The Rebellion of 1088 occurred after the death of William the Conqueror [1] and concerned the division of lands in the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy between his two sons William Rufus and Robert Curthose. Hostilities lasted from three to six months starting around Easter of 1088. [2]
William on his deathbed in 1087 decided how his sons would inherit the lands of his native Normandy and recently conquered England. His eldest son Robert was made Duke of Normandy and his third eldest son (second eldest surviving son) William Rufus was made King of England. This came to pass on William's death. [3]
The division of William the Conqueror's lands into two parts presented a dilemma for those nobles who held land on both sides of the English Channel. Since the younger William and his brother Robert were natural rivals, these nobles worried that they could not hope to please both of their lords, and thus ran the risk of losing the favour of one ruler or the other, or both. [4] The only solution, as they saw it, was to unite England and Normandy once more under one ruler. The pursuit of this aim led them to revolt against William in favour of Robert, under the leadership of the powerful Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who was a half-brother of William the Conqueror. [5]
The rebels, led by William the Conqueror's half-brothers Odo of Bayeux [6] and Robert, Count of Mortain, with Odo the stronger of the two and the leader, decided to band together to dispose of young King William II and reunite Normandy and England under a single ruler, Robert.
Among King William's initial supporters were all the bishops of England, a few major magnates including Alan Rufus (in the east of England north of London up to Yorkshire), William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey (from Sussex to Yorkshire) and Hugh of Avranches (in the west, around Cheshire, and in Lincolnshire),[6] and lesser tenants-in-chief such as Robert Fitzhamon and Walter D'Aincourt. However, the rebels' ranks were made up many of the most powerful barons in England: of the ten largest baronial landholders in the Domesday Book, six were counted amongst the rebels. They were spread far and wide geographically from Kent, controlled by Bishop Odo, to Northumberland, controlled by Robert de Mowbray, to Gloucestershire and Somerset under Geoffrey de Montbray (Bishop of Coutances), to Norfolk with Roger Bigod, through Shropshire and Sussex and other counties with Roger of Montgomery, and a vast swathe of territory in the south-west, centre and south of England under Count Robert. In support of the rebels were Eustace III, Count of Boulogne and "Hugh de Grantmesnil, who had the government of Leicestershire, with Robert de Rhuddlan his nephew, and other knights of distinguished bravery". [7]
With the coming of summer in 1088, the barons set out on a campaign to lay waste the lands of William II and his supporters. They fortified their own castles and stocked them with provisions, and waited for a response from the king. If for some reason no response came, they knew they could easily live by plundering neighbouring territories, and thus reduce the kingdom to feudal anarchy, a situation the king would eventually have to address.
The king's response was threefold. First, he divided his enemies by promising those who sided with him that they would receive as much money and land as they wanted. Second, he appealed to the English people as a whole, promising them "the best law that had ever been in this land". This had a positive effect in allowing regional garrisons the support they needed to fight the rebels. Finally, he attacked the rebels personally. In a six-week siege of Pevensey Castle in Sussex he captured the rebel leader Odo. [8]
In a stroke of luck for the king, the troops Robert was sending from Normandy were driven back by bad weather on the seas. [8] Meanwhile, the king, together with some of his allies took Rochester Castle in Kent, and with Robert's failure to arrive, the rebels were forced to surrender and the rebellion was over.
Those of William's barons who had remained loyal urged leniency for the rebel barons, Orderic Vitalis says, addressing the king:
Odo, previously the richest man in England, was stripped of his belongings and banished to Normandy for life, [8] while his nephew Robert Curthose was allowed to stay in England and keep his estates in Normandy, on the proviso that he recognise William II as king and set aside his claim to the throne. Roger of Montgomery had left the rebels and joined with the king after promises of land and money. The king pragmatically kept those aristocrats whom he needed and removed those who were a threat.
William de St-Calais, Bishop of Durham, who had abandoned the king's army during the campaign, was tried later in the year, deposed, and exiled to Normandy, but in 1091 returned and was reinstated.
Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, but Henry was left landless. He purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but his brothers deposed him in 1091. He gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William Rufus against Robert.
William the Conqueror, sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose.
William II was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third son of William the Conqueror, he is commonly referred to as William Rufus, perhaps because of his ruddy appearance or, more likely, due to having red hair.
Robert II of Normandy, or Robert Curthose, was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 1087, reigning until 1106. Robert was also an unsuccessful claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of England. The epithet "Curthose" had its origins in the Norman French word courtheuse 'short stockings' and was apparently derived from a nickname given to Robert by his father; the chroniclers William of Malmesbury and Orderic Vitalis reported that William the Conqueror had derisively called Robert brevis-ocrea.
Odo of Bayeux was Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy, and was also made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, William's primary administrator in the Kingdom of England.
William de St-Calais was a medieval Norman monk, abbot of the abbey of Saint-Vincent in Le Mans in Maine, who was nominated by King William I of England as Bishop of Durham in 1080. During his term as bishop, St-Calais replaced the canons of his cathedral chapter with monks, and began the construction of Durham Cathedral. In addition to his ecclesiastical duties, he served as a commissioner for the Domesday Book of 1086. He was also a councillor and advisor to both King William I and his son, King William II, known as William Rufus. Following William Rufus' accession to the throne in 1087, St-Calais is considered by scholars to have been the new king's chief advisor.
Hugh de Grandmesnil, , is one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Subsequently, he became a great landowner in England.
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick or Henry de Newburgh was a Norman nobleman who rose to great prominence in the Kingdom of England.
Roger the Poitevin or Roger de Poitou was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat possessing large holdings both in England and through his marriage in France during the early 12th century.
Robert de Bellême, seigneur de Bellême, seigneur de Montgomery, viscount of the Hiémois, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury and Count of Ponthieu, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, and one of the most prominent figures in the competition for the succession to England and Normandy between the sons of William the Conqueror. He was a member of the powerful House of Bellême.
Odo of Rennes, Count of Penthièvre, was the youngest of the three sons of Duke Geoffrey I of Brittany and Hawise of Normandy, daughter of Richard I of Normandy. Eudon married Agnes of Cornouaille, the daughter of Alan Canhiart, Count of Cornouaille and sister of Hoel II, Duke of Brittany who was married in 1066 to Eudon's niece Hawise, Duchess of Brittany.
Richard fitz Gilbert, 1st feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and was styled "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and of "Tonbridge" from his holdings.
Thomas of Bayeux was Archbishop of York from 1070 until 1100. He was educated at Liège and became a royal chaplain to Duke William of Normandy, who later became King William I of England. After the Norman Conquest, the king nominated Thomas to succeed Ealdred as Archbishop of York. After Thomas' election, Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, demanded an oath from Thomas to obey him and any future Archbishops of Canterbury; this was part of Lanfranc's claim that Canterbury was the primary bishopric, and its holder the head of the English Church. Thomas countered that York had never made such an oath. As a result, Lanfranc refused to consecrate him. The King eventually persuaded Thomas to submit, but Thomas and Lanfranc continued to clash over ecclesiastical issues, including the primacy of Canterbury, which dioceses belonged to the province of York, and the question of how York's obedience to Canterbury would be expressed.
Alan Rufus, alternatively Alanus Rufus (Latin), Alan ar Rouz (Breton), Alain le Roux (French) or Alan the Red, 1st Lord of Richmond, was a Breton nobleman, kinsman and companion of William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England. He was the second son of Eozen Penteur by Orguen Kernev. William the Conqueror granted Alan Rufus a significant English fief, later known as the Honour of Richmond, in about 1071.
Odo was count of Troyes and of Meaux from 1047 to 1066, then count of Aumale from 1069 to 1115. He was later also known as the count of Champagne and as Eudes II of Troyes.
Stephen of Aumale was Count of Aumale from before 1089 to 1127, and Lord of Holderness.
Events from the 1080s in England.
Events from the 1070s in England.
Eudo Dapifer ;, was a Norman aristocrat who served as a steward under William the Conqueror, William II Rufus, and Henry I.
The army of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, left for the Holy Land on the First Crusade. Robert was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and brother to William Rufus, king of England. He was reportedly so poor that he often had to stay in bed for lack of clothes. In order to raise money for the crusade he mortgaged his duchy to his brother William II of England. His army joined the contingent of Robert II, Count of Flanders, and Stephen, Count of Blois.