The Aftermath of the Battle of Hastings

The battle of Hastings was one of the most famous and important battles in the history of the British isles, and saw the end of the Anglo-Saxon era and the beginning of the Norman occupation. Lead by William, Duke of Normandy, the Norman army defeated the recently crowned king Harold Godwinson and William ascended to the throne. However that was not the end of the tale for William, who went on to live through a number of other battles and troubles of his own.

Immediately after the battle, William and his army camped for several weeks near Hastings to await the passing of the sovereignty to himself. When the surrender of the Saxon lords didn't come, William began to march on London. Despite having trouble reaching London due to dysentery and ambushes, eventually William was able to reach the capital, and reinforced by troops from across the channel, took the crown. The Saxon lords surrendered as well as the king put in place after Harold's death, Edgar the Aetheling.

Although William was now the king, there were still pockets of resistance to his rule, particularly in the North of the country. Various regions rebelled, and were each eventually put down by William and his troops. At the time Scotland was a separate region, under its own rule, and was known as a haven for rebels and outlaws, which also made it difficult to keep rebellions down permanently. The most serious of the rebellions came about due to the machinations of the deposed king and relative of Harold Godwinson, Edgar the Aetheling.

Edgar managed to stir up revolt in both Mercia and Northumbria, two large regions in the north, and promptly fled to Scotland where he was sheltered by the Scottish king Malcolm the third. Edgar was also able to convince the Danish king to send a large army to invade to the North, as well as also gaining the military support of Scotland in his rebellion. Eventually William was able to defeat the rebels, and a good portion of the Danish army left as a result. The Danish king later embarked for Britain in order to start the war, but was bought off with a large sum of gold and left peaceably.

In 1072, Malcolm and the Scots had invaded the north of England, which prompted a return invasion by William. He defeated the Scottish quickly, although the countryside was difficult to traverse which made a complete victory difficult. Eventually William and Malcolm signed a peace treaty, giving William his son Duncan as a hostage to seal the deal. Soon after this Edgar, who had been in hiding in Scotland after his defeat, finally surrendered to William as well.

As a result of all the rebellions and uprisings, William began to remove the native Saxon lords and replace them with Norman nobles, who would be more loyal to him. Some of these lords he sold into slavery, and some he replaced as they died. Many of these nobles fled to France, and some to Byzantium where they served as mercenaries. The other reason for wanting Norman nobles instead of English ones was that William spent most of his time in France, and the nobles could be used to keep an eye on affairs in England.

Perhaps the biggest impact that William had on England was that he was known as a great reformer, putting in place economic systems that made England one of the richest provinces in the world at the time. This in turn made William, who was still only a Duke in France, very powerful, which the other dukes were afraid and jealous of. This eventually lead them to attack Williams dukedom of Normandy, and lead to William invasion of Brittany, a neighboring province. King Philip of France eventually settled the situation, and the invasion was called off.

Relatively soon after, in 1087, William died after falling from his horse during a campaign in the French town of mantes. He was buried in Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Normandy, which he had built several years before. His death was rather pedestrian given all that he accomplished during his lifetime. William has another claim to fame, as he was the only foreign leader to ever conquer England, although there were many attempts afterwards.