Hereward: The Definitive Biography of the Famous English Outlaw Who Rebelled Against William the Conqueror

After the Norman victory in Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror's oppression of the English led to widespread famine, death, and destruction, culminating in the brutal Harrying of the North and the deaths of 100,000 people.

The Question of Resistance

Did the English submit to the tyranny of their oppressors? Or was this to be the beginning of one man's fight for liberty?

The Story of Hereward

Returning from Flanders to find his country taken over by the Normans, Hereward, known traditionally (and erroneously) as 'the Wake', embarked on a path of resistance that was marked by:

• The violent plundering of the monastery at Peterborough.
• Subsequent abandonment by the Danes he had relied upon.
• Barricading himself on the Isle of Ely, holding out alone until reinforced by the arrival of Earls Edwin and Morcar from the North.

William's Hatred and the Fight for Survival

Hereward became the object of William's personal hatred, as the Conqueror sought to stamp out the last remnants of English resistance.

The Definitive Biography

Peter Rex rescues Hereward from the myths associated with his life and career, offering revelations about:

• The mystery of his parentage.
• His baffling disappearance into the mists of the Fens.

This biography sheds light on the legendary English outlaw who defied tyranny and fought for liberty in the wake of Norman oppression.