Eadric the Wild

Eadric the Wild (or Eadric Silvaticus), also known as Wild Edric,Eadric Cild (or Child) and Edric the Forester, was an Anglo-Saxon magnate of the West Midlands who led English resistance to the Norman Conquest, active in 1068-70.

The early 12th-century historian John of Worcester writes that Eadric the Wild was a son of one Ælfric, whom he identifies as a brother of Eadric Streona, ealdorman of Mercia under King Æthelred the Unready. While five of Eadric Streona's brothers appear to attest witness-lists of King Æthelred's charters, no Ælfric makes a plausible candidate for identification with a brother of the ealdorman. It is possible that Ælfric was not a brother but a nephew of the ealdorman. If so, Eadric (the Wild) would belong to the same generation as his cousin Siward son of Æthelgar, who was himself a grandson of Eadric Streona.

Because Eadric's name is a common one in pre-Conquest England, identification with any of the landholders of this name listed in Domesday Book remains a ticklish affair. Nevertheless, it would seem that he held extensively in Shropshire and also held roughly 12 hides in Herefordshire. He is probably the Eadric son of Ælfric who held two estates from Much Wenlock Priory (Shropshire). Eadric and his cousin Siward ranked as the wealthiest thegns in Shropshire.

Accounts of Eadric's act of rebellion in Herefordshire in 1067 are included in Manuscript D the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, John of Worcester's Chronicle and Orderic Vitalis.

After the Conquest of England by William of Normandy, Eadric refused to submit and therefore came under attack from Norman forces based at Hereford Castle, under Richard fitz Scrob.

He raised a rebellion and allying himself to the Welsh prince of Gwynedd (and Powys), Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, and his brother Riwallon, he unsuccessfully attacked the Norman castle at Hereford in 1067. They did not take the county, and retreated to Wales to plan further raiding.

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