Siege of Ely
Who Fought
English rebels under Hereward the Wake and Morcar
Norman forces under King William the Conqueror
History & Significance
Year 1071 (MLXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
August 26 – Battle of Manzikert: The Byzantine army (35,000 men) under Emperor Romanos IV meets the Seljuk Turk forces of Sultan Alp Arslan near the town of Manzikert. Although the armies are initially evenly matched, as the Byzantines advance, the Seljuk Turks withdraw before them, launching hit-and-run attacks on the Byzantine flanks. While attempting to withdraw, the Byzantine army falls apart, either through treachery or confusion; the battle ends in a decisive defeat for the Byzantine Empire. Romanos is captured (though released by Alp Arslan within a week) and much of the elite Varangian Guard is destroyed; this will prove catastrophic for the Byzantine Empire.
October 24 – Romanos IV is deposed by John Doukas (Caesar) and his political advisor Michael Psellos after his return to Constantinople. Michael VII Doukas is crowned co-emperor and his mother Eudokia is forced to retire to a monastery.
The Kingdom of Hungary launches a campaign against the Byzantine Empire. They besiege and capture the border fortress of Belgrade, along with Sirmium and Taurunum.
February 22 – Battle of Cassel: Robert I ("the Frisian") defeats his sister-in-law Richilde (widow of Baldwin VI) and her nephew Arnulf III, in a succession struggle for the County of Flanders. Robert is appointed count by King Philip I of France.
April 15 – Siege of Bari: The capital of Bari, the last Byzantine-controlled city in the Catepanate of Italy, is captured by Italo-Norman forces under Duke Robert Guiscard after a 32-month siege.
The English rebels under Hereward the Wake and Morcar, Saxon former earl of Northumbria, are forced to retreat to their stronghold on the Isle of Ely in The Fens. They make a desperate stand against the Norman forces led by King William the Conqueror, but are defeated.
Edwin, earl of Mercia, rebels against William I, but is betrayed and killed. His castle and lands at Dudley (located in the West Midlands) are given to William's Norman subjects.
May – Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah marries Yusuf ibn Tashfin, leader of the Almoravids, and becomes his queen and co-regent.
October 22 – William IX ("the Troubador"), duke of Aquitaine (d. 1127)
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Ely lies on Lower Greensand Group, bedrock that formed in the Albian. The rock here is sandstone and mudstone.
The English rebels, led by Hereward the Wake and Morcar, former Saxon earl of Northumbria, made their final desperate stand on the Isle of Ely in The Fens before being overwhelmed by King William the Conqueror's Norman forces in 1071.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything a full report reveals about Siege of Ely
This page covers Siege of Ely. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Scheduled Monuments near Siege of Ely
Explore the landscape around Cambridgeshire
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
- 1071 · Wikipedia
- Siege of Belgrade (1071) · Wikipedia