Norman Conquest Encyclopedia

William the Conqueror's victory and seizing of the crown of England did not go unchallenged. In 1067 Edric the Wild and Eustace of Boulogne led risings in the west and east respectively and in the following year the earls Edwin and Morcar began to make trouble. William marched north and took York and had to come again in the year after that. With help from Scotland rebellion bubbled up again until, in the winter of 1069, William again came to York, killing and burning as he came, spent Christmas there and then continued to lay waste the land. The slaughter and destruction were terrible. This "harrying of the north" left the region destitute for a generation.

See also: Edric the Wild; Edwin of Mercia; Eustace of Boulogne; Hereward the Wake; Morcar of Northumbria; William the Conqueror; York

Related Reading:

• Hastings 1066 (Revised Edition) - The Fall of Saxon England
  (Campaign 13 )