The Horrors of the Harrying Of The North

 

In 1087, William The Conqueror was on his deathbed. The king was ill at ease and perhaps even riddled with guilt. His mind was thinking back to the events of 1070 when William and his conquering Normans had massacred the population of Northern England. William had faced stiff opposition to his conquest of England, long after the victory at Hastings. He built castles all across the country and dealt brutally with those who revolted against him. Uprisings were more common in the north which William struggled to contain. This explains, though fails to justify, the Normans utterly shocking and repulsive actions of 1070.  Now, as William neared his end, he believed he was about to face judgement from God and fear began to take hold.

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Orderic Vitalis quotes William as uttering these words as he lay dying..."I attacked the English of the Northern Shires like a lion. I ordered their houses and corn, with all their belongings, to be burnt and large herds of cattle and beasts of burden to be destroyed wherever they were found. It was there I took revenge on masses of people by subjecting them to a cruel famine; and by doing so — alas!— I became the murderer of many thousands of that fine race".

Orderic himself wrote of the horrifying events....

"King William cut down many in his vengeance....destroyed the lairs of others and harried the land and burned homes to ashes. Nowhere else had William shown such cruelty. I have frequently praised William but for this act which condemned the innocent and the guilty alike to die violently or slowly by starvation, I cannot commend him.  I would rather lament the griefs and sufferings of the wretched people then make a vain attempt to flatter the perpetrator of such infamy."

Another description of the truly horrendous aftermath of the massacre was written by Simeon of Durham, another medieval chronicler..Simeon wrote..."So great a famine prevailed, that men were compelled by hunger to eat human flesh and also that of horses, dogs and cats and whatever custom abhors. Others sold themselves into slavery to preserve their wretched existence. It was horrible to behold corpses decaying in the street, in houses and in the roads, swarming with worms whilst they were consuming with an abominable stench, for no one was left to bury them."

Despite everything, however, the spirit of the English was not yet broken (and perhaps never was). On the Isle of Ely, William was defied by a small army led by the mysterious and legendary Hereward The Wake. Hereward in particular proved to be a thorn in the side of William for some years and more can be read about him on this blog, in a piece called simply Hereward The Wake. Hereward won the respect of William who called him a most remarkable knight. And that respect wasn’t only reserved for Hereward it seems. William, as mentioned above, called the English population “that fine race” despite them resisting his rule so stubbornly. Whilst William ultimately brought England under control, the English had put up one hell of a fight which, in 1070, had tragic consequences.