref>

===Danish troubles===
{{Further|Danish attacks on Norman England| Ely Rebellion}}
[[File:Coin king of denmark sven estridsen.jpg|Coin of Sweyn II of Denmark|thumb|right]]
In 1070 Sweyn II arrived to take personal command of his fleet and renounced the earlier agreement to withdraw, sending troops into [[the Fens]] to join forces with English rebels led by [[Hereward the Wake]],{{efn|Although the [[epithet]] "the Wake" has been claimed to be derived from "the wakeful one", the first use of the epithet is from the mid-13th century, and is thus unlikely to have been contemporary.<ref name=HerewardDNB>Roffe "Hereward" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref>}} at that time based on the [[Isle of Ely]]. Sweyn accepted a payment of [[danegeld]] from William and returned home.<ref name=Douglas221>Douglas ''William the Conqueror'' pp. 221–222</ref> After the departure of the Danes, the Fenland rebels remained at large, protected by the marshes, and early in 1071 there was a [[Ely Rebellion|final outbreak]] of rebel activity in the area. Edwin and Morcar again turned against William, and although Edwin was quickly betrayed and killed, Morcar reached [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]], where he and Hereward were joined by exiled rebels who had sailed from Scotland. William arrived with an army and a fleet to finish off this last pocket of resistance. After some costly failures, the Normans managed to construct a pontoon to reach the Isle of Ely, defeated the rebels at the bridgehead and stormed the island, marking the effective end of English resistance.<ref name=Williams49>Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' pp. 49–57</ref> Morcar was imprisoned for the rest of his life; Hereward was pardoned and had his lands returned to him.<ref name=Huscroft146>Huscroft ''Norman Conquest'' pp. 146–147</ref>

===Last resistance===
{{main|Revolt of the Earls}}

William faced difficulties in his continental possessions in 1071,<ref name=Douglas225>Douglas ''William the Conqueror'' pp. 225–226</ref> but in 1072 he returned to England and marched north to confront King [[Malcolm III of Scotland]].{{efn|Malcolm, in 1069 or 1070, had married [[Saint Margaret of Scotland|Margaret]], sister of Edgar the Ætheling.<ref name=Huscroft142/>}} This campaign, which included a land army supported by a fleet, resulted in the [[Treaty of Abernethy]] in which Malcolm expelled Edgar the Ætheling from Scotland and agreed to some degree of subordination to William.<ref name=Huscroft146/> The status of this subordination was unclear&nbsp;– the treaty merely stated that Malcolm became William's man. Whether this meant only for Cumbria and Lothian or for the whole Scottish kingdom was left ambiguous.<ref name=Douglas227>Douglas ''William the Conqueror'' p. 227</ref>

In 1075, during William's absence, [[Ralph de Gael]], the [[Earl of Norfolk]], and [[Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford|Roger de Breteuil]] the [[Earl of Hereford]], conspired to overthrow him in the [[Revolt of the Earls]].<ref name=Douglas231/> The reason for the rebellion is unclear, but it was launched at the wedding of Ralph to a relative of Roger's, held at [[Exning]]. Earl Waltheof, despite being one of William's favourites, was also involved, and some Breton lords were ready to offer support. Ralph also requested Danish aid. William remained in Normandy while his men in England subdued the revolt. Roger was unable to leave his stronghold in Herefordshire because of efforts by [[Wulfstan (died 1095)|Wulfstan]], the [[Bishop of Worcester]], and [[Æthelwig]], the [[Abbot of Evesham]]. Ralph was bottled up in [[Norwich Castle]] by the combined efforts of Odo of Bayeux, Geoffrey of Coutances, [[Richard fitz Gilbert|Richard fitzGilbert]], and [[William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey|William de Warenne]]. Norwich was besieged and surrendered, and Ralph went into exile. Meanwhile, Sweyn II's brother [[Canute IV of Denmark|Cnut]] arrived in England with a fleet of 200 ships, but he was too late as Norwich had already surrendered. The Danes then raided along the coast before returning home.<ref name=Douglas231/> William did not return to England until later in 1075, to deal with the Danish threat and the aftermath of the rebellion, celebrating Christmas at Winchester.<ref name=Bates181>Bates ''William the Conqueror'' pp. 181–182</ref> Roger and Waltheof were kept in prison where Waltheof was executed in May 1076. By that time William had returned to the continent, where Ralph was continuing the rebellion from Brittany.<ref name=Douglas231>Douglas ''William the Conqueror'' pp. 231–233</ref>