The Norman army was therefore forced to attack uphill, placing them at a disadvantage. The Saxon army formed a wall of shields at the edge of the hill which repelled the repeated attacks of the Normans. A rumor arose in the ranks of the Normans that Duke William was dead, causing panic. Many Saxons pursued them to the bottom of the hill. William the Conqueror then appeared, taking the leadership over his troops. Always alive, his soldiers redoubled their confidence and attacked en masse.
Harold's brothers Gyrth and Leofwine were killed on the battlefield. This battle continued for the greater part of the day, with Harold and his Saxons fighting with a strong determination for the preservation of their country. When the twilight fell on Hastings, William the Conqueror ordered his archers to shoot high in the air. One of the arrows would have struck Harold in the eyes, the blinding This point in history is disputed.
Still, Harold fell mortally wounded under the power of William. The Saxon army, seeing that the battle was lost, began to flee the field. Harold's soldiers loyally and courageously defended their King's body at the last attack, but they eventually fell and Harold's body was mutilated by the Normans, a vindictive act that William the Conqueror punished.
The battle was lost and Anglo-Saxon England died with Harold on the battlefield that day. Harold's deeply distressed mistress, Edith Swan-neck came to William the Conqueror pleading for her lover's body by offering her gold weight in exchange, but William the Conqueror coldly refused her disoriented request. He had buried Harold in a secret place. On the whole, the south of England was subjected to the Normans, while the north resisted more and more.
William the Conqueror replied to the rebels by submitting the English to terror. Determined to punish and crush the rebellion during his reign and to strike with fear the hearts of the English, he robbed vast tracts of Yorkshire, which suffered a great famine for nine years.
He rewarded his Norman and French supporters by distributing the confiscated lands to them. In the brothers Edwin and Morcar, two counts, rose up. They had the support of Gospatric. William the Conqueror marched through the territory of Edwin and built a castle at Warwick. Edwin and Morcar submitted, but William the Conqueror continued to York, building castles in York and Nottingham before returning to the south.
On his journey to the south, William the Conqueror began to build other castles in Lincoln, Huntingdon and Cambridge and placed his supporters in charge of these new visible expressions of Norman power in England, among them William Peverel, considered his illegitimate son, in Nottingham and Henry De Beaumont in Warwick.
Although William returned to York and built another castle there, Edgar remained free and, in the autumn of that year, he joined forces with King Sweyn of Denmark. The Danish king brought a large fleet to England and attacked not only York, but Exeter and Shrewsbury. York was taken by the combined forces of Edgar and Sweyn. Edgar was duly proclaimed King of England by his Saxon partisans, but William the Conqueror replied with haste, ignoring a revolt in Maine. He symbolically wore his crown in the ruins of York on Christmas Day , then marched to the Tees River, ravaging the surrounding countryside as he headed north.
Waltheof, Count of Northumbria, who had joined the revolt, submitted to William, and with Gospatric were forgiven and allowed to retain their lands. But the revenge of William the Conqueror was not satiated, he then parade on the Pennines during the winter and defeated the remaining rebels at Shrewsbury before building two other castles in Chester and Stafford.
In , the heroic Hereward the Wake rose in a rebellion against the Norman domination centered on the island of Ely. William the Conqueror then led an army to Ely, where Hereward, joined by a small army led by Morcar, the former Saxon Count of Northumbria, took a desperate position. Morcar was captured and imprisoned, but Hereward managed to escape into the wild valley to continue his resistance. William the Conqueror had rules which in some respects were very modern but also cruel, but ultimately his methods produced the desired results and he extinguished the fires of the opposition as soon as they presented themselves.
Many castles and guards were built across the country to enforce his rule, originally wooden towers or clods of earth more than 80 castles were created during the reign, including the White Tower.
The dominant shadow of the White Tower appeared threateningly on medieval London, a visible expression of Norman rule. Anglo-Saxon England was radically modified following the Norman conquest, it changed the whole way of life established in the country for centuries. His laws, the aristocracy and the church were modified and he introduced the French feudal system. The Anglo-Saxon language has been replaced by Norman French as a language of the upper classes, and modern English is the natural consequence of these two languages.
Harold, who had been preparing for William's invasion from the south, rapidly moved his army north to defend England from Norway. After defeating the Norwegians, Harold unwisely marched his troops back down to meet William, without a rest. On October 14, , the two armies met in the famous Battle of Hastings. King Harold and his two brothers were killed in the battle, and since no one of stature remained to raise a new army, William's path to the throne was clear.
He was crowned king of England on Christmas Day. There were several revolts in the next five years, which William used as an excuse to confiscate English land and declare it his personal property. He then distributed the land to his Norman followers, who imposed their unique feudal system. Eventually, Normans replaced the entire Anglo-Saxon aristocracy. William, however, retained most of England's institutions and was intensely interested in learning about his new property.
He ordered a detailed census to be made of the population and property of England — which was compiled in The Domesday Book now an invaluable source of historical information and still in the Public Record Office in London. Although he never spoke English and was illiterate, he had more influence on the evolution of the English language than anyone before or since — adding a slew of French and Latin words to the English dictionary.
According to legend, the snubbed duke tackled Matilda in the street, pulling her off her horse by her long braids. In any event, she consented to marry him and bore him 10 children before her death in , which plunged William into a deep depression. To avenge her honor, he had their hands and feet cut off. William spoke no English when he ascended the throne, and he failed to master it despite his efforts.
Like most nobles of his time, he also happened to be illiterate. When they reached enemy lines, he taunted the English by juggling his sword and was promptly killed, initiating the historic skirmish. Described as strapping and healthy in his earlier years, William apparently ballooned later in life.
In in England, King Edward is still without heirs. Very attached to Normandy where he found refuge for 30 years, he naturally turns to William to predict his succession to the throne. He settled his power and founded a powerful Anglo-Norman kingdom. The Conqueror establishes an inventory of the men and wealth of the country The Domesday Book and creates many buildings including the Tower of London, erected with stones of Caen.
Before dying in , he settled his succession and entrusted to two of his sons the Duchy of Normandy and the Kingdom of England.
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