the revolt of the earls

• who were the 3 earls who tried to revolt against william in 1075

  1. roger
  2. ralph
  3. waltheof
• why did roger resent william?

  becaude he reduced the size of his hereford earldom
• why did ralph resent william?

  likely for the same reasons as roger
• why did waltheof resent william?

  he had taken oart in rebellions in the north in 1069 and he was the last surviving anglo-saxon earl
• what were the reasons for the revolt of the earls?

  1. loss of land- william took advantage of the earls fathers deaths and reduced the size of ralph and rogers land
  2. loss of power- anglo-saxon earls used to be very powerful so the 3 earls planned to divide williams kingdom between the 3 of them
• what were the features of the revolt?

  1. waltheof decided to not be apart of the revolt and told archbishop lanfranc about it in hopes of being rewarded for his loyalty but william ordered him to be executed
  2. lanfranc had time to prepare for the revolt and tried to convince roger not to act against william
  3. bishop wulfstan blocked roger from taking his troops across the severn river
  4. anglo-saxons helped normans to prevent ralphs troops breaking out of east anglia
  5. when the danes arrived with 200 ships the revolt came to a halt and the danes raided and returned to denmark
• what was the significance of the revolt?

  • william continued to suppress anglo saxon nobles although they supported him
  • anglo saxons defended william which suggests sone english support for william
• The defeat of the revolt:

  • roger was imprisoned for life
  • ralph escaped to brittany
  • waltheof fled abroad but william tricked him into coming back to england and when he returned he was executed