The Battle of Hastings, 14th October 1066

October 14, 2013

• Topical

This is arguably the most famous date in British history and happened on this very day hundreds of years ago…. It is so famous because 1066 was the last time that anyone successfully  invaded Great Britain.

The Normans maintained that King Edward the Confessor had promised the throne to William, Duke of Normandy. However, Edward apparently had a dramatic change of heart on his deathbed when he declared Harold Godwinston, Earl of Wessex, his heir. William refused to accept this and decided to take his bequest by force.

King Harold II had just defeated a Norwegian army under Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire when William landed at Pevensky on the south coast. Harold’s 5,000-strong army, footsore and exhausted, faced a Norman force of up to 15,000 infantry, archers and cavalry on a hill called Senlac (now Battle), near Hastings. At first Harold’s men put up a ferocious defence with a wall of shields against which the Normans pitched themselves. Some of the invaders, given to believe William had been killed, started to retreat, but when the defending army broke ranks to pursue them the Normans turned round and pushed forward, exploiting their enemies’ disarray to the full.

Popularly believed to have been killed by an arrow in the eye (as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry), although this is disputed, Harold was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. His short but eventful reign over, his body was recovered and buried next to the battlefield. It was later moved to Waltham Abbey in Essex.

William of Normandy was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.

Do you any Battle of Hasting facts that you could share with us at Kings Tutors?