Hereward Rebel of the Fens

By Sasha Osborne

My story about Hereward is fictional. However, it is generally accepted that he existed and fought against King William of Normandy, because the Normans killed many English people and took their properties for themselves when William became King of England in 1066. Hereward spent much of his time hiding in the Fens and launching attacks on William’s men, and was often in disguise. It would have been very difficult for people to write historical accounts because many of them could not read or write and probably never even saw him. Some of the monasteries kept records but only a few survived. It would be impossible to tell whether they were accurate because they were written so long ago. Nevertheless, the few stories which exist about Hereward are fascinating to read and he certainly sounds like a true hero.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781257865307

Book preview

HEREWARD

REBEL OF THE FENS

By Sasha Osborne

Copyright © 2021 Sasha Osborne, ‘Hereward Rebel of the Fens.’

All rights reserved. Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying will institute an infringement of copyright.

ISBN 978-1-257-86530-7

Cover picture drawn by Sasha Osborne. Copyright @2021 Sasha Osborne.  All rights reserved Any unauthorised copying will institute an infringement of copyright.

Please contact the author at [e-mail]

Contents

HEREWARD

REBEL OF THE FENS

Introduction

Chapter 1 - The Woods

Chapter 2 - The River

Chapter 3 - Stealing Girls’ Clothing

Chapter 4 - A Fatherly Telling Off

Chapter 5 - Asketil Has Told The King

Chapter 6 - The Abbot’s Unpaid Rent

Chapter 7 - Hereward Is Banished

Chapter 8 - Hereward Wants To Right The Wrongs

Chapter 9 - Asketil’s Family Discuss Hereward

Chapter 10 - Hereward Is Found On A Guines Beach

Chapter 11 - Hereward Is Given A Generous Offer

Chapter 12 - Count Manasses Is Amused By The Skirt Theft

Chapter 13 – Hereward And Hoibricht’s Fight

Chapter 14 - Hereward’s Marriage

Chapter 15 - Tournaments

Chapter 16 - Bishop Of Cambrai And Robert The Frisian

Chapter 17 - The Attack On The Island Of Walcheren

Chapter 18 - Hereward Returns To England

Chapter 19 - Hereward’s Dead Family Members

Chapter 20 - Englishmen Fight The Normans

Chapter 21 - Visit to Abbot Brand

Chapter 22 - Hereward Kills Frederick In The Fens

Chapter 23 - William De Warenne

Chapter 24 - The Monastery

Chapter 25 - King William’s Truce

Chapter 26 - Hereward Returns To Flanders

Chapter 27 - Hereward And His Men Raid Peterborough

Chapter 28 - The Danes Desert Hereward

Chapter 29 - The Rebels Meet Hereward

Chapter 30 - King William Tries To Capture Hereward

Chapter 31 - Hereward Kills All except One

Chapter 32 - Only Deda Survives The Collapsing Bridge

Chapter 33 - Dinner At Ely Refectory

Chapter 34 - King William Employs A Witch

Chapter 35 - Hereward Sets Fire To The Fens

Chapter 36 - Hereward Returns To Ely

Chapter 37 - Has Hereward Lost His Battle?

Introduction

Hereward was a nobleman born around 1035/36.  He was a rebellious teenager, who was exiled by his father and King Edward the Confessor in 1054, when he was eighteen years old, according to the Latin text ‘Gesta Herewardi’, (the latest version was written in the 13th Century).

After he left England, he lived in Flanders (Belgium), where he fought with Robert the Friesan near the Scheldt Estuary.

On his return to England he discovered that the Normans had taken over the country and had killed his brother.  He decided to fight against William the Conqueror’s army in the Ely area.  Because it was mainly marsh and Fenland, he was able to hide and launch many successful attacks on the Normans.

Some people have called him ‘Hereward the Wake’, but he was not related to the Wakes.  They were Normans who had taken over his family’s land. The family felt that they would be better accepted by the English if they claimed that they were related to him. 

William the Conqueror arrived in 1066, after which the Normans introduced new tax systems and laws and improved record keeping, which we still use today.

Over the centuries Hereward became a mythological figure.  The story of Robin Hood may even be based on him.

Whoever Hereward was, he remains a true hero.