Hereward The Wake

Hereward The Wake was born in the mid-1030s in Bourne in Lincolnshire. His father was named Leofric and his mother Eadgyth. Hereward was described as a handsome young man with long blonde hair and robust in his physique. He had a lively spirit and was certainly courageous. In fact, it might be said he was too courageous. Growing up, his headstrong nature caused him to become embroiled in numerous fights with other young men in the local area and it wasn't long before Hereward's reputation began to catch up with him. His parents received complaint after complaint regarding their son's behaviour and, eventually, at the age of 18, Leofric, deciding he could no longer tolerate his son's misdemeanours, exiled Hereward. Hereward's behaviour had also reached the ears of King Edward The Confessor and he declared Hereward to be an outlaw.

Alienated from his family and friends, Hereward would spend the next part of his life travelling far and wide and some of the tales of his adventures are remarkable with some of them being almost certainly false. One of these stories has Hereward killing a polar bear, kept at a castle by a Northumbrian nobleman, that had escaped from it's cage and was now threatening the life of a young girl. Hereward charged the bear as it neared the girl and, just in the nick of time, killed the animal with his axe, saving the young girl's life. Among some of Hereward's other adventures included rescuing a young woman in Cornwall from an unwanted marriage and he also suffered shipwrecks in both Flanders and Scotland. The truth of these tales are highly questionable but it is safe to say Hereward's time in exile was certainly not boring.

In 1067, the year after the Norman Conquest, Hereward finally returned to England, after the death of the Count of Flanders who had been employing Hereward as a mercenary. But Hereward returned to a sorrowful scene. His brother had been murdered by Norman soldiers who had been attempting to steal the wealth of Hereward's father who had evidently recently died. Hereward's brother had been attempting to protect his mother and killed two of the Normans in the ensuing fight. He was then killed in turn and his head placed up high for all to see in a grisly act of oppression that would become commonplace in Norman England. Dismayed at this hideous tale, Hereward sought revenge and he got it swiftly too as he cut down a number of Normans as they were getting drunk at a party nearby. Hereward was now a symbol of Anglo Saxon defiance against their Norman occupiers.



More and more displaced and disgruntled members of the English population found themselves swarming to the side of Hereward. But with increasing prominence, came danger. Frederick, the brother of William De Warenne, who had fought at the Battle of Hastings, was now seeking Hereward out in order to punish him for his act of revenge. But before he could carry out his plan, Frederick was preempted by Hereward and cut down by the English outlaw. After this, Hereward returned to Flanders to visit the woman he had married there. He returned soon after, accompanied by his wife and two nephews.



Not without good reason, Hereward had been concerned over what would happen to his lands while he was abroad but, on his return, found that William The Conqueror had left them untouched. Whilst Hereward had been away, many of his followers had gone into hiding but instantly rejoined Hereward's ranks as soon as they heard of his return. Among them included a man named Wulfric The Black who had earned his nickname by covering his face with charcoal, helping him to go undetected as he attacked a Norman garrison, on which he caused significant damage. Hereward's ranks were filled with men similar to Wulfric; brave, daring and willing to fight for their country.

William The Conqueror and his Normans didn't just face resistance in the North. They found it all across England. This included the people of the Isle of Ely who were now holding out against King William. Hereward's reputation had spread far and wide and it was to him the people of Ely now turned. They promised Hereward that he would take prominence in their ranks and he duly agreed, making preparations for his journey south. However, it would not be a journey without some risk. After Hereward's murder of his brother, William De Warenne was determined to gain revenge and set a number of ambushes against Hereward and his men. However, De Warenne's plan didn't work and in fact Hereward came very close to killing him. Hereward, when he arrived at Ely, was greeted warmly.

King William knew this situation was becoming increasingly dangerous for him and he now focused his mind on taking Ely and dispersing the rebels. However, his initial hopes of taking Ely were thwarted by the difficult terrain with his soldiers quickly getting into trouble with the marshland. The king lost a large number of men in this fashion and realised he had to change his course of action. He left a portion of his men surrounding Ely to keep an eye on the rebels in case they caused further trouble in the surrounding areas while he himself retreated. While the king may have thought leaving a blockade might bring the people of Ely to heal, it would prove to be not as simple as that. Ely was, obviously, surrounded by water and its grain and wildlife was plentiful so food was not in short supply. Starvation was a traditional way of bringing a successful end to a siege but it was not as straightforward as that for King William.

But William was a determined man and he gradually increased the strength of the blockade of Ely, to the point where it became impossible to enter or leave. With this dramatic turn for the worse, Hereward took it upon himself to venture out of Ely, to find out what he could about the Normans plans for the siege. Cutting his hair and beard, changing his style of clothes and, after stealing some pots, he disguised himself as a potter and made for the king's court. However, Hereward became embroiled in a fight and had to make a daring escape. He was pursued through the forest until he chanced upon a member of the king's retinue. He told the man who he was before he returned to Ely. The man must have been amazed at this encounter. He returned to William's court and told the king of this incredible meeting. The king declared Hereward to be a most remarkable knight.


The Normans appeared to become a little more desperate by this stage. They knew they faced a formidable and stubborn enemy. One of their more bizarre tactics was to use a witch who would cast spells and incantations at the people of Ely. And, when she had finished, she promptly decided to expose her backside to them on not once but three occasions. A fire was then started to try and flush the rebels out but only led to chaos in the Norman ranks with the witch breaking her neck in a bad fall. However, Hereward's forces would find themselves seriously depleted when an Earl tricked a large number of the most important people in Ely into thinking he was going to make a bid for the crown. As a result, they left Hereward to stand alone against the king.


Hereward took his fight to the Normans elsewhere. He would hide deep in the forests of Northamptonshire, emerging not only to attack Northampton but Cambridge, Lincoln, Leicester, Peterborough, Warwick and elsewhere. Hereward and his men captured the Abbot of Peterborough who was ransomed for a huge sum of money. But try as he might, Hereward's rebellion against the Normans, that had started with the murder of his brother, could not go on forever. William's eventual subjugation of the English nation was inevitable and despite proving time and again his prowess as a warrior, he was, after all, only one man. Eventually, Hereward would make peace with the king who was undoubtedly impressed by this remarkable man.


The rest of Hereward's life would be spent in relative peace, living on his father's land in Lincolnshire and serving the king when called upon. Which leaves us with one final question. Why was he called the wake? The best guess is that the term was coined centuries later and means "the watchful". Whether "watchful" is quite the right term for this man of action is another matter.