How Did William the Conqueror gain and Maintain

Control of England?
Far back in the brutal times of Edward the Confessor, from royalty to the mundane
and from knights to the barons – all were expected to act and behave far more
aggressively when it comes to battle than today. In comparison, they were frankly
savage. So when it came to the major dispute over the throne in 1066, as you can
imagine it certainly wasn’t solved by all the supposed heirs sitting down at a table
and having a civilised debate about the matter. No, instead they resorted to the
inevitable option of war, which in the end, usually results in nothing more than total
massacre.

Ultimately, at the end of a series of tumultuous battles, William the Conqueror was
crowned King on the 25th December 1066. However, he did not gain power of
England through total justice and truthfulness. Neither did he maintain his
imperative role through equality and respect. No, instead he took the crown and
kept it with incandescent rage and no mercy. He was like a callous rock - unaffected
by all circumstances. And icily ruling for 21 years in that deplorable fashion he
introduced many malicious ways of keeping control.

After the prominent death of Edward the Confessor, with no true family to inherit
the title, the King had to rely on Harold Godwinson – the popular, cherished English
nobleman – who was also brother to Edward’s wife. He seemed like a perfectly
sensible choice. Honest, a citizen of England and a cataclysmic warrior, the only
trouble being that he wasn’t royal blood. As you can imagine, the other candidates
that were contesting for the throne were polluted with thoughts of great envy and
revenge. They immediately started plotting ways of charging into England, taking
the crown and then belligerently capturing and twisting all of the nation’s hearts
until they doggedly followed them. These threats came from Harold Hadrada (from
Norway) and William of Normandy (from France). Harold Hadrada and Tostig (his
brother) wasted no time in sailing over to Britain and landing in the north west of
England. Expecting some sort of turmoil to be caused by him taking the crown,
Godwinson charged straight into action by travelling from London all the way to
York to meet the imposing army of Vikings. A maelstrom of agony followed as
many solders met their end whilst fighting for their ruler. However in the end our
gallant English army came out on top. This battle is now known as the battle of
Stamford Bridge.

However, the untimely arrival of William of Normandy in the south extinguished all
sign of celebration before it had even started. The King of Normandy was
exhilarated when he heard the news of the battle involving Hadrarda, luck had
fallen precisely to his advantage. So, exhausted and suffering, our King’s army
began the daunting 16 day trek back to the intruders. Many of his finest soldiers
were hurt with sanguine gashes on limbs staring at the world like an eye taunting
the men. Also many other warriors wished to go back home, seeing their family and
checking on their crops seemed like an irresistible opportunity. Therefore, before the
clash had even commenced, Harold already seemed to be losing.

However, once they arrived at the battle field, things momentarily seemed to
change. The English formed a mighty shield wall on the top of Senlac Hill – from
this high point they appeared to have a tactical advantage. Many times the mighty
French army tried to defeat the defensive structure, but each time it proved
impenetrable and the Normans were left retreating back humiliated. But William
had a strong reputation to keep up so he was left with an unquenchable thirst for
revenge. The next time the French ran up the hill to attack they all had a devious
plan devised in the only mind capable of such things – William’s. As they reached
the English formation then ran back down in pretend fear. Unfortunately, the Fyrd
(the lesser trained of the British army) then followed, leaving a vulnerable opening
in the wall. The French enemy immediately took advantage by viciously charging at
the Housecarls (the more experienced) that were surrounding Harold. From then on
many more turning points appeared. One of them being that a sudden flurry of
panic poured over the Norman ranks as it was rumoured that William was dead.
However, the setback didn’t last; the French ruler flung off his helmet and
audaciously rode in front of all his men to prove his survival. But when word hit the
English that their King had died there could be no reassurance that he was alive.
Harold Godwinson, the English King, was dead. Yes, he lifelessly lay on the ground,
an arrow protruding from one eye. Eventually, the French over-whelmed us due to
numbers and health and they won the famous battle that was the Battle of Hastings.

William, now known as William the Conqueror, knew all the tricks about dealing
with rebellions and put them into use straight away. He commanded that many
intimidating castles be built all over the country in order to drive fear into the hearts
of the citizens of England. Pure anguish and ice would fill every nook between each
slab of stone or sturdy timber. They had little more purpose than to remind all in a
very sly way that the King was always near and was always watching. These
buildings were especially useful near big towns since they were the most likely place
for a rebellion. But even with his succinct warning in the form of castles, the English
still experienced the King’s mighty wrath full on and harsher than ever…

The Harrying of the North played a key part in demonstrating how ruthless and
powerful the new King was. It showed how far William was prepared to go so he
could keep order. His vicious rampage was almost a threat to the rest of the rebels
how strong he and his army were. Thousands of innocent peasants were killed. As
he travelled through the land not a single person was gifted wit survival. In contrast,
there was one who posed a threat to the King’s men. Who was capable of massacre.
His name was Hereward the Wake. This man was a Scottish rebel who strongly
believed in freedom and equality, and anyone who disagreed with him would soon
end up dead – as did many of the solders.

Another example of a way that William of Conqueror maintained control of England

was the feudal system. Basically, this was the way that land was dished out between
the noblemen of England.