1070s in England explained

Other decades
		1070s		1090s

Events from the 1070s in England.

Incumbents

• Monarch – William I

Events

• 1070
  • Winter of 1069–1070 – Harrying of the North: King William I quells rebellions in the North of England following an invasion by Sweyn II of Denmark. Widespread famine follows the devastation wrought.^[1]
  • Spring – King Sweyn II of Denmark joins English rebels, led by Hereward the Wake, and captures the Isle of Ely in The Fens of eastern England.
  • 11 April – Archbishop of Canterbury Stigand deposed at the Council of Winchester.
  • 1 June – Hereward plunders Peterborough Abbey.
  • June – Denmark signs a treaty with England; Sweyn and his forces leave the country.
  • 15 August – Lanfranc appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury.^[2]
  • Invasion of England by Malcolm III of Scotland repelled.
  • Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, the first Marcher Lord, invades Wales, capturing parts of Gwynedd.
  • Osmund succeeds Herfast as Lord Chancellor; Herfast becomes Bishop of Elmham.
  • Rebuilding of Canterbury Cathedral following a fire.^[3]
  • Rebuilding of York Minster begins.
  • Construction of Dudley Castle in the west midlands by Ansculf de Picquigny begins.
  • Construction of Richmond Castle in North Yorkshire by Alan Rufus begins.
  • Jews from Rouen, in Normandy, settle in England at the invitation of the King.^[4]
• 1071
  • William defeats Hereward the Wake's rebellion on the Isle of Ely.^[2]
  • Edwin, Earl of Mercia, again rebels against William but is betrayed and killed, leading to the re-distribution of land within Mercia to William's subjects.
• 1072
  • 27 May – the Accord of Winchester establishes the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Archbishop of York in the Church of England.
  • August – William invades Scotland, reaching the River Tay.
  • At Abernethy, King Malcolm III of Scotland submits to William.
  • Remigius de Fécamp moves the seat of his diocese from Dorchester on Thames to Lincoln, becoming first Bishop of Lincoln, and construction of Lincoln Cathedral begins.^[5]
• 1073
  • Rebuilding of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.^[2]
• 1074
  • Roger de Montgomerie is created Earl of Shrewsbury, and invades Wales, reaching as far as Powys.
• 1075
  • Revolt of the Earls

three earls rebel against William in the last serious act of resistance to the Norman conquest of England.^[2]

• • August (approx. date) – Council of London reforms Church administration in England. It approves union of the dioceses of Ramsbury and Sherborne into a new Diocese of Salisbury with a new cathedral at Old Sarum, Herman becoming first Bishop of Salisbury.
  • First Bishop of Chichester (Stigand of Selsey) consecrated.
• 1076
  • April – Council of Winchester confirms ecclesiastical authority, insists on celibacy of the clergy and marriage within church.
  • 31 May – execution of Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria, for his part in the Revolt of the Earls.^[1]
  • Approximate date of the Trial of Penenden Heath to settle a land dispute between King William and his half-brother Odo of Bayeux.
• 1077
  • The Bayeux Tapestry completed depicting the Norman conquest of England.
  • William's son Robert Curthose stages an insurrection against him in Normandy.
  • Construction of St Albans Cathedral begins under Abbot Paul of Caen.^[6]
  • Foundation of the first Cluniac abbey in England, at Lewes.
  • First recorded Trial by combat in England.^[7]
• 1078
  • 3 June (approx. date) – consecration of Osmund as Bishop of Salisbury. He will introduce the Sarum Rite.
  • (approx. date) – construction of the White Tower (Tower of London) begins^[8] under the direction of Bishop Gundulf of Rochester.
  • Construction of Colchester Castle begins^[8] under the direction of Bishop Gundulf of Rochester.
• 1079
  • January – Robert unhorses William in battle in Normandy.^[2]
  • William creates the New Forest as a hunting ground.^[9]
  • Rebuilding of Winchester Cathedral begins^[10] under the direction of Bishop Walkelin of Winchester.

Births

• 1075
  • 16 April – Orderic Vitalis, Benedictine chronicler (died c. 1142)
  • Approximate date – Gerald de Windsor, noble (died 1135)

Deaths

• 1072
  • 10–11 February – Leofric, first Bishop of Exeter
  • c. 21–22 February – Stigand, deposed Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1075
  • 19 December – Edith of Wessex, queen of Edward the Confessor (born c. 1029)
• 1076
  • 31 May – Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria, last of the Anglo-Saxon earls (born 1050)

Notes and References

1. Web site: British History Timeline, Norman Britain, BBC. 2007-12-23.
2. Book: Williams, Hywel. Cassell's Chronology of World History. registration. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2005. 0-304-35730-8. 112–113.
3. Web site: The History of Canterbury Cathedral. 2007-12-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20071027094938/http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/history/history.aspx#. 2007-10-27. dead.
4. [William of Malmesbury]
5. Web site: Lincoln Cathedral website . 2007-12-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080110200058/http://www.lincolncathedral.com/ . 10 January 2008 . live .
6. Web site: St Albans Cathedral website . 2007-12-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071202034404/http://www.stalbanscathedral.org.uk/index1.htm . 2007-12-02 . dead .
7. Book: Gerson . Allan . Lawyers' ethics: contemporary dilemmas . 1980 . Transaction Inc . New Brunswick, N.J . 0-87855-293-6 . 90 . 23 June 2024.
8. Book: Palmer, Alan. Palmer. Veronica. 1992. The Chronology of British History. Century Ltd. London. 53–55. 0-7126-5616-2.
9. Web site: Fascinating history. New Forest National Park. 2016-04-11. 2016-04-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405032823/http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/info/20088/fascinating_history. dead.
10. Book: Sutton, Ian. Architecture, from Ancient Greece to the Present. London. Thames & Hudson. 1999. 978-0-500-20316-3. registration.