How Successful Was William The Conqueror

Although William the Conqueror had defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, an even bigger challenge had presented itself. William was now outnumbered in a land he had very little knowledge of, and would face several rebellions in the first decade of his reign. William was aware of this challenge, building castles in towns which presented any threat as a symbol of his power. Despite these measures, it would take William almost a decade, until 1075 to gain full control of England, which he did so due to several different factors, including his new motte and bailey castles, the weakness of English rebels and his own leadership in the face of rebellion.
Upon landing in England, one of William’s first actions was to set up a readymade motte and bailey castle at Hastings. This would be the first of over 80 constructed by 1100. These
Had the Anglo-Saxons coordinated a country-wide rebellion, by sheer numbers they may have been able to take back control of England and instate Edgar the Atheling, who had a strong claim to the throne, as the new King. Instead, the Anglos Saxons revolted in different regions at different times, allowing William to systematically stop each one, rather than be overwhelmed by many going on at roughly the same time all over the country, which allowed him to gain control over each region one by one. Another problem that the Anglo-Saxons faced, which made it easy for William to gain control, was that although they had gained foreign support from the Danes, during the East Anglian rebellion in 1070, they weren’t very loyal, and were easily bought off by William as he realised they were an important factor in the rebellion. This was a massive loss, as the Danish support meant the English could receive reinforcements, and meant William would be distracted, as they were set to attack in the north, away from Ely, in a hope to stretch William’s