2 – Rebellion of 1088
Of course, when you live by the sword, you tend to die by the sword. And when you’re a King who takes power in a debatable succession, then you better hope that you have your succession sorted out, lest all your work consolidated power – and killing all those pesky Northerners to get them to pipe down – go to waste.
Naturally, William the First (or the Conqueror, or the Bastard) did not exactly make things clear who was to follow him when he popped his regal clogs in 1087. Lying on his deathbed back in Normandy, William divided his lands in England and France between his two sons: William Junior would become William II of England, while Robert would become the Duke of Normandy. This managed to annoy just about everyone, but none more so than the Conqueror’s still-living half-brother Odo, who had been with him all the way through the conquests and had been his second in command, essentially running England on his own while his older sibling was back in Normandy. Odo was also a huge landowner in England, second only to William I himself, as well as a Bishop back in Bayeux, Normandy, and is thought to have been the man who commissioned the famed Bayeux Tapestry. He was also widely hated and thought of as a crook and embezzler, even being tried for fraud in 1076.
Robert was seen as the weaker son and thus Odo and other Norman landowners thought that they might more easily manipulate him than his brother, the new King of England. They began to plan a rising against William in England, with Robert due to arrive with troops from France to assist and eventually take over. Things did not entirely go to plan.
Odo and his barons began to create anarchy inside England, raiding towns and then holing up in their castles, hoping to provoke William II into a response. William was initially reticent to do anything against his uncle and his companions, but when he did muster an answer, it was decisive. First, he bribed some of the barons that had sided with Odo to switch sides, greatly depleting the force against him. Then, he offered legal reforms to the subjects of the kingdom, promising them fairer treatment should he remain as King. With the people on his side and the barons cut in number, he intervened militarily, defeating Odo after a siege of over a month and a half. Robert, who can been supposed to invade from Normandy and assist his uncle, was unable to get out of France due to inclement weather.
Odo was banished from England and had all of his property confiscated. William II would continue to reign until 1100. He should have been succeeded by Robert, but he was away fighting in the First Crusade when William died and thus Henry, the third sibling, became Henry I of England. Robert would invade again in 1101 to reassert his claim, but was defeated. Henry’s daughter would become Queen – a decision again disputed by many and eventually, leading to yet another civil war: the Anarchy.