Welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie and this is Episode 403, the Siege of Exeter.

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Exeter stood in open defiance against William and his army.

They wished to be free of this Norman and his knights.

They were willing to pay him tribute as one would pay a pirate, but they would not accept

him as their king.

The townspeople repaired their city battlements, they reinforced and manned the city walls.

Exeter mobilized for war and even the merchants and craftsmen who were just passing through

found themselves conscripted into the rebellion.

We don't know precisely what caused the people of Exeter to rise up, though it likely wasn't

one thing.

This William character didn't exactly have a light touch and we're told that the men

who he had set up as regents in his absence were just as ruthless if not more so than

their leege.

So the English were suffering under the Norman boot.

And even if you were lucky enough to avoid the outright violence, you wouldn't have been

...