On his return, William found that although his lieutenants had repressed actual insurrections, the unconquered districts both of the North and West of England were gloomy and threatening. Want of union was still the bane of the English; the insurrection of Exeter and the West had been suppressed before York and the North moved. The party of Harold and his family was strong in Exeter and the Western shires. At Exeter, indeed, it is probable that what remained of the family of Godwine was at this time collected. William marched against the city, harrying Dorset as he passed. The position of Exeter was characteristic. As in the case of the great earldoms, so in that of the great cities, the feeling of local independence had been rising, and the chief men of Exeter seem to have had some thought of making their city a free town. They offered to own the King’s supremacy and to pay his taxes, but refused to admit him within their walls. The one point of William’s policy which is most prominent is his determination to establish the strength of the monarchy, as against local interests. He therefore rejected the proposition, and marched upon the city. The civic chiefs offered to submit, but the people repudiated their arrangements, and stood the siege. The city was captured by means of a mine. Harold’s family fled--Gytha, his mother, to the islands in the Bristol Channel, his sons to Ireland. As usual, a castle was built in the city; the tribute of the town considerably increased; both Devonshire and Cornwall completely subdued, and the same process of partial confiscation which had marked the first steps of the Conqueror carried out there. The earldom of Cornwall, and a large quantity of property, was given to Robert of Mortain, William’s half-brother. The conquest of the West was completed by the subjugation of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. [Sidenote: Insurrection in the North.] [Sidenote: William’s position in the North and West.]