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Hereward the Wake (c. 1035 – 1072), known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 leader involved in resistance to the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England

The Norman conquest of England began in 1066 AD with the invasion of the Kingdom of England by the troops of William I of England, Duke of Normandy , and his victory at the Battle of Hastings....
. According to legend, Hereward's base was in the Isle of Ely
Isle of Ely

The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right....
, and he roamed the Fens
The Fens

The Fens, also known as the Fenland, is a geographic area in eastern England, in the United Kingdom.The Fenland primarily lies around the coast of the Wash; it reaches into two Government regions , four ceremonial counties , 11 District Councils and five postcode areas ....
 that surround what is now Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a Counties of England in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire....
, leading popular opposition to William the Conqueror
William I of England

William I , better known as William the Conqueror , was Duke of Normandy from 1035 and English monarchy from later 1066 to his death. William is sometimes also referred to as "William II" in relation to his position as the second Duke of Normandy of that name....
. The name Hereward is composed of Old English
Old English language

Old English is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century....
 roots here = army, and weard = guard, and is cognate with Old High German
Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason...
 Heriwart and modern German
New High German

New High German is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language. It is a translation of the German Neuhochdeutsch ....
 Heerwart.






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Hereward the Wake (c. 1035 – 1072), known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 leader involved in resistance to the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England

The Norman conquest of England began in 1066 AD with the invasion of the Kingdom of England by the troops of William I of England, Duke of Normandy , and his victory at the Battle of Hastings....
. According to legend, Hereward's base was in the Isle of Ely
Isle of Ely

The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right....
, and he roamed the Fens
The Fens

The Fens, also known as the Fenland, is a geographic area in eastern England, in the United Kingdom.The Fenland primarily lies around the coast of the Wash; it reaches into two Government regions , four ceremonial counties , 11 District Councils and five postcode areas ....
 that surround what is now Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a Counties of England in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire....
, leading popular opposition to William the Conqueror
William I of England

William I , better known as William the Conqueror , was Duke of Normandy from 1035 and English monarchy from later 1066 to his death. William is sometimes also referred to as "William II" in relation to his position as the second Duke of Normandy of that name....
. The name Hereward is composed of Old English
Old English language

Old English is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century....
 roots here = army, and weard = guard, and is cognate with Old High German
Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason...
 Heriwart and modern German
New High German

New High German is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language. It is a translation of the German Neuhochdeutsch ....
 Heerwart. The title "the Wake" was popularly assigned to him many years after his death.

Life and legend

Hereward's birth is conventionally dated as 1035/6 because the Gesta Herewardi indicates that he was first exiled in 1054 at the age of 18. However, since the account in the Gesta of the early part of his exile (in Northumberland
Northumberland

Northumberland is a Counties of England in the North East England of England. The non-metropolitan counties of England of Northumberland borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of Nort...
, Scotland, Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
 and Ireland) appears to be largely fictitious, it is hard to know if we can trust this. Peter Rex, in his 2005 biography of Hereward, points out that the campaigns he is supposed to have fought on in Flanders
Flanders

Flanders is a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called "Flanders" has varied....
 seem to have begun around 1063, and suggests that Hereward in fact went to Flanders - meaning that, if he was 18 at the time of his exile, he was born in 1044/5.

Partly because of the sketchiness of evidence for his existence, his life has become a magnet for speculators and amateur scholars. The earliest references to his parentage make him the son of Edith and Leofric of Bourne. Alternatively, it has also been argued that Leofric, Earl of Mercia
Leofric, Earl of Mercia

Leofric was the Earl of Mercia and founded monasteries at Coventry and Much Wenlock. Leofric is remembered as the husband of Lady Godiva....
 and his wife Lady Godiva
Lady Godiva

Godiva , c. 997 ? 10 September 1067, was an Anglo-Saxons noblewoman who, according to legend, rode nudity through the streets of Coventry, in England, in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants....
 were Hereward's real parents. There is no evidence for this - and Abbot Brand of Peterborough
Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of as of June 2006. For ceremonial counties of England purposes it is in the Counties of England of Cambridgeshire....
, stated to have been Hereward's uncle, does not appear to have been related to either Leofric or Godiva. Some modern research suggests him to have been Anglo-Danish with a Danish father, Asketil: since Brand is also a Danish name it makes sense that the Abbot may have been Asketil's brother.

His place of birth is supposed to be in or near Bourne
Bourne, Lincolnshire

Bourne is a market town and civil parish on the western edge of the The Fens, in the South Kesteven in southern Lincolnshire, England. The town owes its origin to the Roman road upon which it was built, and also to the exceptionally fine-quality water supply derived locally from natural springs....
 in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a Counties of England in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire....
. It is claimed that he was a tenant of Peterborough Abbey
Peterborough Cathedral

Peterborough Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral – the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough, is dedicated to Saint Peter, Paul of Tarsus and Saint Andrew whose statues look down from the three high gables of the famous West Front....
, from there he held lands in the parishes of Witham on the Hill
Witham on the Hill

Witham on the Hill is a well-maintained in the civil parish of the same name. Coordinates - 52?44.04'N 0?26.26'W. It lies in the Districts of England of South Kesteven in south-west Lincolnshire, between Stamford, Lincolnshire and Bourne, Lincolnshire....
 and Barholm with Stow
Barholm

Barholm is a village in Lincolnshire, England. It is off the A15 road, eight miles south-west of Bourne.The church received a new tower during the Civil War and an inscription records:...
 in the south-western corner of Lincolnshire, and of Croyland Abbey
Croyland Abbey

Crowland Abbey is a Church of England parish church, formerly an abbey church in Crowland in the England county of Lincolnshire.History...
 at Crowland
Crowland

Crowland or Croyland is a small town in south Lincolnshire, England, positioned between Peterborough and Spalding, Lincolnshire, with two major sites of historical interest....
, eight miles east of Market Deeping
Market Deeping

Market Deeping is an historic town in Lincolnshire, England, on the north bank of the River Welland and the A15 road . It is the second largest of The Deepings and its eponymous market has been held since at least 1220....
 in the neighbouring fenland. In those times it used to be a boggy and marshy area. Since the holdings of abbeys could be widely dispersed across parishes, the precise location of his personal holdings are uncertain, but were certainly somewhere in south Lincolnshire.

It is thought that he had already rebelled against Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor

Saint Edward the Confessor , son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxons List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the last of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 until his death....
 before 1066, whom he saw as already aligning England with the Normans, and that he was declared an outlaw as a result. It has been suggested that, at the time of the Norman invasion of England, he was in exile in Europe, working as a successful mercenary for the Count of Flanders, Baldwin V
Baldwin V, Count of Flanders

Baldwin V of Flanders was Count of Flanders from 1036 until his death.He was the son of Baldwin IV of Flanders, who died in 1035....
, and that he then returned to England.

In 1069 or 1070 the Danish king Swein Estrithson
Sweyn II of Denmark

Sweyn II Estridsson Ulfsson. was the King of Denmark from 1047 until his death. He was the son of Ulf Jarl and Estrid Margarete Svendsdatter, daughter of Sweyn I of Denmark and sister of Canute the Great....
 sent a small army to try to establish a camp on the Isle of Ely. They were joined by many, including Hereward. His first act was to storm and sack Peterborough Abbey in 1070, in company with local men and Swein's Danes: his justification is said to have been that he wished to save the Abbey's treasures and relics from the Normans.

In 1071 he and many others made a desperate stand on the Isle of Ely against the Conqueror's rule. Some say that the Normans made a frontal assault, aided by a huge mile-long timber causeway, but that this sank under the weight of armour and horses. It is said that the Normans, probably led by one of William's knights named Belasius (Belsar), then bribed the monks of the island to reveal a safe route across the marshes, resulting in Ely's capture. Hereward is said to have escaped with some of his followers into the wild fenland, and to have continued his resistance.

Details of Hereward's life after the fall of Ely are as inconclusive as most of his life prior to the siege. The 12th century chronicle
Chronicle

Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronology order. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler....
, Gesta Herewardi, (of unknown authorship: first published by Thomas Wright in 1839 and translated by W. Sweeting for the 1895 edition), says Hereward was eventually pardoned by William and lived the rest of his life in relative peace. Geoffrey Gaimar
Geoffrey Gaimar

Geoffrey Gaimar , was an Anglo-Norman chronicler. Gaimar's most significant contribution to medieval literature and history is as a translator from Old English language to Anglo-Norman language....
, in his Estoire des Angleis puts a slightly different slant on things, he suggests that after his pardon he moved to France where he was murdered by a group of Normans. The other possibility is Hereward received no such pardon and went into exile never to be heard from again, as this was the fate of a lot of prominent English men after the Conquest it is a distinct possibility.

Epithet "the Wake"

The epithet "the Wake" is first attested in the late fourteenth-century Chronicon Angliae Petriburgense, ascribed by its first editor J. Sparke to the otherwise unknown John of Peterborough. There are two main theories as to the origin of the tag. Popular legend interprets it as meaning "the watchful", and supposes that Hereward acquired it when, with the help of his servant Martin Lightfoot, he foiled an assassination attempt during a hunting party by a group of knights jealous of his popularity. However, it appears more likely that the name was given to him by the Wake family, the Norman landowners who gained Hereward's land in Bourne (Lincolnshire)
Bourne, Lincolnshire

Bourne is a market town and civil parish on the western edge of the The Fens, in the South Kesteven in southern Lincolnshire, England. The town owes its origin to the Roman road upon which it was built, and also to the exceptionally fine-quality water supply derived locally from natural springs....
 after his death, in order to imply a family connection and therefore legitimise their claim to the land.

Hereward in popular culture

  • Some of the legend
    Legend

    A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude ....
    s about Hereward were incorporated into later legends about Robin Hood
    Robin Hood

    Robin Hood is an archetype figure in English folklore, whose story originates from Middle Ages times but who remains significant in popular culture where he is known for robbing the rich to give to the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny....
    .
  • Charles Kingsley
    Charles Kingsley

    Charles Kingsley was an England university professor, historian, and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and north-east Hampshire....
    's novel, Hereward (1865) is a highly romanticised account of Hereward's exploits, and makes him the son of Earl Leofric
    Leofric, Earl of Mercia

    Leofric was the Earl of Mercia and founded monasteries at Coventry and Much Wenlock. Leofric is remembered as the husband of Lady Godiva....
     of Mercia
    Mercia

    Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands....
     and the ancestor of the family of Wake.
  • Jack Trevor Story
    Jack Trevor Story

    Jack Trevor Story was a British novelist, publishing prolifically from the 1940s to the 1970s. His best-known work is the story for Alfred Hitchcock's comedy The Trouble with Harry, the Albert Argyle trilogy , and his Horace Spurgeon novels ....
     wrote a long dramatised life of Hereward for one of Tom Boardman's boys' annuals.
  • The BBC made a 16-episode TV series in 1965 entitled Hereward the Wake, based on Kingsley's novel: Hereward was portrayed by actor Alfred Lynch
    Alfred Lynch

    Alfred Cornelius Lynch was a United Kingdom actor on stage, film and television.Lynch was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of a plumber. After attending a Roman Catholic school, he worked in a draughtsman's office before entering national service....
    .
  • Cold Heart, Cruel Hand: A novel of Hereward the Wake (2004) is a novel by Laurence J. Brown.
  • An Endless Exile (2004), by Mary Lancaster, is a historical novel
    Historical novel

    A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author....
     based on Hereward's life.
  • The rock band Pink Floyd
    Pink Floyd

    Pink Floyd are an English Rock music band who initially earned recognition for their psychedelic rock and space rock music, and later, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music....
     referred to Hereward in the track "Let There Be More Light
    Let There Be More Light

    "Let There Be More Light" is the first song on Pink Floyd's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets. It was also released in edited form as the fourth U.S....
    " (1968); in which a psychedelic vision at Mildenhall reveals 'The living soul of Hereward the Wake'. He also appears in the lyrics of the 1968 track Darkness by Van der Graaf Generator
    Van der Graaf Generator

    Van der Graaf Generator, sometimes known by the shorter Van der Graaf, are an English progressive rock band. They were the first act signed to Charisma Records....
    . He is also the subject of the track "Rebel of the Marshlands" by rock band Forefather
    Forefather

    Forefather are a black metal duo from Surrey, England....
    , in their 2005 album Ours is the Kingdom.
  • Hereward the Wake gives his name to the Peterborough
    Peterborough

    Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of as of June 2006. For ceremonial counties of England purposes it is in the Counties of England of Cambridgeshire....
     radio station Hereward FM
    Hereward FM

    102.7 Heart Peterborough is the Independent Local Radio station for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire. Launched July 10 1980 as Hereward Radio 225, the station was the first local service in the area, with the studios originally based in the back of a former pub in Bridge Street, Peterborough, before relocating to the Queensgate shopping c...
    .
  • BR standard class 7
    BR standard class 7

    The BR Standard Class 7, otherwise known as the Britannia Class, is a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Robert Riddles for use by British Railways for mixed traffic duties....
     (otherwise known as the "Britannia Class") locomotive No 70037 carried the name "Hereward the Wake".
  • There is a long-distance footpath through the Cambridgeshire fenland from Peterborough
    Peterborough

    Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of as of June 2006. For ceremonial counties of England purposes it is in the Counties of England of Cambridgeshire....
     to Ely
    Ely

    Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge.Ely has been informally accounted a city by virtue of being the seat of a diocese....
    , called the Hereward Way
    Hereward Way

    Hereward Way is a long-distance footpath in England.The path takes its name from Hereward the Wake, the 11th century leader who fought against William the Conqueror, who had his base on the Isle of Ely that is located near to the middle of the path....
    .
  • Hampstead has a preparatory school for boys called Hereward House School
    Hereward House School

    Hereward House School is an IAPS Preparatory school for boys aged 4 to 13, located in Hampstead, London on Strathray Gardens, near to Swiss Cottage and the Finchley Road....
    .
  • "Hereward" is the motto of No. 2 Squadron RAF
    No. 2 Squadron RAF

    No. 2 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is currently one of two RAF squadrons operating in the reconnaissance role with the RAF Tornado GR4A and is based at RAF Marham, Norfolk....
    . They are based at RAF Marham
    RAF Marham

    Royal Air Force Station Marham, commonly known as RAF Marham, is a Royal Air Force station, a military airbase, near the village of Marham in the England Counties of the United Kingdom of Norfolk, East Anglia....
     in Norfolk
    Norfolk

    Norfolk is a low-lying Counties of England in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and with Suffolk to the south....
     and their crest contains a Wake knot (the Carrick bend
    Carrick bend

    The Carrick bend is a knot used for joining two lines. It is particularly appropriate for very heavy rope or cable that is too large and stiff to easily be formed into other common bends....
    ).
  • Brian Blessed
    Brian Blessed

    Brian Blessed is an England actor, author and adventurer....
     portrayed Hereward in the TV drama Blood Royal: William the Conqueror (1990).


See also

  • Robin Hood
    Robin Hood

    Robin Hood is an archetype figure in English folklore, whose story originates from Middle Ages times but who remains significant in popular culture where he is known for robbing the rich to give to the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny....
  • Hereward FM
    Hereward FM

    102.7 Heart Peterborough is the Independent Local Radio station for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire. Launched July 10 1980 as Hereward Radio 225, the station was the first local service in the area, with the studios originally based in the back of a former pub in Bridge Street, Peterborough, before relocating to the Queensgate shopping c...


Bibliography

  • Gesta Herewardi Saxoni, ed. T. D. Hardy and C. T. Martin, Lestoire des Engles solum la translaction maistre Geffrei Gaimar. Rolls Series 91. 2 vols: vol 1. London, 1888. pp. 339-404 // tr. M. Swanton, “The Deeds of Hereward” In Medieval Outlaws. Twelve Tales in Modern English Translation, ed. T. H. Ohlgren. 2nd ed. West Lafayette, 2005. 28-99.
  • Liber Eliensis
    Liber Eliensis

    Liber Eliensis or Book of Ely is a 12th century English history, written at the abbey-turned-cathedral church of Ely Abbey.It is based on Bishop ?thelwold of Winchester's Libellus....
    , ed. E. O. Blake, Liber Eliensis. Camden Society; ser. 3; vol. 92. London, 1962 // tr. J. Fairweather. Liber Eliensis: a History of the Isle of Ely from the Seventh Century to the Twelfth. Woodbridge, 2005.
  • The English Resistance: the Underground War Against the Normans, Peter Rex, ISBN 0-7524-2827-6, chapters 8, 9 and 10 contain new data on his family.
  • Hereward, together with De Gestis Herewardi Saxonis; researched and compiled in the 12th century by monastery historians, revised and rewritten in modern English by Trevor A. Bevis, (1982), Pub. Westrydale Press (reissue of 1979 ed), ISBN 0-901680-16-8.


Fiction

  • Hereward: Sons of the White Dragon, by Marcus Pitcaithly, pub. 2008. ISBN 978-0-9556864-0-5.
  • An Endless Exile, by Mary Lancaster, 2004. Paperback ISBN 1-84319-272-1, eBook ISBN 1-84319-125-3
  • "The Last Englishman: The Story of Hereward the Wake", by Hebe Weenolsen, pub. 1952
  • Man With a Sword, by Henry Treece
    Henry Treece

    Henry Treece was a British poet and writer, who worked also as a teacher, and editor. He is perhaps best remembered now as a historical novelist, particularly as a children's historical novelist, although he also wrote some adult historical novels....
    , 1962.
  • "Cold Heart, Cruel Hand: A Novel Of Hereward The Wake and The Fen Rebellion of 1070-1071" by Laurence J. Brown, pub. 2004
  • "Brainbiter: The Saga of Hereward the Wake" by Jack Ogden, pub. 2007
  • "The Legend of Hereward the Wake" by Mike Ripley, pub. 2007
  • Hereward the Wake, by Charles Kingsley (see below for text from Project Gutenberg).


External links

  • Charles Kingsley, ' (1865)
  • David Roffe, , an academic article, pub. 1994
  • Geoff Boxell
  • (streaming audio)