How did William the Conqueror Reward Loyalty? (Edexcel GCSE History)

Why was Loyalty Important in Eleventh-Century England?- Summary

Rewarding Anglo-Saxon Loyalty

• William wanted an easy takeover of power

  • He had already fought at the Battle of Hastings to eliminate Harold Godwinson

  • Previous Viking rulers of England, like King Cnut, had used some existing Anglo-Saxons in their government

• William retained Anglo-Saxons in key government positions

  • Stigand and Ealdred kept their roles in the church

  • William allowed Morcar and Edwin to keep their earldoms

  • Gospatric became the earl of northern Northumbria

    • William permitted this after Gospatric gave William a large amount of money

• William rewarded loyalty with political marriages

  • If Edwin remained loyal, William stated that he could marry his daughter

    • This marriage would make Edwin very powerful in Norman England

Rewarding William's Knights and Supporters

• William had to reward his followers

  • William promised Norman soldiers land for their service in the invasion force

  • William needed to pay the mercenaries that he had hired

• Rewards for Norman followers contradicted keeping the Anglo-Saxons happy

  • Some Anglo-Saxons would have to lose land and power to Normans

    • The downfall of the house of Godwin made a lot of land available to William, including Wessex

    • William kept around a fifth of all of the land in England as property of the king

  • While William's actions annoyed Anglo-Saxon aristocrats, they were not surprised by them

    • Previous Viking and Anglo-Saxon monarchs of England had rewarded their followers in the same way

How did William reward his Norman followers?

A concept map showing the methods that William used to reward his supporters

• William granted his most important followers key earldoms:

  • His half-brother, Odo, became the Earl of Kent

  • His most trusted adviser, William FitzOsbern, gained the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and large territories in West England

  • Robert of Montgomery, who William appointed to govern Normandy in his absence, became the Earl of Shrewsbury