“I attacked the English of the Northern Shires like a lion. I ordered their houses and corn, with all their belongings, to be burnt without exception and large herds of cattle and beasts of burden to be destroyed wherever they were found. It was there I took revenge on masses of people by subjecting them to a cruel famine; and by doing so — alas!”

— William I of England

I became the murderer of many thousands of that fine race.
Part of a speech on his deathbed in 1087, referring to the Harrying of the North, written down by a monk named Ordericus Vitalis in 1123; as quoted in Empires and Citizens : The Roman Empire, Medieval Britain, African Empires (2003) by Ben Walsh, p. 60

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I attacked the English of the Northern Shires like a lion. I ordered their houses and corn, with all their belongings, …" by William I of England?

William I of England2

first Norman King of England 1028–1087

Related quotes

“The state should look into this, as other nations do: see to it that nobles do not take the lives of their subjects at will, or burden them with unjust toil - as if they were dumb cattle!”

Szymon Starowolski (1588–1656) Polish historian

Source: William John Rose (1944). The Rise of Polish Democracy, p. 5

“Why are people so cruel? What did I ever do to them?”

Julie Anne Peters (1952) American writer

Source: By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

“After all, in both languages we were dealing in large measure not with English and French, but with Scots and Irish, Bretons and Normans…. There could be no more eloquent illustration of the colonial mind-set than a bunch of Celts and Vikings in a distant northern territory insulting each other as les anglais and the French as if they were the descendants of the people who had subjected and ruined them.”

John Ralston Saul (1947) Canadian author and essayist

Reflections of a Siamese Twin (1997)

“I was a frequent visitor at the London Zoo; in the lion house there were always ninnies who mocked the captive lions. I often wished that the bars would turn to butter, and that the great, noble beasts would practise their particular form of wit upon the little, ignoble men.”

Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and novelist

The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949)
Context: God knows I have little interest in animals, but I do not like to see them insulted. I used to feel the same thing in the days when I was a frequent visitor at the London Zoo; in the lion house there were always ninnies who mocked the captive lions. I often wished that the bars would turn to butter, and that the great, noble beasts would practise their particular form of wit upon the little, ignoble men.

“I found ample scope in the work of the tribunals that were open to me, and in the House of Lords, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and the Parliamentary Committee Rooms. I enjoyed a large and varied practice, almost entirely in English cases and cases from the Dominions.”

Hugh Macmillan, Baron Macmillan (1873–1952) British judge

Source: A Man of Law's Tale (1952), In London, p. 49

“I painted for 20 years without liking them very much, you know. I burnt them at the end of every year. For 20 years I burnt the whole bunch because I didn't want them to get in the market. And well, sometimes when I was starving, I used to sell one cheap, you know. But I always regretted it because you hate to think of a painting in somebody's house that you don't like well enough, you know.”

Agnes Martin (1912–2004) American artist

after 2000, Agnes Martin: Between the Lines', 2002

“This place is hell. They herd you around like cattle; they order you around like dogs; they work you like horses; and they feed you like hogs.”

James Jones (1921–1977) American author

Letter after joining the Army (1939), quoted by Peggy Noonan in "From 'Eternity' to Here" in The Wall Street Journal (25 May 2006) http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110008422

“They’ve started it. We’ve had bitter, personal attack on some of our people. They tried to destroy our credibility as a network. But it is only natural that the people can stand who were personally attacked and their children were personally attacked should fight back and I support them. I support my people completely.”

Rupert Murdoch (1931) Australian-American media mogul

Asked about feud between News Corp. with GE and MSNBC <br class="br">Source: Countdown's Worst Person: Threats and Feuds Edition http://crooksandliars.com/2008/06/03/countdowns-worst-person-threats-and-feuds-edition

“People talk sometimes of bestial cruelty, but that’s a great injustice and insult to the beasts; a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) Russian author

The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880)

“I was in such a state while I was recovering from this surgery and the pain medication that I was on sort of took all the inhibitions out that I may have had. I found that I was ordering things online; big boxes of stuff would arrive at my house.”

Harry Connick, Jr. (1967) American singer, conductor, pianist, actor, and composer

Late Show with David Letterman TV interview, February 2007 http://www.postchronicle.com/news/entertainment/tittletattle/article_21263069.shtml

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

William I of England2

Related quotes

Related topics