"The Harrying of the North was a campaign of brutal violence carried out in the North of England by King William I of England, in an attempt to stamp his authority on the region. He had recently conquered the country, but the North had always had an independent streak, and he wasn't the first monarch to have to quell it. However, he was be famed as one of the most brutal. The questions remain: was it as brutal as legend has it, and do historic records reveal the truth?
In 1066, William the Conqueror seized the crown of England thanks to victory at the Battle of Hastings and a brief campaign that led to the submission of the country. He consolidated his hold in a series of campaigns that were effective in the south.
However, North England had always been a wilder, less centralized place—earls Morcar and Edwin, who fought in the 1066 campaigns on the Anglo-Saxon side, had one eye on northern autonomy. William's initial attempts to establish his authority there, which included three journeys around with an army, castles built, and garrisons left, had been undone by Danish invasions and multiple rebellions from English earls to lower ranks…"
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