Witness to the Norman Conquest’s Darkest Atrocity
When we traveled back to 1069 England, we expected to find the triumphant William the Conqueror solidifying his rule after the famed Battle of Hastings in 1066. But what we witnessed instead was an act of unspeakable cruelty – the beginning of the Harrying of the North, one of the most brutal episodes of William’s subjugation of the Saxon English population.
We arrived in the burnt-out remains of a village somewhere in Northumbria. The stench of smoke and death hung heavy as we picked through the bombed rubble and charred corpses. Clearly the Norman troops had recently stormed through to put down yet another English rebellion.
“This is barbaric,” Grace whispered, eyes filling with tears at the senseless devastation all around us.
Through the smoldering ruins, we spotted a party of mounted Norman knights conferring near a makeshift camp. At the head rode an unmistakable figure – the Conqueror himself, William of Normandy. His aristocratic bearing and stern expression left no doubt.
William of Normandy explains
“Come, let us see what explanations the King has for allowing such savageries,” I said grimly, leading Grace closer to eavesdrop on their council.
“This latest revolt by the Northern earls has tried my patience,” William growled. “I have ordered scorched earth all the way to the Scottish border to starve the rebel forces into submission!”
The Norman knights exchanged dark looks but remained silent as William continued ranting.
“Any lands, villages, harvests, or livestock that could sustain the rebels are to be destroyed without mercy. We shall make the ground itself unable to feed our traitorous foes. I order that you plough the land and kill it with salt! Those who defy my rightful rule shall be met with fire and the sword!”
Grace let out a horrified gasp at his words. William whipped his horse around, eyes narrowing as he scanned the area.
“Who goes there?!” he bellowed, sword half-drawn.
I grabbed Grace’s hand and we ran, ducking behind the burnt-out shell of a church. The Normans’ angry shouts echoed behind us, but we had already activated the time machine to escape the 11th century.
As the vortex whirled us home, I could scarcely fathom the barbarity we had just witnessed – the widespread, systematic campaign to utterly destroy and starve an entire population into surrender. Historians estimate over 100,000 men, women, and children ultimately perished during William’s ruthless Harrying of the North. In modern terms it could be described as genocide.
While he had won the crown through conquest, such gratuitous cruelty spoke of a dark, paranoid madness in the Conqueror, willing to butcher his own subjects by the thousands to maintain power at any cost. It made us keenly aware of the horrors throughout history when absolute rule meets absolute resistance.