1. Why was there a rising against Earl Tostig?
Starter: Try to work out the sentence below
Challenge: Who were they?
Harold and Tostig
They were both sons of Earl Godwin!

2. Who was Earl Tostig?
Tostig had been made the Earl of Northumbria by King Edward in 1055.
Northumbria was the largest earldom, but was the most unstable – it was constantly under threat from Scottish raids and was far away from the monarchy in the south.
Large parts of it were part of the Danelaw an area of mostly Viking settlement which had its own laws, customs and even language.
As Earl, Tostig’s policies were incompatible with the customs of the region.

3. The rising against Earl Tostig
In 1065, Northumbrian thegns rose up against Tostig.
They raised an army and marched on York, killing as many of Tostig’s supporters as possible.
They demanded that Morcar, the brother of Earl Edwin of Mercia, to replace Tostig (he was a Northerner and would have understood Northumbrian ways more than Tostig)
Edward ordered that Harold raise an army to crush the rebellion, but Harold decided to agree to their terms – by November Tostig was exiled.

4. Why is Tostig’s exile so important?
Tostig was so angry that Harold had betrayed him that he travelled across Europe seeking support for an invasion of England. Tostig therefore became a major threat.
It showed that Harold had his eyes on the throne – he needed a united kingdom and a war with Mercia and Northumbria would have weakened it. Hence why he sided with them and betrayed Tostig.
Why is Tostig’s exile so important?
Harold and the other earls of England has openly disobeyed Edward – this showed the weakness of Edward and just how powerful and influential Harold had become by 1065.

5. Autumn 1 Assessment Task
Explain why there was a rising against Earl Tostig in (12 marks)
You may use the following in your answer:
Taxation
Abuse of power
Read through the sample paragraph given to you. Highlight:
Blue: when they introduce their point
Red: when they expand it with own knowledge
Green: when they link this back to the question by explaining how this would have caused a rising.
For this question you need to write three paragraphs – three different reasons why this rising happened. Use the prompts in the question to help you out!
Each paragraph is worth 4 marks.
Use the worksheet provided by your teacher to help you write your answer.

7. The answers! Point Evidence Explain Taxation
He taxed Northumbria too heavily. Danelaw areas were not used to heavy taxations.
This caused resentment as many hates him for getting rich off the back of poor Northern peasants. They would have wanted to replace him with someone more fair.
Abuse of power
He imposed new laws which were unfair. He abused his power to get rid of rivals e.g. in 1065 he had two followers of Gospatrc killed. Later he killed Gospatric himself as he travelled to complain to King Edward.
This caused Northumbrians to rebel against him as he was acting like a tyrant and many felt Morcar would be a more just ruler..
Relationship with Malcolm III
Tostig was close to the King of Scotland which meant he didn’t stop him raiding in the area. In 1061, Malcolm invaded and caused huge amounts of destruction. Tostig wished to keep strong relations so did nothing.
Many felt that Tostig did not care about his people because of this, so wanted to replace with him with someone more sympathetic to their cause e.g. Morcar.
Tostig’s image as a southerner
Tostig was a southerner and Northumbria had always been governed by northerners. He did not fit in and struggled to even understand the language of his people
Morcar seemed a better option because he was a northerner himself and would have been more accepted by his people.