Like many people in the UK I bemoan the fact that our children are no longer taught substantive English and British history, save in private schools. We have such a rich heritage that the omission is nothing short of a scandal. Until our governments see sense (common sense?) I suppose we who were lucky enough to be taught English history must satisfy ourselves by passing on that knowledge to others less fortunate. Today I will be making a speech at a belated St George’s Day lunch and my theme is Hereward the Wake, a hero of these Isles referred to by some as the Last of the English.
Following the battle of Hastings on October 14th, 1066 England lay defenceless against the organised might and ruthlessness of William the Conqueror and his victorious Norman army. By the clever use of gifts of land in return for oaths of allegiance King William, as he was quickly proclaimed, ensured that England would soon be pacified and brought to heel. This system, the Feudal System, guaranteed the loyalty of his nobles who quickly occupied the estates of the English (Anglo-Saxon) nobles who had been decimated at Hastings.
Some natives refused to bow to the Conqueror and revolts sprang up in various parts of the country. These were swiftly and brutally crushed but one man still resisted. Hereward the Wake (meaning wary or watchful) was born in the town of Bourne, Lincolnshire the son of an Anglo-Danish nobleman. He was something of a hothead in his youth and was outlawed by the King causing him to flee the country. Whilst in Flanders, where he had fought as a mercenary, he learned of the Norman conquest and shortly afterwards returned home with some followers. He discovered that his father had been driven from the family home and, worse still, that his younger brother had been killed and his head nailed above the doorway.
Hereward, a redoubtable warrior, sought revenge on those responsible and legend has it that he single-handedly killed the fourteen Norman culprits and then had their heads nailed above the same doorway. Clearly he couldn’t remain at large since the Normans were sure to come looking for him and so he and his followers went into hiding in the nearby Fens. The Fens, comprising treacherous marshland surrounded by thick forest, made an ideal base for the guerrilla warfare that Hereward planned against the Normans.
Hereward soon became a sharp thorn in the side of his enemies who tried desperately to capture him as his successes continued. As word of his exploits spread he became the symbol of English resistance and his small army increased in size as other rebels joined him. Aided by the Saxon Lord Morcar, from Northumberland, and a small force of Danes he led an attack on the Abbey at Peterborough capturing a large hoard of treasure which he wished to prevent from falling into Norman hands.
So serious was the threat now posed by Hereward that a Norman army led by King William in person descended upon the Fens determined to bring the rebellious Englishman to justice. Hereward’s stronghold was well chosen however and the Normans could find no way through the treacherous fens and marshes that he now called home. The Normans tried to cross over the marshes by means of various causeways but Hereward always outwitted them, on one occasion hiding his men in the reeds and then setting fire to stockpiles of wood as his enemies approached. Fleeing the flames, those Normans who were not drowned in the marshy waters were picked off by hidden English archers.
What the Normans were unable to achieve by straightforward military means they were however able to achieve by treachery and so it was that the Abbot of Ely, sick of the fighting, revealed to the Normans the whereabouts of a secret path leading straight into the heart of Hereward’s camp. Armed with this information the Norman soldiers followed the path and attacked the camp taking the rebels completely by surprise. Though many were killed in the sudden attack Hereward managed to escape.
It is here that his story has become blurred through the mists of time. Some say that he made peace with King William, others say he was later ambushed and killed by the Normans and yet more who say he simply melted quietly away into the anonymity of the marshy Fens. Whatever the truth, his memory lives on and to many, Hereward the Wake embodies the spirit of a true freedom fighter, the last of the English.
Common Sense 