Siege of Exeter (1068)
Who Fought
William's army comprised Normans and English fyrd militia infantry. No precise numbers are recorded.
History & Significance
The siege of Exeter occurred early in 1068 when King William I of England marched a combined army of Normans and loyal Englishmen westwards to force the submission of the city of Exeter in Devon, a stronghold of Anglo-Saxon resistance against Norman rule following the Norman conquest of England. After a siege lasting eighteen days, the city surrendered to William under generous terms and allowed the Normans to consolidate their hold over the West Country.
Exeter originated as a Roman civitas called Isca Dumnoniorum, which was provided with town walls in about 200 AD. It later became an Anglo-Saxon burh or fortified settlement and the Roman walls were said to have been repaired and improved by King Æthelstan in the 10th century.
After the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, Duke William of Normandy marched on London and accepted the surrender of the leading English nobles at Berkhamsted and was subsequently crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day. After the death of Harold Godwinson, his mother, Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, took refuge in Exeter, which then became the main focus in the West Country of resistance to Norman rule. Gytha had considerable wealth and hoped for the arrival of Harold's three sons, Godwin, Edmund and Magnus, who had gone to Ireland to raise an army. Orderic Vitalis states that she sent messages to other towns and cities in the region asking for support and was in contact her nephew, Sweyn II of Denmark.
In March 1067, William had returned to Normandy in triumph, but there news arrived of events in Exeter. According to Orderic, some Norman soldiers that William had sent across to England ended up in Exeter where they were badly treated; they were stated to have been blown off course by bad weather, but were possibly on a reconnaissance mission. This, together with evidence that Exeter was soliciting support for an uprising, caused William to issue a demand of fealty from the city. When the reply came from Exeter, it was made clear that the citizens not only declined to swear allegiance to William or to allow him to enter their city, but also refused to pay any taxes beyond those that were customary, probably in reference to the severe taxes imposed after the Conquest that are described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Orderic relates that William said that he would not accept subjects under those conditions and he returned to England in December 1067. Other threats to Norman rule at that time included the revolt of Edric the Wild in Herefordshire and a failed attack on Dover Castle, but the defiance of Exeter with the connected threats of the Danes and Harold's sons was the most pressing matter.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Exeter (1068) lies on Permian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Permian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.
The single most vivid moment of the siege is recorded by William of Malmesbury: when William of Normandy had one of his hostages blinded before the walls in an attempt to shock Exeter's defenders into submission, the response from the battlements was not terror but contempt. One of the men defending the city lowered his breeches and farted towards the Norman army. It is a startling image, utterly undiplomatic and entirely human, capturing the defiant spirit of a city that had sheltered the family of a dead king and refused, at least for eighteen days, to yield to the conqueror.
- William's army suffered large losses according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; no further detail is recorded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything a full report reveals about Siege of Exeter (1068)
This page covers Siege of Exeter (1068). 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 Exeter (1068)
Explore the landscape around this battlefield
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.
- Siege of Exeter (1068) · Wikipedia
- Siege of Exeter · Wikipedia