Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the RosesAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
resolved to atone for the abjectness of its previous submission by a
vigorous and well-organised resistance to its oppressors.
William, however, appeared undismayed by the storm lowering on every
side around him. Calling his army together, he marched rapidly towards
the north, where the rebellion appeared the most formidable, knowing
that a defeat there would strike terror into the rest of the insurgents.
Joining policy with force, he made a separate treaty with the Danes,
offering them, as the price of their withdrawal into Denmark, permission
to plunder and ravage the sea-coasts. Cospatrick also, despairing of
success, paid to the Conqueror a large sum to be received once more into
favour; he was afterwards invested with the earldom of Northumberland as
the price of his submission. The King of Scotland arrived too late with
his succours, and found himself obliged to retire; and all the insurgents
in various parts of the country either dispersed or laid down their
arms, with the exception of the East Anglian noble Hereward, who still
kept possession of the island of Ely. Edgar Atheling, finding himself
unsupported, withdrew with his followers and friends once more into
Scotland; and the kingdom, without any great battle being fought, once
more submitted to the iron yoke of the Normans. Sensible of the restless
disposition of the Northumbrians, William determined to incapacitate
them ever after from giving disturbance; and he issued orders for laying
entirely waste that fertile country, which for the extent of sixty miles
lies between the Humber and the Tees. The houses were reduced to ashes by
the merciless Normans; the cattle seized and driven away; the instruments
of husbandry destroyed; and the inhabitants were compelled either to seek
for subsistence in the southern parts of Scotland, or, if they lingered
in England from a reluctance to abandon their ancient habitations,
perished miserably in the woods from cold and hunger. The lives of
100,000 persons are computed to have been sacrificed to this stroke of
barbarous policy, which, by seeking a remedy for a temporary evil, thus
inflicted a lasting wound on the power and opulence of the nation. The
subjugation of the English was completed by the conquest of Chester.
William next proceeded to replace Englishmen in the church by Normans.
Amongst the English churchmen was Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, a
man who by the greatness of his birth, the extent of his possessions, and
the dignity of his office, was marked out as the first victim.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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