harrying of the north

Ruthless Norman repression of the Anglo-Saxon rebellion in the north of England (1069–70). After his victory at the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror faced a series of revolts against Norman rule across England which he suppressed effectively but ruthlessly. The rising in the north was led by Edgar the Aetheling, an Anglo-Saxon prince, and Earl Waltheof, assisted by a Danish invasion. William first devastated the areas around York to isolate his enemies; the revolt was quickly suppressed and the Danes driven off. William continued his campaign around the north of England to deter further risings and in 1070 attacked parts of Mercia as well. The ‘harrying’ was effective in deterring potential rebels but famine followed his military campaign and even the Norman writer Ordericus Vitalis described it as ‘barbarous homicide’. The Domesday Book survey of 1086 recorded that large areas of the north were devastated.