Revolt of the Earls

The rebellion of the Earls of 1075 was a revolt of three Earls against the English king William the Conqueror. It was the last serious resistance to Wilhelm in connection with the Norman conquest of England.

Expiration

The revolt was approve by the refusal of the King ( he was since 1073 in Normandy ) is triggered, the marriage of Emma, daughter of William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, and I. Raoul de Gaël ( Ralph de Guader ) 1075. In the absence of the king began to Raoul and his new brother Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford and Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria, the uprising, which quickly became a disaster.

Waltheof soon lost courage and confessed the conspiracy against Lanfranc of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, who then urged Roger to return to his duty of loyalty, and finally excommunicated him and his followers. Finally Waltheof repeated to his confession William, who was still in Normandy.

Roger, who was to introduce his troops from the west of England, to unite with those of Raoul's, was on the Severn by soldiers from Worcestershire under the command of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, were kept at bay. Raoul arrived in the meantime at Cambridge on a far superior force of the bishops Odo of Bayeux and Geoffrey de Montbray ( who ordered that captured rebels of the right foot should be chopped off ), and retreated hastily to Norwich back, the royal troops at his heels. He left his wife in Norwich back to defend with the mission Norwich Castle, sailed to Denmark to fetch help, and returned with a fleet of 200 ships back to England, without, however, can be effectively used here.

The Countess defended Norwich, to her and her (now disowned ) followers safe conduct if they would leave the country within 40 days. She retired in Brittany, whither fled and her husband.

Results

• Raoul was deposed and dispossessed.
• Roger was brought before the Great Council, also deposed and expropriated, condemned in addition to life imprisonment. But he was freed after the death of William in 1087, along with other political prisoners.
• Waltheof, who returned to England with William, was arrested and, after he was asked twice before the Royal Court, sentenced to death. On May 31, 1076, he was beheaded on St. Giles 's Hill in Winchester.