AthelingExeter submits after eighteen days
Harold’s mother Gytha and the western shires test the new king’s patience.
What the record says
Exeter refused the customary oath and tribute. William besieged the city in midwinter; after eighteen days it surrendered on terms and a castle was raised. Gytha escaped by sea.
Certainty
| Fact | Value | Certainty |
|---|---|---|
| Date | 1 February 1068 | Exact |
| How sure we are | High | Of this record as a whole |
People
William, Gytha.
Related events
- Matilda is crowned queen
The Whitsun coronation at Westminster gives the conquest a queen and, before the year is out, an English-born son.
- Edwin and Morcar rise in the Midlands
The brothers leave court after the promised marriage to William’s daughter fails to happen.
- William sails for Normandy
The new king spends most of 1067 across the Channel, leaving Odo and fitzOsbern to govern.
- William is crowned at Westminster
Ealdred of York crowns the Conqueror on Christmas Day while his guards set fire to the houses outside.
- Edgar submits at Berkhamsted
William crosses the Thames at Wallingford and the English leaders come out to meet him.
Sources
Where this is recorded
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Avalon Project)
- Orderic Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, trans. Thomas Forester
- The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, trans. Thomas Forester
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