Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman conquest of England.

He decisively defeated and killed Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066.

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman conquest of England.

Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England.

It took place approximately 7 mi northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place 8 mi to the north-west at Senlac Hill in 1066.

The background to the battle was the death of the childless King Edward the Confessor in January 1066, which set up a succession struggle between several claimants to his throne.

When Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was defeated and killed in the same year by the Normans under William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman conquest of England.

Harold's army confronted William's invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings; William's force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement.

It took place approximately 7 mi northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

Norman adventurers played a role in founding the Kingdom of Sicily under Roger II after briefly conquering southern Italy and Malta from the Saracens and Byzantines, during an expedition on behalf of their duke, William the Conqueror, which also led to the Norman conquest of England at the historic Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Hardrada and Tostig defeated a hastily gathered army of Englishmen at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September 1066, and were in turn defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge five days later.

Although Harold Godwinson repelled the Norwegian invaders, his army was defeated by the Normans at Hastings less than three weeks later.

It took place approximately 7 mi northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

Battle is the site of the Battle of Hastings, where William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold II to become William I in 1066.

William founded a monastery at the site of the battle, the high altar of the abbey church supposedly placed at the spot where Harold died.

The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours.

In 911, the Carolingian ruler Charles the Simple allowed a group of Vikings to settle in Normandy under their leader Rollo.

Rollo's descendant William became king of England in 1066 after defeating Harold Godwinson, the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, at the Battle of Hastings, while retaining the fiefdom of Normandy for himself and his descendants.

Edward's immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, the richest and most powerful of the English aristocrats and son of Godwin, Edward's earlier opponent.

Upon Godwin's death in 1053, the earldom passed to his son, who later became King Harold II and died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Harold was crowned king shortly after Edward's death, but faced invasions by William, his own brother Tostig, and the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada (Harold III of Norway).

The victorious Harold, at the head of troops, still exhausted by their previous fight with Tostig and Hardrada, would go to confront and suffer defeat at the hands of the Normans at the Battle of Hastings nineteen days later.

The king also had a group of personal armsmen, known as housecarls, who formed the backbone of the royal forces.

In England, the royal housecarls had a number of roles, both military and administrative; they are well known for having fought under Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings.

Later lists of companions of William the Conqueror are extant, but most are padded with extra names; only about 35 named individuals can be reliably identified as having been with William at Hastings.

William the Conqueror had men of diverse standing and origins under his command at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Harold was crowned king shortly after Edward's death, but faced invasions by William, his own brother Tostig, and the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada (Harold III of Norway).

Harold Godwinson's victory was short-lived, as only a few weeks later he was defeated by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.

Hardrada and Tostig defeated a hastily gathered army of Englishmen at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September 1066, and were in turn defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge five days later.

It is likely that the engagements at Fulford Gate and at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, fought within a week of each other, seriously affected Harold's strength at the Battle of Hastings some three weeks later.

He was driven back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria.

After the battle of Hastings, Morcar and his brother arrived at London, sent their sister Ealdgyth, Harold's widow, to Chester, and urged the citizens to raise one or other of them to the throne.

He was driven back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria.

After Harold's death at the Battle of Hastings, where Edwin and Morcar were absent, they were the principal supporters of a new regime under Edgar the Ætheling, though they had wished the public to elect one of them king, but failed to take effective steps against the invading Normans and soon submitted to Duke William.

The right was commanded by William fitzOsbern and Count Eustace II of Boulogne.

He fought on the Norman side at the Battle of Hastings, and afterwards received large grants of land forming an honour in England.

Most housecarls fought with the two-handed Danish battleaxe, but they could also carry a sword.

These huscarls formed the core bodyguard of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

Harold was elected king by the Witenagemot of England and crowned by Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, although Norman propaganda claimed that the ceremony was performed by Stigand, the uncanonically elected Archbishop of Canterbury.

After the death of Harold at the Battle of Hastings, Stigand worked with Earl Edwin and Earl Morcar, as well as Archbishop Ealdred of York, to put Edgar the Ætheling on the throne.

Waltham Abbey, which had been founded by Harold, later claimed that his body had been secretly buried there.

King Harold Godwinson, who died at the Battle of Hastings, is said to be buried in the present churchyard.

This division was led by Alan the Red, a relative of the Breton count.

Alan was probably present at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066.

In April 1066 Halley's Comet appeared in the sky, and was widely reported throughout Europe.

In 1066, the comet was seen in England and thought to be an omen: later that year Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings; it was a bad omen for Harold, but a good omen for the man who defeated him, William the Conqueror.

The English army was organised along regional lines, with the fyrd, or local levy, serving under a local magnate – whether an earl, bishop, or sheriff.

The Battle of Hastings, in 1066, the soldiers were organized with the best in the front line and the less adequate fighters in the following lines.