The Harrying of the North Identify 3 reasons why there was a rebellion against William in 1068. Challenge – how did William crush this rebellion?

What was the ‘Harrying’? William had shown himself to be a fearsome and brutal warrior before 1066. In the 1050s, he had flayed the villagers of Alencon after they mocked his bastard heritage. In response to the constant uprisings in the north, William decided to crush them once and for all. He marched north with an army and ordered them to destroy all crops, land and animals. In total almost 100,000 people died during the attack. It created a scar across the north of England that lasted much longer than Norman rule.

Learning Task All Create an infographic on the Harrying of the North. It should contain: Reasons why it happened. Short term impacts Long term impacts Challenge William had laid waste to plenty of English towns before 1069. Was the Harrying of the North any different? Explain your answer.

Why? Short Term Impacts Long term impacts Without any crops to live on, or livestock to eat, many people starved to death. Due to the houses being destroyed, many froze to death – all in all 100,000 people died. William’s troops destroyed seeds for the next year’s crops, so there was no hope of starting again. Thousands fled south. Reports of cannibalism and people selling themselves into slavery for food. Earl Robert Cumin had his men had been slaughtered and thousands more Normans were killed York by the rebels – William was angry and wanted revenge. The rebels refused to meet William in open battle – every time he raised an army and marched to them they scattered and then begun attacking once he had went away. William was so frustrated by this that he wanted to make sure that no future rebellions could happen. The North needed a new tactic – they were so different from the South. They resented the south. The rebellions in the north were causing other rebellions to spring up across the kingdom – William could not allow this to continue. The threat of a Danish invasion could undo everything William had achieved. He had to crush this one. Long term impacts There was no further rebellions in Northumbria. Over 20 years later, 60% of Yorkshire was classed as waste and without livestock. Economically it was in ruins. The population of the north decreased by 150,000 over a 20 year period. Removed large numbers of Anglo-Danes from the area, so was no longer a Viking hotspot. After this William decided to replace Anglo-Saxons with Normans. William devoted much time and money to the Church for the rest of his reign in order to get forgiveness from God for what he had done.