BattlefieldsHarrying -- Holderness Burning 1070
Medieval

Harrying -- Holderness Burning 1070

1070
Yorkshire, England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Yorkshire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Holderness communities and Danish allies
Forces
Holderness communities/Danish allies
VS
Victor
Normans
Forces
Norman punitive columns
Outcome
Holderness coastal communities destroyed; Danish collaboration punished; peninsula depopulated
The Battle

History & Significance

The Holderness peninsula on the Yorkshire coast was burned by Norman forces specifically to punish the population for sheltering and supplying the Danish fleet under Sweyn Estrithson. The coastal communities had provided the Danes with provisions and intelligence, and William's reprisal was total. The low-lying peninsula's villages and fishing communities were destroyed, and the area was recorded as substantially waste in Domesday Book.

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