Morcar

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Morcar (also Morkere , Old English Mōrcǣr ; † 1087 ) was the son of Ælfgar , the Earl of Mercia , and the younger brother of Edwin (Old English Ēadwine ). Morcar was from 1065 to 1066 Earl of Northumbria , until he was replaced by William the Conqueror with Copsi (old English Cōpsige ).

In 1065 the Northumbrians revolted against their despotic Earl Tostig Godwinson , whereupon Eduard the Confessor replaced him with Morcar. In 1066 Tostig invaded Mercia and was stopped by Edwin and Morcar. Tostig then had to retire to Scotland . Later that same year, Tostig returned to Northumbria with an army from the Norwegian King Harald Hardråde . Morcar and Edwin surrendered to the Norwegian army and inflicted heavy losses on it, but suffered a devastating defeat on September 20, 1066 in the Battle of Fulford . Morcar and Edwin survived and were able to get to safety.

After the death of the English King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Morcar and Edwin supported Edgar Ætheling , a Witan who was claiming the English throne. Edgar did not see himself in a position to repel the Norwegian and Norman invasions under Duke Wilhelm II of Normandy .

In 1068 Morcar and his brother started a revolt in Mercia, but had to capitulate quickly due to the intervention of King Wilhelm I. Although they had been pardoned, they faced William I again in the spring of 1071. Edwin was soon betrayed and killed in a raid, while Morcar joined the rebellion in the Isle of Ely initiated by the Abbot of Ely and that of Hereward the Wake was organized. When the Normans took the Isle of Ely, Morcar was captured and imprisoned. He remained in captivity until Wilhelm's death in 1087, when the latter ordered on his deathbed that all of his prisoners were to be released. After a brief period at large, he was imprisoned again, this time by the new King William Rufus . Morcar died in captivity in 1087.

literature

predecessor Office successor
Tostig Godwinson Earl of Northumbria
1065-1066
Copsi