Consolidation in the north
Northumbria was devastated and the loss of life must have been enormous. Even so, enough remained of the local infrastructure for William to establish four new castleries in the aftermath of the revolt. He placed his old friend William fitzOsbern in charge of the new castle at York, and gave the key strategic fortress of Richmond into the hands of his kinsman, the Breton Count Alan Rufus. Count Alan saw Yorkshire as virgin land he could exploit. He moved himself lock, stock and barrel up to Richmond and carved out his own private feoffdom, where he exercised huge private patronage. The castle he built there is one of the most spectacular Norman castles in the country, and though the present keep dates from 1126, there was a stone one there from 1088 onwards.
'She eloped from the nunnery...'
In an attempt to further boulster his hold on the north, Alan entered into negotiations with King Malcolm Cranmore of Scotland (the Malcolm of Macbeth) to marry Malcolm's daughter, Edith, who was residing in a nunnery at Wilton (Wilts). This alliance was vetoed by King William, but also residing in the nunnery at Wilton was Gunnhild, the (probably illegitimate) daughter of King Harold. She eloped from the nunnery and took up house with Alan at Richmond. Since they prudently did not get married, the situation seems to have been accepted with equanimity by the King and Archbishop Lanfranc. However, when Count Alan died, Gunnhild refused to re-enter the nunnery and instead took up with Alan's brother, who had succeeded to his estates, prompting a furious letter from the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm:
You loved Count Alan Rufus and he loved you. Where is he now? What has become of the lover whom you loved? Go now and lie with him in the bed where he now lies; gather his worms into your bosom; embrace his corpse and kiss his bare teeth from which the flesh has fallen!
Published: 2001-05-01
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