2.1 - 23 The Normans and Angevins 1066 - 1217
The History of England
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The Harrying of the North
William started with York and his name alone made the Danes withdraw. After Christmas he just kept going North killing and destroying as he went. Destroying crops, killing livestock, burning villages. The harrying of the North outraged and horrified even William's most ardent supporters in a hard age. No one seems to have a problem with the odd mutilation or blinding here and there but this was different. A famine prevailed to such a degree that compelled by hunger men ate human flesh and that of horses dogs and cats... again it was dreadful to behold human corpses rotting in the houses streets and high roads for there were not enough left to enter them.
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