Was William the Conqueror a harsh ruler/tyrant?
When William became duke of Normandy on the death of his father in 1035, he was just 8 years old. William survived the murder of three of his guardians, and the first twelve years of his rule were characterised by almost constant anarchy. This meant that William learnt fast how to look after himself, and he had to be very tough to do this; his younger years gave him a very early experience of medieval power politics. Because of his illegitimacy, he was known as William the Bastard, but not to his face. It’s said that if he learnt of someone using this term, he’d cut off that person’s hands and feet. Following his successful invasion of England, he tried to be magnanimous, granting pardons on a couple of occasions to rebels in the north of England. But when that area rebelled for a third time, William dealt with them very harshly. This has become known as ‘the Harrying of the North’, when many were killed, and whole villages were depopulated. While I certainly wouldn’t call William a ty
