The Context of the Rebellion
The Norman Conquest, which resulted in the crowning of William the Conqueror as the King of England in 1066, drastically transformed the political, social, and cultural fabric of the country. The Normans replaced the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with their own noble class, redistributing land and power in a manner that often disenfranchised the native Anglo-Saxon elite. Many of the former Anglo-Saxon nobles were either dispossessed or forced to submit to Norman overlordship.
By 1075, nearly a decade after the conquest, some of the discontent among the Anglo-Saxon nobility had not dissipated. Some of the Norman rulers faced growing resistance from the Anglo-Saxon populace, especially in the northern and eastern regions, where local lords still held significant influence. This unrest was exacerbated by the heavy-handed tactics of Norman rule, which often involved the imposition of new laws, military service, and feudal obligations that were resented by the Anglo-Saxon nobility. shutdown123