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The Norman Conquest: a family affair |
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Securing the kingdom
William reorganised his new kingdom, destroying some of the sprawling earldoms of his predecessor’s day, but also creating several new ones, like Kent, so that the country was surrounded by a series of protective strongholds. Then, as now, the Kent coastline was vitally important in terms of security, and so William made the loyal Odo Earl of Kent, and gave him custody of Dover castle – the “lock and key” of England.
Odo's rule protected Dover and the Kentish coast
© Ian Britton, freefoto.com |
Odo became a huge landowner in Kent, holding 184 lordships in the county. He also held manors in 12 other counties, which gave him £3,000 a year, and the Domesday Book shows him to be the richest tenant-in-chief in the kingdom by far.
“Destitute of virtue”
Odo was an infamous figure in 11th Century England: “ambitious”, “rapacious”, “greedy”, “ruthless”, “arrogant”, “tyrannical” and “destitute of virtue” are just some of the words that have been used to describe him. He was certainly not the most popular of rulers, either in Kent or elsewhere, and was almost universally portrayed in a negative light by contemporary chroniclers. Orderic Vitalis, a chronicler monk, creates an unattractive image of Odo as a regent who abused his responsibilities, oppressing the poor and unfairly seizing England’s wealth and land.
Odo destroyed and plundered the landowners of Kent, amassing a huge fortune in both land and gold. He forcibly seized lands for his friends and family – one chronicler called him a “ravening wolf”, and the Domesday Book, argues historian David Bates, reveals “numerous instances of apparently unjust acquisitions”. In Dover, Odo confiscated homes and even the Old Guildhall for his household, and he allowed one of his tenants to build a mill at the harbour entrance in Dover, which had a devastating impact on shipping.
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