Part V: 1078 – 1085 Years of Recovery and the Treaty of Lincoln
The Years following Waltheof’s submission to King William are full of contradicting records.
On one hand we have many chronicles praising the earl for establishing peace and repairing the damages of the war, on the other hand there are a number of reports cursing the earl’s lack of organization and control, the impoverishment of his lands and the decline of morals.
In fact the debts of Earl Waltheof had gone beyond repaying and in 1078/1079 he had to sell many of his possessions (especially tile fabrics and parts of his private library). The records of the Northamptonian court state that there were no investments in new provinicial improvements before 1081.
Waltheof spent these years mostly in Durham and York causing the “Earls Party” to lose influence at the royal court rapidly and strengthening the “Dukes Party” now lead by the Bishop of Salisbury. On the advise of the Dukes Party the banishment of Bishop Richard of Carlisle was lifted shortly after Christmas 1079.
In his weakened State Waltheof opts for reconciliation...
The earl only visited the royal court when summoned and even then showed no signs of opposition to the king, showing a low profile for almost three years.
Waltheof's only recorded political act between 1078 and 1081
King William used the months after the war to further strengthen his position. In 1079/1080 he fought the minor Sheikdom of Tripolitania, which had attacked the men of his crusading son Robert, Duke of Normandy.
After extracting a large sum of money from the Sheik King William refused the proposal of a Papal messenger to continue the voyage of his army to Egypt – like his fellow Christian kings – and to free Alexandria. (In fact by summer 1080 England was the only major Christian kingdom not to participate in the first crusade).
King William instead confiscated fiefs and waged war on his own nobles.
When Lanfranc of Salisbury started to preach teachings in contradiction to the catholic faith and finding the support of the king the Papal curia was alarmed. In July Pope Alexander II. send a legate to England pleading William for peace among his princes and nobles, reprimanding him to help the crusaders against the heathens and demanding Bishop Lanfranc’s removal from the court.
William’s reaction left no room for interpretation. He refused all demands of the Pope. He stated that conquering England was enough of a crusade for him and that he had no intentions to die in Africa like his former liege King Philippe of France. He threatened to install Bishop Lanfranc as Pope and even declared war on the Earl of Leicester in presence of the Papal legate (August 13th, 1080). He then kept him in custody for three more months before sending him back to Rome.
It took William almost a year to subdue the Earl of Leicester, but not sooner had he taken his lands (July 8th, 1081) when a new Papal legate appeared. This time the legate had a Papal bull with him, threatening to excommunicate William and putting all England under the interdict if the “men and women of the English realm” would further support the heretical teachings of Bishop Lanfranc.
William refused to yield to the Papal authority and was excommunicated on September 27th, 1081.
William of England... not on good Terms with the Pope...
To the king’s horror the majority of his barons and nobles (among them Waltheof) did not share his point of view (even Bishop Lanfranc, who submitted to the Pope - at last for a short period of time) and distanced themselves from him, some even taking vows to free the realm (or parts of it) from the clutches of heretics.
The Siward Estates in October 1081
In March 1082 Waltheof returned (more obviously) to the political stage. The war damages of his counties had been repaired and his financial situation seemed sound again.
On March 14th, the book “The Glorious Reigns of the Kings of Northumbria” was presented to Waltheof.
Waltheof made the author – a monk named Edric (Grey) – his chaplain and ordered that a king list based on this book should be laid out in every major church in his counties.
First Page of the Glorious Reigns of the Kings of Northumbria
At the same time the Siward household records show increased investments in military equipment (e.g. grounds and buildings for military training) in all counties.
The records show also that the marriage of Waltheof and Berthe seemed not to be based on love and understanding (beeing a forced marriage from the start), as large sums of money went into jewels and fashion for Berthe (always with the remark: “to keep the lady content”).
In September William threatened to invade Gwynedd, but he had to redirect his forces when the Earl of Kent rose against his liege (joined by the Earl of Surrey in February 1083). As William could not rely too much on his other vassals - unlike his strategy in the past - he rarely used their troops. Using only his own men, who still had not fully recovered from his Tripolitanian adventure prolonged the time to subdue his unruly vassals.
Although Waltheof saw the weakened state of King William’s forces, it was clear to him that, the Conqueror was still too powerful to be overcome by him alone.
Waltheof’s own army was yet not ready to strike. He hoped for more nobles to rise in rebellion and he wanted to free his son Eadric from the custody of the Duke of Somerset before he could move against the king.
In September 09th, he got the happy message that his wife – after a long illness of about four months - had died.
He remarried almost instantly (September 24th), his bride being the duchess dowager of Burgundy Ermengarde d’Anjou.
The marriage was of political nature (the bride was in her late forties but she brought a dowry worth a queen), establishing a link to the nobility of France.
The year 1084 started with good news.
On February 8th, the crusaders (mainly the knights from France) had freed Alexandria and several crusader states had established themselves in Egypt. The Fatimid Caliphate itself was lying in ruins only a shadow of its former glory.
Messes and celebrations were held all over Europe, claiming a prominent victim on February 22nd, when Pope Alexander II. died of exhaustion.
The curia gathered in Rome and after short council elected Bishop Alcide of Padua as Alexander II. successor (He chose the name Gregor VII.).
By April William had crushed the rebels in Kent and Surrey, strengthening his own position but alienating his remaining barons even further.
The tensions between monarch and lords became more and more dangerous each month, bringing England at the brink of civil war. This tension attracted many people of dubious nature to England. Even the lands of the Siwards were not immune, when organized bands of thieves and robbers formed all over the country - especially in the rich counties in the south of England.
Organized Crime... will haunt the Siward Counties many Years
Waltheof had meanwhile gained the friendship of the Duke of Somerset, so the life of his son Eadric was no more in danger. In September even Aethelfrith returned to England.
Waltheof gave the young man almost immediately a place in his council and after a few weeks Aethelfrith took over the position of Steward of the Siward estates.
Aethelfrith seemed to be quite talented in financial matters. The Siward household records show that within a few months he had reorganized the household so far that the income had almost doubled.
In October the family gathered for a sad occasion in York when Countess Ermengarde succumbed to a fever.
In 1085 the “English Situation” in general had not changed.
William was still excommunicated and Pope Gregor VII. refused to lift the ban, as Bishop Lanfranc had returned to London renewing his heretical sermons with the kings consent.
Waltheof had married again. It seems that it was a love match, as Pétronille de Joigny was a former maid-of-honour of his last wife and had no fortune or political connections.
Pétronille de Joigny - Waltheof's fourth Wife
In May King William of England and Waltheof, Earl of Northampton met in Lincoln.
It was a quite surreal situation. They had not seen each other for almost three years. Aside from the Northumbrian king list (in which Morcar Leofricson is listed as king reigning 1068-1070) Waltheof had not openly provoked his king (but he had improved his army).
Both men knew that they could not win a armed confrontation - at least not without heavy losses.
In raw strength Northampton alone was still no match to the king, but it was clear would the king attack Northampton he would spark a civil war a destroying the realm.
On May 26th, 1085 they sealed the Treaty of Lincoln, which was a modification of the peace treaty of 1078.
Waltheof would not support the claims of his son as long as King William lived nor would he assist any other rebels against William. Waltheof would pay hommage for Northampton, Suffolk and York, he would pay tribute for Durham. Powys and Northumberland would be under no suzerainty of England.
The Treaty of Lincoln (Copy lying in the Cathedral of Durham)
With this quite unspectacular document, the Siwards separated their counties from England into some kind of semi-independence.
On May 31st, Waltheof proclaimed himself King of Northumbria.
The recognition of the other rulers of the British Isles was miniscule: William and Malcolm III. continued to refer to Waltheof as the Earl of Northumberland as did most of the Irish and Welsh kings (even Waltheof’s ally Donnchad V. of Leinster). Only the Kings of Glamorgan and of Mide acknowledged Waltheof’s new royal title.
Even some minor nobles within Waltheof’s realm challenged his authority, feeling that he had stretched his influence and – more important - his resources to the limit, holding his many counties together.
It became clear that he had to proof to his fellow lords - and to his subjects - that a new era had begun for Northumbria.
- To be continued with Part VI: 1085 – 1094 From the War of Acknowledgement to the Petty Wars-