Who were the leaders involved in the Ely rebellion?

• A. Sweyn of Denmark and Hereward the Wake
• B. William the Conqueror and Harold Godwinson
• C. Edgar the Aethling and Morcar
• D. Robert Cumin and Hereward

Answer: (A)

The Ely rebellion was a resistance in East Anglia after the Norman Conquest, led by Hereward the Wake with Danish support from Sweyn of Denmark. Hereward was the local Anglo-Saxon figure who organized and fought against William the Conqueror, and the Danish king sent forces to aid the rebellion. This pairing—Hereward with Sweyn of Denmark—captures the actual leadership and backing of the revolt, distinguishing it from other leaders and events of the period. The other names belong to different moments: for example, William the Conqueror and Harold Godwinson were involved in the Norman Conquest itself, not the Ely uprising; Edgar the Ætheling and Morcar were tied to earlier post-Conquest unrest, and Robert Cumin was a Norman official rather than a rebel leader in Ely.