William the Conqueror’s Interesting Siege Tactic,When William of Normandy defeated King Harold

William the Conqueror’s Interesting Siege Tactic,When William of Normandy defeated King Harold at Hasting in 1066, he expected to be crowned King of England immediately.  However the Anglo-Saxons were not happy about swearing loyalty to a foreign king, and revolted against Norman rule.  As a result William had to conduct a campaign of conquest across England in order to force the Anglo-Saxons to submit.One of the most heavily defended outposts of the Anglo-Saxons was a castle located on the Isle of Ely.  The Isle of Ely was a small island surrounded by thick and impassible marshland.  Led by a general named Herewood, the Anglo-Saxons had plenty of supplies, were able to live off the land, and could hold up within their castle indefinitely.  For William the siege of Ely would not be easy.After spending many vain weeks trying to find a route through the swamps to the castle, William ordered the construction of a a mile long pontoon through the marshland.  While the pontoon allowed the Normans to pass, it funneled their army into a small killing zone where only a small number of Anglo-Saxon defenders could hold off the entire Norman Army.  Eventually during the siege the pontoon become so overloaded that it collapsed.  Frustrated by failure after failure, William tried one more tactic, one that would go down as one of the most ridiculous in military history.William ordered the construction of a large tower mounted on wheels.  However this was no ordinary siege tower.  Atop the tower William stationed an old woman who claimed to be witch.  The Normans then wheeled the tower as close as safely possible to the Isle of Ely.  Once in position the witch proceeded to bombard the Anglo-Saxons with a slew of curses and spells.  For days the witch hurled terrible curses, horrid incantations, ghastly spells, and lewd gestures toward the Anglo-Saxon defenders.  Alas the stalwart Anglo-Saxon defenders were unaffected by even the worst of the witches conjuring. On one early morning while it was still dark, the witch began her incantations only to find the Anglo-Saxons setting her tower alight.  The tower burned down, taking the witch with it.It seemed like nothing would dislodge the stubborn Anglo-Saxons from Ely.  Then William had a stroke of luck when a group of local monks, who were tired of having Normans lodging in their monastery, revealed a secret pathway through the swamps.  The Normans sneaked onto the island by night and were able to storm the castle.  Many were killed, those who were taken prisoner had their eyes poked out and hands chopped off. -- source link

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