After the coronation
William was crowned at Christmas 1066, but his rule at that point reached little beyond the south-east. Some leading English figures had submitted; many parts of the kingdom had not yet seen a Norman at all. The decade that followed is what turned a successful invasion into Norman rule. It was won with a combination of fortifications, force and favors, and it was not smooth.
Early moves, 1066 to 1068
In the first months, William tried to appear as a lawful successor. He kept some English earls and officials, received oaths and issued writs in the traditional form. He then returned to Normandy in 1067, taking several English magnates with him, and left his half-brother Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and William fitzOsbern in charge.
The delegation had a cost. Under the deputies, Norman soldiers and officials were accused of harshness and greed, and local risings followed. In the south-west, the city of Exeter resisted in 1068 and was besieged before it submitted. Around the same time, William’s wife Matilda was crowned, a signal that the regime intended to last.
Castles as instruments of control
William built castles in the towns he took, often clearing houses to make space. Early examples were quickly raised earthworks topped with timber, usually a motte and bailey. A small garrison in a castle could hold a town and its nearby roads, and the structures were visible symbols of the new order.
The chronicles say that castles were largely unknown in England before 1066, though a few existed, and the Normans built them in large numbers within a short time. Some became major stone fortresses later, such as the White Tower in London, but the first generation was cheaper and faster. The castle’s role as a base for the local lord and his knights ties directly into the seat of lordship idea: it was where authority was physically located.
Revolts and responses
Resistance continued into the 1070s. The main episodes include:
- Risings in the north, 1068 to 1070. The north, with its own traditions and powerful local families, rose several times. In 1069 a Danish fleet arrived to support the rebels, and Edgar the Ætheling was among the leaders. William responded with a ruthless campaign through Yorkshire and neighboring areas. Contemporary writers describe widespread destruction and famine, and the event is often called the Harrying of the North. The extent of the damage is debated, but later Domesday entries show many estates in the area as waste or much reduced in value.
- The Fenland resistance, around 1070 and 1071. Hereward, later remembered as “the Wake,” led resistance based in the marshes near Ely. The details come from later sources and mix history with legend, so the specifics are uncertain.
- The Revolt of the Earls, 1075. This was a conspiracy by several leading men, including a Norman earl and an English one, against the king. It was suppressed, and its leaders were punished. It matters because it shows that Norman nobles were also a risk.
William also faced pressure from outside England. Scandinavian rulers considered intervening, and the connection with the Viking Age tradition of raiding and claims meant that the possibility of a new northern invasion was a real worry. Wales and Scotland also required attention, and William’s move into Scotland in 1072 led to a submission by the Scottish king.
Land as the reward
The tool that tied the regime together was land. As rebels were defeated, their estates were seized and passed to Norman followers. Over time, most of the great holdings in England were reassigned, as described in the account of the English aristocracy. The lords who received them held their estates on terms of service to the king, and they had a strong interest in preventing a revival of the English regime.
The pattern of reward also helped to bind the elite to William. Men who held land because of the conquest were unlikely to desert the crown for its enemies. At the same time, William was careful, for example by granting large blocks of land in widely scattered places so that no single baron controlled a compact power base, though this was not always possible, especially on the frontiers.
Government and religion
Norman rule rested on more than force. William kept the English system of shires, sheriffs and writs, and used it to collect taxes and hear disputes. The sheriffs, many of whom were Norman, became key figures. He relied on bishops and abbots as advisers and used the church to support the regime, appointing Lanfranc to Canterbury. The Domesday survey late in the reign was a final act of consolidation, giving the crown a detailed record of what its new elite held.
How secure was it by 1087?
When William died in 1087, English resistance as an organized movement had largely ended, and the Norman landholding class was established. But the position was not entirely safe. The division of William’s lands between his sons led to years of conflict among them, and some of the great barons rebelled against William Rufus. The regime survived because the king’s tenants, divided though they were, generally preferred a Norman king to the disorder that might follow without one.
Caveats
Almost everything we know about these years comes from sources written by churchmen, many of them from the Norman side or from later generations. The chronology of the northern risings is difficult to reconstruct, casualty numbers are unreliable and local variation was great. A cautious summary is that the combination of castles, repression, grants and the use of existing English institutions allowed a small foreign elite to hold a large kingdom, at a heavy cost to many of the people living in it.