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- BIOGRAPHY
Belasius is considered by many to be legendry, but reported in Burke's publications as follows:
After the Battle of Hastings, English resistance continued. Notably led by Hereward The Wake, a fiery, violent character, who had rebelled against Edward 'the Confessor' before 1066. It has been suggested that, at the time of the Norman invasion of England, he was in exile in Europe, working as a successful mercenary for Baudouin V, count of Flanders, and that he then returned to England.
In 1069 or 1070 the Danish King Swein Estrithson sent a small army to try to establish a camp on the Isle of Ely in the eastern part of England. They were joined by many, including Hereward. Hereward's first act was to storm and sack Peterborough Abbey, in company with local men and Swein's Danes. His justification is said to have been that he wished to save the Abbey's treasures and relics from the Normans.
In 1071 Hereward and many others made a desperate stand on the Isle of Ely against the Conqueror's rule. Some say that the Normans made a frontal assault, aided by a huge mile-long timber causeway, but that this sank under the weight or armour and horses. It is said that the Normans, probably led by one of William's knights named Belasius, then bribed the monks of the island to reveal a safe route across the marshes, resulting in Ely's capture. Hereward is said to have escaped.
The place where Belasius had pitched his camp was named Belasius Hill, now known by the corrupted designation of Belsar's Hill.
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