Orderic and the Chronicle - The People of Exeter

The people of Exeter freaked out when the things came back and declared the rebellion over. They panicked about how much guilt they had incurred against this man who was already far too comfortable with killing the poor. But our culture is quite different from the English of the 11th century. And considering that these things provided William with hostages, I have to assume that they never imagined that the common folk of Exeter would defy their orders. It's completely in keeping with the way the nobility operates that they wouldn't have imagined that the peasants had any desires or wishes of their own but they did.