Siege of Exeter

Background

After the Battle of Hastings and the death of King Harold II, Harold Godwinson's mother, Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, took refuge in Exeter, Devon, England. This ancient fortified city with Roman walls became the heart of Anglo-Saxon resistance to William in western England. Wealthy and determined, Gytha hoped her three grandsons by Harold Godwinson—Godwin, Edmund, and Magnus—would arrive to support her, though they had traveled to Ireland to raise an army.

William was crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day, 1066, at Westminster Abbey in London. Soon after, in early 1067, he left his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and William FitzOsbern to oversee the governing of England while he returned to Normandy.

During William's absence, Anglo-Saxon resistance to his rule began to spread in England. A notable rebellion was suppressed in Dover in the fall of 1067. Upon William's return to England in December, he began consolidating his rule by building more castles and addressing challenges to his authority. Norman castles were now built or being built at Pevensey, Hastings, Dover, and the Tower of London, some within previous iron age or Roman fortifications.

After returning, William strengthened his position. He spent Christmas in London before moving a force of 500 Norman knights towards Exeter. To bolster his forces, William also utilized the fyrd, paid English militia infantry. This strategy not only increased his army's size but also tested the loyalty of his new English subjects.

On the way to Devon, William's men pillaged towns in Dorset that he perceived as supporting the Anglo-Saxons, including Dorchester, Shaftesbury, and Bridport. Damage to these towns was still evident when the Domesday Survey was conducted almost two decades later.

Battle

Upon arrival near Exeter, probably close to the village of Clyst Honiton, William set up camp. There, he was met by a delegation of Exeter citizens who both pledged loyalty and handed over hostages as surety.

When William arrived at the city walls and the East Gate of Exeter, he found it closed against him and the battlements of the walls lined with armed men.

William blinded a hostage in full view of the rebellious Exeter defenders, but this failed to change their resolve. According to William of Malmesbury, a rebel on the battlements then lowered his breeches and farted in the direction of the Normans.

William laid siege to Exeter for eighteen days, during which his men suffered heavy losses in direct assaults. Despite the intensity, Gytha managed to escape the town by boat on the River Exe.

William began to mine under the city walls—the first recorded use of this technique in England. Although one wall collapsed, the siege ended through negotiation rather than conquest. Orderic Vitalis reports that the gates were opened by Exeter's townsfolk, led by Bishop Leofric and clergy carrying sacred books and relics, who pleaded with William for clemency.

Aftermath

William's terms were generous. In return for the townsfolk's fealty, he agreed to their earlier request: taxes would remain at pre-conquest levels. He also stopped his men from looting and posted guards at Exeter's gates to protect the townsfolk.

William ordered the construction of Rougemont Castle inside Exeter's city walls. He then marched into Cornwall in a show of strength. Afterward, he went to Winchester to celebrate Easter. Either William's half-brother, Robert of Mortain, or another loyalist garrisoned the new castle.

Gytha made her way to the Bristol Channel and eventually went to St. Omer in Flanders, where she had been exiled previously with her husband, Earl Godwin. She never returned to England.

In 1933, a perfectly preserved 30-foot-long Norman siege tunnel was discovered ten feet under the East Gate of the Roman Walls surrounding Exeter.