At the Battle of Hastings, William had killed King Harold and most of the English leaders. However, there were still many who wanted to carry on fighting William.
King William had invaded England and won the crown, but it did not mean he was in control of England. William was forced to crush many rebellions.
William reacted very harshly to any resistance. This was shown in 1069-70 with the Harrying of the North. William destroyed large areas of land, turning it into wasteland. Many thousands of people died.
William faced much less resistance after the early 1070s. The harshness of the Harrying of the North was a clear warning for all!
He, William, was vile and cruel to the people of England. After a few rebbelions, he lost his temper and flew at the north. He needed to show England that he was the ruler and that he had no mercy. It was a wake up call for England.
The blog owner changed this comment on 2009-05-04 17:41:39