CONQUEST - 2: THE ROT SETS IN - Norman high-handedness rubs the Northumbrians the wrong way

Roger de Montgomerie was given the earldom of Shrewsbury, where he raised a castle. This signalled to Earl Eadwin the break-up of Mercia. His innate distrust of William, his host for the past ten months in Normandy, had been fanned by the king going back on the promise of one of his daughters in marriage. The withdrawal of the marriage offer presaged Roger's appointment and at the first chance, when everyone fussed over William's queen Matthilda and her young sons Eadwin and his younger brother Morkere set out northward from London.

First they had to see to their sister Aelfgifu's safety in Chester, see her to a ship bound for Ireland with her young son Harold and then cast around to see who was still loyal to them.

They next went from Mercia into Wales for Eadwin to seek out Prince Bleddyn as a possible ally against the Normans. As they had no army to assure Bleddyn they could match his force at least man for man, he let them know he would enter into an alliance when they had enough men.

The brothers left for King Maelcolm's court to ask for help. Without first checking in York to see what was happening there, Morkere took his brother northward across the Dee and the Mersey into the western part of his earldom of Northumbria - the region known nowadays as Lancashire - and on to Westmorland.

In those days Westmorland, together with Carlisle, had been claimed by the Scots for their own, so they were effectively in Scotland as soon as they passed Great Whernside to their right (at 737 metres/2417 feet, the second highest of the three peaks). With the Lake District to the south-west they passed Carlisle. The Solway Firth shone dully to their left as they forded the River Eden and turned north-east for Teviot dalehead. The worst part would be climbing between Eskhead and Teviothead, a wild and unforgiving landscape at the northern limit of the Cheviots. However, once down to Kelso they could ride north for Stirling and cross the Forth. From Dunblane it would be only an undulating ride to the Tay and Scone beyond. This was a long ride in anyone's day, let alone in 1067.

To the south a revolt was fanned by William's insistence on the nobles' submission, conveyed by Archbishop Ealdred of York in a missive. The Northumbrians tried to bargain with the king, as had the men of Exeter before them. His answer was to march on them, raising castles as he went north. The first, at Warwick was left in the care of Henry de Beaumont. From there he rode on to Nottingham where he entrusted the next castle to William Peverel. The building of Nottingham Castle set alarm bells ringing in York, and the keys to the city were taken, with hostages including Gospatric, son of Arnkell, to Nottingham to try to head off the king. William entered York unopposed and had a first castle built, on the site of which the squat, solid Clifford's Tower was subsequently erected. Robert fitzRichard was left as its castellan and William Malet was made the first Norman sheriff of Yorkshire. This show of naked force led many of the thegns to make peace. Meanwhile Aethelwin, Bishop of Durham was sent to talk terms with Maelcolm on behalf of William. Some of the nobles, including Earl Gospatric of Bamburgh, went north at around the same time to seek the help of the Scots' king against William.

William himself left York for Lincoln, where another castle was built and left to the care of Turold, who by 1070 was sheriff of Lincolnshire. Maerleswein had been the previous sheriff, appointed by Harold in 1066 to take over part of Northumbria as a catalyst to the errant Morkere after his defeat by Harald Sigurdsson. Hostages were taken from Lincoln, including a Thegn Thorgood. Two more castles were raised in Waltheof's earldom, at Huntingdon and at Grantchester (later Cambridge). By the autumn of 1068 William felt safe enough to dismiss his stipendiary knights. Some of his Normans also left for home, abandoning their English holdings.

William returned to Normandy at the end of the year, having appointed the Fleming Robert de Commines to the northern Northumbrian earldom of Bamburgh, as the earldom had already claimed one life since 1067: Earl Tostig's hated tithe collector Copsig had persuaded William in January, 1067 to make him earl but a 'welcoming committee' under Gospatric and his kinsman Osulf. Copsig had fled to a nearby church from the feasting hall at Newburn on Tyne, and on being forced out when the church was set on fire Osulf beheaded him. Commines' task threatened to be an uphill one!

De Commines took with him a sizeable force. In allowing them free rein, licensing their ravages and excesses to pay them off, he alienated the populace of Durham. Not even the domain of Cuthberht were spared. Nevertheless de Commines was received with full courtesy and honour by Bishop Aethelwin, who even warned of a plan to attack the earl.

At the end of January, 1069 the Northumbrians burst into Durham, killing all the Normans they could find in the streets, laid siege to the bishop's house where de Commines was in residence, and forcd him out by setting fire to the house. The earl was slain on trying to flee, like Copsig before him, along with the rest of his retinue.

In the aftermath of Earl Robert's death his killers planned a revolt on a broader scale. The earliest account - from the Norman view - was that of William of Jumieges:

"In a certain place in one county, rendered inaccessible both by water and by forest, they built a castle with a most powerful rampart which they called in their own language Durham. From there they made various attacks and then returned home to await the arrival of Svein, king of the Danes, to whom they had sent... for aid. They also. sent to enlist the people of York to their cause... Once united they furnished the city with an abundance of arms and money, prepared [themselves] for strong resistance and chose as their king a certain boy [Eadgar], nobly descended from the stock of King Eadward".

This account is close to the version in the Saxon Chronicle which records the arrival in York of Eadgar and the Northumbrian nobles after the killing of Robert de Commines.

One of the nobles was Gospatric, Earl of Bamburgh. With the exception of Maerleswein all the leaders were linked to the house of Bamburgh. Gospatric was a distant kinsman of Eadgar's. His mother Ealdgyth was a daughter of Ealdorman Uhtred (AD1006-16) by his third wife Aelfgifu, daughter of Aethelred II and great aunt to the aetheling.

As a young man Gospatric had served in the household of Earl Tostig and accompanied him and Earl Harold to Rome in AD1060. When the party was attacked by bandits Gospatric, who was richly attired as befitted his rank made out to be the earl, allowing his lords to escape. The robbers, impressed by his devotion to his earl allowed him to leave unharmed.

Gospatric may have been lucky. His uncle and namesake was murdered on the orders of Eadgytha, Tostig's older sister and queen to Eadward. It was due partly to this act that Tostig was ousted in his absence in 1065 for Morkere, despite eight years of rule without mishap. Morkere gave the ealdormanry of Bamburgh to Osulf, who was another nephew of the dead man.

Next - 3: Infighting Within...