Hereward the Wake at Ely
The Defence of Ely, Later Life, and Death
Hereward the Wake lead the last major English Resistance to William the Conqueror. His later life and death are a matter of speculation.
Fearing that Hereward's rebellion might spread all over the country, William personally led a major offensive against Ely. His first idea was to construct a long wooden causeway supported on floats to march his army across the bog. On the day of the attack, Hereward moved a number of archers into a position to ambush the army. As the army marched across the causeway, they were met by a stream of arrows. The ensuing panic caused the causeway to shake and eventually collapse into the bog. Armored in their heavy mail hauberks, the Norman knights were unable to swim and many were drowned in the bog.
It was an embarrassing and costly setback, but William knew that the island was well stocked and could survive a siege indefinitely, thus he was forced to consider attacking again. After consulting with his advisers, Williams decided, somewhat reluctantly, to enlist the aid of dark magic. Although it might sound as though the story is slipping into fairytale, it should be remembered that most people at this time fully believed in such things. William ordered that the causeway be rebuilt, but much stronger. Also, a large wooden tower was built near the causeway. As William launched a new assault on the island, a witch was taken to the top of the tower, from where she screamed her dark spells down on the island's defenders. But again, Hereward was ready. Again he had sent out ambushers. This time, instead of arrows, they attacked with fire. With the wind at their backs, the defenders set fire to the fens. The fire quickly spread, enveloping the causeway and the wooden tower. Many Norman knights and the witch were burned to death.
Seeing his second attack end in a greater disaster than the first, William decided upon a completely different tactic. Using his spies, William was able to convince the monks on Ely to betray the defenders. The monks led William's army on a secret path to the island, and caught the defenders unprepared. It is at this moment that history loses track of Hereward the Wake. Legend says that he escaped the attack, and considering that no historical account states that he was either killed or captured, this seems quite likely.
Regarding Hereward we are again left with legends and stories. Most of these are tales of how he continued his resistance to William, striking from secret bases with small bands of men. Eventually though, Hereward grew tired of the constant fighting which he recognized as futile. He sent word to William that he wished to make peace. William welcomed Hereward with open arms, pardoned him for his crimes, and proposed a marriage to an Anglo-Saxon noble woman. Hereward's first wife, if she existed, is said to have become a nun. In this way, Hereward became a servant of William and one of the King's top military commanders. The years passed and both William and Hereward grew older, and their skills diminished. William began to lose control over his vassals. One Norman Knight, whose brother had supposedly been killed by Hereward, gathered together a group of warriors and attacked the aging Hereward in his house. Hereward the Wake was caught completely unawares. Although he slew many of his attackers, he was eventually overwhelmed and killed.
If parts of this story sound a little familiar, there's a definite reason that I will explain in a further article.
For anyone who is wondering why he is called Hereward the Wake, the truth is, no one is really sure. Some say that he was called this during his life time as he was ever watchful. Some say this title was added after his death, but it is not even clear what the term would have meant in the English used at the time. Still others claim that the title was added by a family know as Wake who wanted to claim Hereward as their ancestor (some of the stories have Hereward having children, probably by his first wife). The Wakes on the other hand claim their name comes from Hereward, and have continued to use the name - most notably by General Hereward Wake a British Soldier in World War I
