Hereward the Wake
The year is 1069 - the year of "The Harrying of the North". Three years earlier, William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy had defeated the Saxon King Harold II at Senlac Hill in Sussex. Edgar the Æthling, descendant of Æthelred, who was the Witan's choice as a successor to Edward, had sworn an oath of allegiance at Duke William\'s coronation in London, on Christmas Day 1066, thus extinguishing all but the last ray of hope for a Saxon monarch on the throne of England. However, it would need more than just one battle to conquer a kingdom, and the ensuing years provided William with more than enough
Scene 1 (1068): A village somewhere in the Midlands in the Earldom of Mercia. The Earl, Edwin, is away seeking support for his and his brother Morcar\'s cause. During their absence William's subordinate, Hugh de Grandmesnil has deployed one Gaimar, a Norman mercenary, to collect taxes from the hapless villagers. His demands are excessive as he sees this as an easy way to line his own pockets. Gaimar arrives at the village expecting little or no trouble. However, the villagers rally and refuse to pay, and when a child is threatened by one of Gaimar's men, the incensed villagers rise up and drive out the incompetent tax collector empty handed. Gaimar retreats with his tail between his legs.
The Harrying of the North
Scene 2 (later the same year): King William, on a tour of his new lands, is accompanied by Hugh de Grandmesnil and the inept Gaimar lead a force of Normans to the village and swiftly let the villagers have a taste of 'Norman Justice'! Ruthlessly they attempt to extort the taxes under pain of death, putting one dwelling to the torch to tell people that they mean business. This enrages the recalcitrant villagers and only further deepens their resentment of the Normans. Thinking they can once more drive out their oppressors they attack the king's men and many are brutally slain. Crushed, the survivors can only watch as the ruthless Normans take by force the taxes that they came for. As they leave there is an awed hush over the village. At this point Earl Edwin enters in the company of his younger brother Morcar, the dispossessed Earl of Northumbria. The frightened and bereaved villagers vent their anger on Edwin, who is unable to pacify them. his death as a result of betrayal by his own men swiftly follows. This action may be seen as the precursor to William's savage retribution, known in history as 'The Harrying of the North'.Morcar flees eastwards and joins Hereward in his fenland retreat on the Isle of Eels (Ely) - the last stronghold of English resistance.
Hereward, who is himself of Danish extraction, is aided in his struggle, by a group of Vikings, although many of them have returned to Scandinavia with their King, Swein Estrithsson, whom William had bought off. (see note below)
Scene 3: The battle follows. The Normans, led by a treacherous monk from the Ely fraternity, approach Hereward's stronghold in the Fens. This final battle is played as a free fight so that the outcome is unknown. Any variance with history is covered by the informative narration.
(Swein had been hailed as liberator by the people of York. William punished the North for what he perceived as 'treachery' by his punitive campaign of 1069 - "The Harrying of the North\". The rebels burn down Peterborough Abbey, and the rebels have the satisfaction of seeing a causeway built to take Norman troops, collapse under its own weight into the bogs. William buys off Swein, who decides to cut his losses, reverting to Viking type - thus the rebellion is doomed.)
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