The siege of Exeter occurred early in 1068 when King

William I of England William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was ...

marched a combined army of

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

and loyal Englishmen westwards to force the submission of the city of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, a stronghold of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

resistance against Norman rule following the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. After a

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

lasting eighteen days, the city surrendered to William under generous terms and allowed the Normans to consolidate their hold over the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

Background

Exeter originated as a Roman ''

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...

'' called

Isca Dumnoniorum Isca Dumnoniorum, also known simply as Isca, was originally a Roman legionary fortress for the Second Augustan Legion (established ) in the Roman province of Britannia at the site of present-day Exeter in Devon. The town grew up around this ...

, which was provided with

town walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

in about 200 AD. It later became an Anglo-Saxon ''

burh A burh () or burg was an Anglo-Saxon fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constru ...

'' or fortified settlement and the Roman walls were said to have been repaired and improved by King

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern histori ...

in the 10th century. William1

After the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place appr ...

in October 1066, Duke William of Normandy marched on London and accepted the surrender of the leading English nobles at

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...

and was subsequently crowned

King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

on Christmas Day. After the death of

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of the Norman ...

, his mother,

Gytha Thorkelsdóttir Gytha Thorkelsdóttir ( 997 – c. 1069), also called Githa, was a Danish noblewoman. She was the wife of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and the mother of King Harold Godwinson and Edith of Wessex, the latter of whom was the queen consort of King Edwa ...

, took refuge in Exeter, which then became the main focus in the

of resistance to Norman rule. Gytha had considerable wealth and hoped for the arrival of Harold's three sons, Godwin,

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

and

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

, who had gone to Ireland to raise an army.

Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...

states that she sent messages to other towns and cities in the region asking for support and was in contact her nephew,

Sweyn II of Denmark Sweyn II ( – 28 April 1076), also known as Sweyn Estridsson (, ) and Sweyn Ulfsson, was King of Denmark from 1047 until his death in 1076. He was the son of Ulf Thorgilsson and Estrid Svendsdatter, and the grandson of Sweyn Forkbeard through ...

. In March 1067, William had returned to Normandy in triumph, but there news arrived of events in Exeter. According to Orderic, some Norman soldiers that William had sent across to England ended up in Exeter where they were badly treated; they were stated to have been blown off course by bad weather, but were possibly on a reconnaissance mission. This, together with evidence that Exeter was soliciting support for an uprising, caused William to issue a demand of

fealty An oath of fealty, from the Latin (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Definition In medieval Europe, the swearing of fealty took the form of an oath made by a vassal, or subordinate, to his lord. "Fealty" also r ...

from the city. When the reply came from Exeter, it was made clear that the citizens not only declined to swear allegiance to William or to allow him to enter their city, but also refused to pay any taxes beyond those that were customary,Brown 1994, p. 165 probably in reference to the severe taxes imposed after the Conquest that are described in the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

''. Orderic relates that William said that he would not accept subjects under those conditions and he returned to England in December 1067. Other threats to Norman rule at that time included the revolt of

Edric the Wild Eadric ''the Wild'' (or Eadric ''Silvaticus''), also known as Wild Edric, Eadric ''Cild'' (or ''Child'') and Edric ''the Forester'', was an Anglo-Saxon magnate of Shropshire and Herefordshire who led English resistance to the Norman Conquest, acti ...

in Herefordshire and a failed attack on

Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some writers say it is the ...

, but the defiance of Exeter with the connected threats of the Danes and Harold's sons was the most pressing matter.

William's march west

King William celebrated Christmas in London and then began his move towards Exeter. The fact that he took the unusual step of campaigning in the depths of winter is indicative of William's determination to deliver a pre-emptive strike against the Godwinsons. For the first time, William supplemented his Norman cavalry by calling out the

fyrd A fyrd was a type of early Anglo-Saxon army that was mobilised from freemen or paid men to defend their Shire's lords estate, or from selected representatives to join a royal expedition. Service in the fyrd was usually of short duration and part ...

, the traditional force of English militia infantry, which besides increasing the size of his force, would have been a test of loyalty for his new subjects.Huscroft 2009, p. 140 On William's march through Dorset, he took the opportunity to pillage the towns which he perceived were supporting Exeter; the damage inflicted at Dorchester,

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

and

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

was still evident at the time of the

Domesday survey Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

some 18 years later.

The siege

When William arrived in Exeter's environs, he made camp, probably at the village of

Clyst Honiton Clyst Honiton (or Honiton Clyst) is an English village and civil parish five miles from Exeter in the East Devon district, in the county of Devon. The church is St Michael and All Angels. Exeter International Airport which opened in 1938 is loca ...

. Here, William was met by a delegation of prominent Exeter citizens, who pledged their submission to William and handed over

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

s as surety. There are two interpretations of this encounter; firstly that two parties had emerged in Exeter, one hoping for a peaceful settlement, and the other, led by Gytha, being determined to resist, while the second possibility was that this was a bluff by Gytha who was playing for time, hoping for the timely arrival of her grandsons with an Anglo-Irish army. Whatever the intention, when William and his army arrived at the East Gate of Exeter, he found it closed against him and the walls crowded with armed men. In response to this afront, he had one of the hostages blinded in full view of the city's defenders, although this did not diminish their resolve; according to

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...

, one of the men on the battlements responded by lowering his breeches and

fart Flatulence is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environmental air, ...

ing towards the Normans. The various accounts of the details of the siege are divergent on some points and difficult to reconcile. According to the D Version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' attributed to

John of Worcester John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is now usually held to be the author of the . Works John of Worcester's principal work was the (Latin for "Chronicle from Chronicles") or ...

, the siege lasted for eighteen days and William's army suffered large losses, presumably in direct assaultsBates p. 289 At some stage in the battle, Gytha escaped from city by boat along the

River Exe The River Exe ( ) is a river in England that source (river), rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lie ...

, together with some of her supporters, indicating that William's army was not supported by ships. Orderic states that William eventually managed to breach the walls by

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

, the first record of this technique being used in England. However, the siege ended by negotiation rather than conquest; according to Orderic, the gates were opened and the townspeople, preceded by their clergy carrying sacred books and relics, pleaded for clemency. All the sources agree that William's terms were generous, in return for the city's fealty, with the ''Chronicle'' adding that he agreed to their previous request to pay tax only at pre-Conquest levels. William also prevented his soldiers from claiming their traditional right of looting the surrendered city, posting reliable guards at the gates to ensure its safety.

Aftermath

William ordered the construction of a stone castle to dominate Exeter and

Rougemont Castle Rougemont Castle, also known as Exeter Castle, is the historic castle of the city of Exeter, Devon, England. It was built into the northern corner of the Roman Exeter city walls, city walls starting in or shortly after the year 1068, following ...

was built inside the northeast of the city wall. William's unusual generosity of terms at Exeter may have been due to the need to bring the West Country under his control. Antiquary

William Hals William Hals (1655–1737) was a Cornish historian who compiled a ''History of Cornwall'', the first work of any magnitude that was printed in Cornwall. He was born at Tresawsan, in the parish of Merther in Cornwall. Much of his work was never pu ...

speculated that

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua language, Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. One species, the And ...

, the pre-Conquest

Earl of Cornwall The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne. Condor of Cornwall *Condor of Cornwall, ...

who had sworn fealty to William for his earldom, may have supported the rebels at Exeter, and was deprived of his earldom for this. In any case, William subsequently marched his army into Cornwall in a show of strength, before returning to Winchester to celebrate Easter. The garrison of Exeter was initially commanded by William de Vauville but soon passed to

Baldwin FitzGilbert Baldwin FitzGilbert ( 1030 – 1086/1091) (''alias'' Baldwin the Sheriff, Baldwin of Exeter, Baldwin de Meulles/Moels and Baldwin du Sap) was a Norman magnate and one of the 52 Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror, ...

(or de Meulles), while

Brian of Brittany Brian of Brittany ( 1042 – 14 February, perhaps bef. 1086) was a Breton nobleman who fought in the service of William I of England. A powerful magnate in south-western England, he was the first post- Conquest earl of Cornwall. Brian was bor ...

was made earl of the West Country.Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...

Background

William's march west

The siege

Aftermath

References

Sources