William the Conqueror
William's northern army was wiped out and York was in ruins. At the same time smaller rebellions were breaking out in Wales and southwest England. William knew he was in trouble. He began by calling in all his commanders and troops to combine his forces. The king knew that with a smaller army he had to deal with one group of rebels at a time. He sent William FitzOsbern and Brian of Brittany to deal with Exeter. William himself fought an army moving in from the east. In both cases the Norman armies were victorious. He now moved on the northern armies that had destroyed York. But he was unable to get any farther north than Pontefract. After trying for several weeks William bribed the Danish Fleet to withdraw from York for the winter. They agreed and returned to the mouth of the Humber to winter there. William was now able to move up to York. He rebuilt the castles there. He then had his forces spread out and destroy everything useful for the English and Danish army to feed itself. The result was widespread famine and the people of the area either left or starved to death. This was William's infamous harrying of the North. The result of all this was the surrender of his English Earls and most of the rebels in England. The few remaining groups were quickly crushed by William's army. But one group proved more stubborn. This was at Chester and after a forced march during Winter, William surprised them before they were ready. After their surrender he built two more castles there then returned to Winchester.