By: Elise Adamson and Kiana Wright

Kings of 1066 Famous Kings in 1066

and what they did

Battle of

Fulford September 20, 1066

Harald III and Tostig

Godwinson against Earls

Edwin and Morcar

Battle of

Stamford Bridge September 25, 1066

Harold II of England

against HaraldIII of

Norway

Battle of

Hastings October 14, 1066

Duke William II against

Harold II

Kings of 1066 Edward

III (Edward the

Confessor) was

and Anglo-

Saxon king.

One of his great-

est achievements

was constructing

the cathedral that

most English

monarchs, from

William the Conqueror forward, were

crowned. It was on January 4 in 1066

that Edward the Confessor died (http://

www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/

mon20.html).

Harold II

had himself

crowned king

of England the

day after the

death of Ed-

ward the Con-

fessor which was January 5, 1066. It was

Harold II’s brother, Tostig, who was ex-

iled in 1065 and joined Harold Hardrada

of Norway (http://www.britannia.com/

history/monarchs/mon21.html). Tostig

suggested that Harald III of Norway

should try to take the English throne.

This attempt failed when Harold II of

England defeated Harald III of Norway at

the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.

Harald III of Norway (Harald

Hardrada) was third in line for the Nor-

wegian throne. King Cnut of Denmark

invaded Norway the current king in bat-

tle. After fight-

ing in the battle,

Harald III was

able to escape

with a few loyal

warriors. Dur-

ing his time out

of Norway,

Harald III

fought for the king of the land of the Rus

(Russia) and joined the Varangian Guard

in Constantinople. He returned to Nor-

way where his nephew, King Magnus,

was in possession of the throne and

agreed to share it with his uncle but King

Magnus died a year later. Harald III took

the throne and in 1066, Tostig Godwin-

son spoke to Harald III about claiming

the English throne which he had a small

claim to through his nephew. Agreeing to

this, Harald gathered his army set off for

England (http://

britishhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/

harald_hardrada). Harald III of Norway

was defeated by Harold II of England in

the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

Magnus II of Norway was crowned

king in 1066 and was the son of Harald

III of Norway. It was Harald III’s death

at the Battle of Stamford Bridge that al-

lowed Magnus II to be crowned. Follow-

ing Norwegian property laws, Norway

was split, shared, and ruled by Magnus II

and his brother Olaf III (http://

www.srilankanewsweb.com/wiki-

Magnus_II_of_Norway).

Battle of Fulford The Battle of Fulford took place on

September 20, 1066. Harald III of Norway

(Harald Hardrada) was allied with English-

man Tostig Godwinson, the banished brother

of Harold II of England. Tostig and

Hardrada made a pact in which Tostig said

that he would support Hardrada’s invasion of

England. They fought against Earl Edwin

and Earl Morcar whom they defeated. It was

Earl Morcar who displaced Tostig as Earl of

Northumbria. When Edward the Confessor

died on January 14, 1066, those with

power selected Harold II of

England (Harold Godwinson)

to be king (http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Bat-

tle_of_fulford#cite_note

-H1066-0).

With 300 ships,

Harald Hardra set sail

from Norway in early Sep-

tember. After being joined

by Tostig’s ships later in his

journey, they travelled toward York

along the River Ouse. Harold Godwinson

knew trouble was coming when in May

1066, the south coast of England was raided

by Tostig’s ships.

The location of the Anglo-Saxon in the

battle put them at a disadvantage. The left

flank was the Fordland which was just

swampy land and the River Ouse was on the

right flank. The Norwegians also had the up-

per hand because they were on higher

ground. The battle can be seen from a dis-

tance from the elevation. Marshlands would

prevent the retreat of the Anglo-Saxons

(http://www.britainexpress.com/History/

battles/Fulford.htm).

In the Norwegian invasion of Eng-

land, the English were the first to strike. Be-

fore the Norwegians deployed, the English

advanced. Though the English had

success initially by pushing

backs part of Hardrada’s

line, it didn’t last long.

Hardrada added more

troops and at the end

of the battle, the

Anglo-Saxons were

defeated, being out-

maneuvered and

outnumbered. With

the promise that the

Norwegians would not

sack their city, those who

remained of the English sur-

rendered (Howarth).

Though the Battle of Fulford didn’t re-

sult in great gains or losses on either side, its

importance is seen in how it led into the Bat-

tle of Stamford Bridge which led to the Bat-

tle of Hastings.

Battle of Stamford

Bridge It was Harold vs. Harald in the Battle

of Stamford Bridge, 1066. That September 25th King Harold Godwinson and King Har-ald Hardranda battled in a village called Stamford Bridge. Although this battle cost both, the invading Norwegians and the skilled English many losses, it was not that last battle the English would face that year.

The Vikings, from Nor-way, were lead by King Harald Hardrada; he was one of the many contenders who came across North-Western Europe to fight for the English throne after the death of King Harold the Confessor. On their way through England, Harald's troops fought in the Battle of Fulford just before being con-fronted by King Harold's army. Harold's English troops had come from London to York-shire, a distance of about 185 miles, in only 4 days, and thus were able to surprise the Nor-wegians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings).

The Vikings were at a vast disadvan-tage. Not expecting the English to have come so quickly, they had left their armor on the ships and were unarmed. The Nor-wegian army was also split into two by the river. Some Norwegians were on the west side, and the bulk of the army on the east side. This made it easy for the English to quickly take out all the east side soldiers. Then the English troops were delayed by the bridge which provided a choke-point

during the battle. This delay allowed the Norwegians to set up a shield wall. After crossing the bridge, the English army got into formation and charged. Although they held up against the English at first, the Nor-wegians' lack of armor began to show. Har-ald's troops were being hacked down like trees; with the English advancing, there was

nothing he could do. Soon the English had completely outflanked the Norwegian army and killed the leaders (Harald). It is said that the sparse troops who were guarding the ships came to the battle field to try to defend Norway, but were quickly de-feated as well (Sturluson). In the end, King Harold made a truce with the surviving English sol-diers, and let them

leave if they vowed not to attack England again. The Norwegian fleet had taken such a hit from that battle that only 24 ships were needed to take home survivors, of the 300 ships that came to England (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings). King Harold was pleased with the outcome and felt empowered. 3 days later, William the Conquer from Normandy landed on English shores. This leads up to the Battle of Hastings, just three weeks after the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

Battle of Hastings Six miles Northwest of Hastings at

a site, called Senlac Hill, the Battle of Hastings took place. By this time the English already fought in the Battle of Fulford and Battle of Stamford Bridge. Then, on October 14th, Harold II had to face yet another battle.

The Norman Duke, William, had planned to invade England since early 1066. As soon as English king, Harold Godswinson, was crowned ruler in Janu-ary of that year, William intended to take the crown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings). Rumors spread that Edward promised the crown to Wil-liam instead of Harold, but changed his mind.

When notified about the invading Normans, Harold set out from London with his troops on October 12th. This was not even a month after Harold's pre-vious battle at Stamford Bridge. Godwin-son was also urged by others, especially his brother Earl Gyrth, to wait and let more troops assemble. Being anxious, Harold ignored these warnings and con-tinued to march down to Hastings.

The day of the battle was excep-tionally stressful for both William and Harold. The English army consisted of all infantry, each person carrying a Dan-ish Battleaxe, large shield, and sward. Skilled and well prepared, Harold's in-fantry was still vulnerable to the Nor-man's cavalry. William's cavalry carried a lance and sward; his troops also con-sisted of archers who were equipped with some of the first crossbows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings). This proved not to help in battle, for during the day of Octo-ber 14, 1066, William's archers took out

minimal Eng-lish troops. William or-dered his in-fantry to charge, which failed due to the ineffective archery. This forced Wil-liam to charge his cavalry much earlier than planned. Even the Norman's well trained horses shied away from the English wall of spears and swords. At this point, it looked like William would lose the battle. With some quick think-ing, William rounded up the rest of his troops and led an attack on the now un-protected English infantry. Without their shield wall, the English were easy to chop down. With this, William com-manded his archers to fire at the un-shielded rear rank soldiers. This had great success. With the English weak-ened, William made another attack; this time seizing the gaps in the English wall. The Norman troops took this advantage to strike, depleting Harold’s army. With many men dead, some fleeing, the Eng-lish force crumbled.

Harold II died during the Battle of Hastings. Later that year, England crowned its first Norman ruler, King Wil-liam I. This day was a bitter day in Eng-lish history. In the words of William of Malmesbury, "This was a fatal day to England…" (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1066malmesbury.html ).

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