Hereward the Wake - Definition and Overview

Hereward the Wake was an 11th century English, Anglo Saxon, leader who led resistance to the Norman Conquest and was consequently labelled an outlaw. According to legend, Hereward's base was the Isle of Ely and he roamed the surrounding fenlands leading popular opposition to William the Conqueror.

It is now established that he was a tenant of Peterborough Abbey, from which he held lands at Witham-on-the-Hill and Barholme with Stow in the south-western corner of Lincolnshire, and at Crowland Abbey near Rippingale in the neighboring fenland. His first authentic act was to storm and sack the town of Peterborough in 1070, in company with outlaws and Danish Viking invaders. The next year he made a desperate stand against the Conqueror's rule on the isle of Ely. The priests of the island guided the Normans, led by one of William's generals named Belasius, along a safe route across the marshes, resulting in Ely's capture. Hereward escaped with his followers through the fens.

The 15th century chronicle, Gesta Herewardi, by Ingulf of Croyland, says Hereward was eventually pardoned by William.

Some of the legends about Hereward were incorporated into later legends about Robin Hood.

Charles Kingsley's novel of 1865 is a highly-romanticised account of Hereward's exploits, and makes him the son of Earl Leofric of Mercia.

External link

• Free eBook of Hereward, the Last of the English (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7815) at Project Gutenberg