Edward the Confessor, king of England, died childless on January 4, 1066. The next day Harold Godwinson was crowned king. As the Anglo Saxon Chronicle states so delicately: "Harold was hollowed King; he enjoyed tranquillity therein the while he ruled the kingdom". This is the story of that eventful year.

     To understand the question of succession of Edward, we must begin at the close of the reign of King Aethelred II who was married to Emma, the daughter of Richard II (the Duke of Normandy). During his reign, England had been plagued by a series of Viking raids which came to a climax in 1015/16. Cnut, the younger son of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, successfully invaded Wessex in 1015. Aethelred died a few months latter in 1016. The war continued to rage between his son, Edmund Ironside, and Cnut until they agreed to partition the kingdom. Edmund died six months later and Cnut was elected sole king at the witan meeting (the witan is a meeting of the chief nobleman and advisors to the king. Only the witan had authority to elect a king. The witan generally accepted the recommendation of the previous ruler and the greatly valued the historic royal lineage). Cnut eventually took Emma as his second wife. So it was that the Kingdom of England had passed temporarily from the Saxons to the Danes and through Emma had connections with the Dukes of Normandy.

     During Cnut's reign we first hear of Godwin, who was made Earl of Essex in 1018. Cnut left England for a time to take possession of the kingdom of Denmark after his brother's death in 1018. Godwin was left behind to administer England. Godwin's influence increased, until by the death of Cnut he was the most powerful Earl in England. Cnut died in 1035 and was succeeded by his two sons, Harold I and Harthacnut.

     Harthacnut was Cnut's named heir but he was away in Denmark when his father died. His half-brother Harold Harefoot was designated as Regent together with Emma and Godwin to rule for the absent king. Godwin changed sides and began to support Harold. During his regency, Alfred Atheling visited England. Alfred was the youngest son of Aethelred II (and brother of the future King Edward the Confessor) and therefore a possible rival claimant to the throne. Upon the likely order of Harold and with the likely help of Godwin, Alfred was captured, blinded, and eventually died of his wounds. With Harthacnut's continued absence, Harold was crowned sole King in 1037.

     Harthacnut was gathering forces to regain England when he heard of his half-brother's death. He sailed to England with a large fleet and was immediately hailed as king. Harthacnut made a pact with Magnus the Good (king of Norway), if either should die childless, the other would inherit their lands. Harthacnut was a tyrant as king and demanded large taxes. With Harthacnut's welcome death in 1042, the direct line of Cnut had come to an end. Sven Estridhsen considered himself as the rightful heir because he was Harthacnut's cousin and closet male relative. Magnus also had a claim by virtue of his pact, but he was too busy taking possession of Denmark to make much of it.

     Godwin changed sides yet again to become the leading spokesman for "the voice of the people" that the next king should be English. So the witan in 1042 defied the Danes (and the Anglo-Danes) and elected Edward, the only surviving son of Aethelred II, as king. Edward was the son of Emma (daughter of Richard II of Normandy) and was raised in Normandy since his exile at age nine.

     Under his reign, Godwin continued on his stellar course; he convinced Edward to name his sons Sweyn and Harold earls and to marry his daughter Edith. Edward secretly hated Godwin due to his likely involvement in the murder of his brother Alfred during the reign of Harold I. In 1051, an argument broke out between Edward and Godwin which resulted in Godwin's banishment.

     During this period, it is believed that Edward first promised the succession to William of Normandy. During Godwin's exile, Edward named many Normans to important advisory positions. These appointment fueled the growing feeling of resentment against the Normans.

     Edward's independence was sort lived. In 1052, Godwin returned from Flanders with a large fleet and Edward was forced to accept him back and expel most of his Noman appointees. As part of the bargain, Robert of Jumieges, the Papal choice, was expelled from the archbishopric of Canterbury and Stigand a strong supporter of Godwin was appointed. This resulted in Papal excommunication for Stigand which lasted through five Popes until his death; his appointment likely contributed to the lack of papal support in 1066 for the Godwinsons.

     In 1053 Godwin died. Sweyn, his eldest son, had previously died on a pilgrimage in 1052. So the leadership of the family of Godwin passed to his second son, Harold. Harold was well up to the task. Continuing the tradition of his father, Harold got his brother Tostig appointed as Earl of Northumbria in 1055.

     Although Edward still preferred William as his heir, it was hard to promote the case due the rising anti-Norman sentiment in the country. Edward learned that his nephew, Edward the Exile, was still alive and well at the Hungarian court. In 1054, he sent for him. He finally arrived in 1057, but before he could reach King Edward, he was murdered (possibly on the orders of Harold). His four-year-old son, Eagar Atheling survived, likely because he was too young to pose a threat. The young Eagar was the natural heir, and Harold the natural regent if Edward died before the youth came of age.

     But the Godwinson power plans. By 1057 Harold had managed to get his brother Gyrth control of East Anglia and brother Leofwine control of Kent. With the exception of Mercia, which passed from Aelfgar to his young son Edwin in 1062, the Godwinsons controlled all of England that wasn't directly held by the King. By 1064, Harold had taken to being called sub-regulus (under king). It was no longer clear that Harold's ambitions would be satisfied as regent. They was growing talk that he should be heir to King Edward himself.

     In 1064, Harold was sent by the King to Europe. Possibly he was sent to Normandy with a message to William confirming his promise to name William heir. Whatever the purpose of the trip, a storm caused Harold to land on the coast of Pontthieu, where he was captured by Count Guy. When William heard the news, he arranged for Harold to be brought to Rouen. During his stay, Harold swore a public oath of fealty to William and acknowledged William's right of succession and promised to aid William in becoming king of England. In some French versions of the meeting it is said that William arranged to have holy relics hidden under the table so that Harold swore his oath over relics. Some of the later English versions suggested that Harold acted under duress. Whatever the details, all that Harold took some type of oath with William.

     Shortly after Harold's return to England, the people of Northumbria revolted against Earl Tostig claiming that he was a tyrant and robbed the churches. They demanded that they be given a new Earl and they brought forward Morcar, brother of Earl Edwin of Mercia, as their candidate. Although Edward's first reaction was to support Tostig, he sent Harold to investigate. Upon Harold's recommendation, Edward recognized Morcar as Earl and adverted a civil war. Tostig fled to Flanders and the protection of his father-in-law Baldwin; he never forgave his brother for his role in his exile and began to plan his return.

     During all these machinations, Edward kept loose reigns over a generally happy kingdom. By luck, the Viking raids were infrequent and of little note. The Welsh border problems were handled effectively by Harold. After the forced acceptance of the return of Godwin, King Edward generally retired from the exercise of regal authority and left the resolution of many issues to his advisors. Edward was a deeply religious man who became known as "the Confessor" due to his piety. Though married to Edith (Harold's sister) for many years he never consummated the marriage and had no children. His great passion was hunting. His most memorable achievement was the construction of the Abby of Westminster. His biggest failure was the lack of an heir.

     Edward, the Confessor, died childless and without an established heir on January 4, 1066. Harold was elected king by a hastily assembled witan (of his supporters) and crowned king in the church of Westminster the next day. The choice of Harold was controversial, to say the least. In England, Eagar the Atheling was the closest blood relative of Edward, but he was too young to rule. Edward had promised his kingdom to William, Duke of Normandy and Harold had confirmed his support to William by taking an oath of fealty. But England was not an hereditary fief to be willed from one to another. The King was elected by the council of advisors known as the witan, and the witan had elected Harold. The Danes also laid a claim to the crown; they never accepted Edward as the just King and traced their claim through the lineage of Cnut. Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, remembered the pact made between Harthacnut and Magnus (that England would be given to Magnus if Harthacnut died childless) and as the successor of Magnus he figured that England should also be his. Tostig, the deposed Earl of Northumbria also felt had had a claim to the throne. He was Edward's favorite of the sons of Godwin and who knows what may have been discussed.

     The news reached Normandy very quickly. William was hunting when the news reached him that "King Edward is dead and Harold is raised to the Kingdom". William was outraged that Harold had taken his crown in spite of his oath. He sent a formal protest to London, but he knew that legitimacy of his claim could only be answered by military action.

     In retrospect it seems that William's whole life had been a test leading up to this moment. He was born a bastard son to Robert II, the Devil and a peasant girl. William was thrust into the role of Duke at the age of seven when his father died on a pilgrimage. Although Robert had planned well for that possibility, soon all the counselors and guardians of the youth were killed and the Duchy started to fall into its individual pieces.

     The first major test for William occurred in 1047 when open rebellion broke out. William appealed to King Henry for assistance as was his right as the King's vassal. With the aid of the Royal forces, William quelled the rebellion and received oaths of fealty and reparations from the leaders. But by 1054, King Henry had changed allegiances and he launched a full scale invasion of Normandy with the aid of many of the surrounding states. At the battle of Mortemer, William achieved a decisive victory over King Henry which saved the Duchy.

     Mortemer snapped the will his rivals (no one was to initiate an attack on William until well after the conquest) William's stature was further aided by the death of two of his strongest rivals Geoffrey of Anjou and King Henry both in 1060.

     In 1063 William added the County of Maine to his domain. During the visit of Harold in 1064, William fought an inconclusive war with Conan II of Brittany. But strategically it was significant as it established a rebellious faction within Brittany which was loyal to William and kept Conan busy until his death in Dec. 1066. By 1066 Anjou was deep in a civil war deciding its succession following the death of Geoffrey Martel. King Philip of France was still too young to rule and was under the regency of Baldwin V of Flanders (William's father-in-law).

     William was a product of his times and had been trained for war from his youth. He was a supporter of the church and he did much to revive the customs of the Church in Rouen and Normandy in general. William was likely illiterate and beyond waging war, religion and hunting, he had little outside interests.

     Normandy is a small state, about the size of a single earldom in England. It is surrounded by potentially hostile forces looking for weakness. But through luck and strategic planning William in 1066 had momentarily neutralized all outside threats to Normandy and created an unequaled base of power in France.

     While William was still beginning his preparations, Tostig took the first action. He gathered a naval force, first landing on the Isle of Wight, then briefly conquering the city of Sandwich. Hearing of Harold's approach, Tostig left with his force of sixty ships up to the river Humber. There he was soundly defeated by Earls Edwin and Morcar, finally fleeing with only 20 small ships.

     Meanwhile, William had met with his nobles and gathered promises for an invasion of England. He appealed to the landless knights of Brittany, Maine, Flanders and elsewhere to mobilize an army. Supplies for such an army were a major stain on the local resources. But William showed his superior generalship by gathering supplies from distant sources which he stockpiled. He strictly forbid any looting of cities or foraging the countryside for food. As we will see William logistical supply planning was to prove extremely important to his eventual success.

     Still showing his keen eye for strategic advantages, William sent envoys to Pope Alexander II and Emperor Henry II. The Emperor, or his agents, as he was still in his minority, backed William's claim over Harold. After a formal hearing, the Pope committed himself more definitely. The case against Harold was the breaking of a sacred oath, Edward's promise, William's assistance to the Church in Normandy, and Harold's expulsion of the papal appointed Archbishop Robert of Jumieges; it is unlikely that Harold was asked for responses for any of these charges. The Pope ruled against Harold sending William a Papal banner and relics (possibly even a writ of interdiction). As this was a holy action it also carried the promise of assured divine salvation to any of William's forces who may die in the enterprise.

     Back in England, Harold is well aware of William's preparation and he calls up his forces deploying them in southern England. From May to September, he mobilizes his fleet on the Isle of Wight waiting for William's invasion. But William deliberately delays his invasion to early September. He knows full well of the extreme difficulty in keeping a force mobilized and supplied and wished to wear down his enemy by attrition and demoralize them after a long wait. Finally, on September 8, Harold must disperse his fleet, they have ravaged the countryside in search of food until the surrounding villages are on the verge of famine. The ship crews have long ago completed their required service and the peasant militia are pleading to be allowed to return to their fields to take in the crops before they rot. They argue that no sane person would risk a mass crossing of the channel in mid-September. Apparently the English prayers were answered: favorable winds kept William from launching his attack!

     Meanwhile, William has been training his troops for two months in the advanced military maneuvers used by the Normans in Sicily. Thanks to good logistical planning, the troops are supplied and the peasants are able to tend to their crops without fear of the army. On September 12, William departs with his fleet to the mouth of the Somme river to take advantage of the shorter crossing. Even on this short trip ships are damaged and William sees to their repair. He is now ready for the invasion, but the winds blow from the north and he is landlocked. All his preparation will be for naught if the invasion is not launched soon.

     The north winds stifling William were favorable for an attack from the north. Tostig had invited Harald Hardrada "Ruthless" to invade England with his help. According to the Norse epic "The Orb of the World" Tostig goads Harald, saying: "Everyone knows that there has never been born in Scandinavia a warrior to compare to you; and it seems to me very strange that you should spend fifteen years trying to conquer Denmark, and yet be so reluctant to have England when it is yours for the taking." In September, Harald and Tostig arrive at the mouth of the Humber with a fleet of 300 ships.

     After advancing up the Ousee to Riccall, the Norse disembark and ride towards York. They defeat the combined army of Edwin and Morcar at Fulford on September 20. York submits to them and promises to support the invaders. Harald retires to the area of Stamford bridge, not wishing to leave his troops open to ambush in the city until he has his hostages in hand. Stamford bridge is a great tactical position to control eastern Yorkshire as all the roads converge at this village to cross the River Derwent. Harald splits his forces to guard on the ships which he leaves at Riccall to keep the remnants of the English navy bottled up at in Tadcaster. About noon on September 25, he sees the advance of his hostages and begins a sigh of relief, but then he looks again, there is an awfully large dust cloud on the road for band of hostagesŠ

     Back in London, Harold Godwinson heard of the invasion of the Norwegians on September 20 and immediately began an astounding forced march, riding day and night, covering 190 miles in four days. As he advances on Harald at Stamford bridge it is clear he has achieved surprise.

     There is a highly unlikely meeting recorded in the "Orb of the World" between Harold Godwinson and Tostig and Harald Hardrada before the battle which ends with the famous quote "King Harold has already declared how much of England he is prepared to grant him [Harald Hardrada], seven feet of ground, or as much more as he is taller than other men."

     Details of the battle are sketchy, but the outcome is clear. In the course of the fierce battle both Harald Hardrada and Tostig are killed and the Norwegian forces suffer grave losses. The English also suffer heavy losses. Olaf, King Harald's son makes peace with Harold and takes an oath to never attack England again, he is allowed to leave with his men, weapons, and ships. But he heads off with force that can be carried in 24 ships having arrived in 300. It is a fitting end to over 200 years of Anglo-Scandinavian conflict that the last Old English king faced one of the greatest Viking warriors in a high stakes battle which determined the fate of the two counties for years to come.

     Two days after Stamford bridge, the wind finally changes. William launches his ships the evening of September 27 so as to arrive on the coast of England with the incoming tide. A night crossing is very risky at the best of times, but especially so in the stormy season in September. Although William loses sight of his fleet during the crossing and arrives alone, at day break the fleet arrives at Pevensey unopposed.

     William establishes a base camp within the old Roman fort at Pevensey, then he moves his fleet and army to Hastings which is better suited for his base. He established another fort and began to forage for food, deliberately harrying the countryside trying to entice Harold to attack.

     Harold heard of William's landing on October 1 or 2 while still in York. He repeated his 190 mile march to London with a smaller army, picking up replacements as he went, arriving about October 6. During the next several days he mobilizes his army calling in peasant militia from the surrounding areas. Harold arrives rallying point on Calbec Hill, near Hastings late on the night of October 13 after a long forced march hoping to surprise William the next day.

     The question always asked at this junction is why didn't Harold wait longer to raise a larger army or starve out William; time was clearly Harold's alley. Chroniclers estimate that only half the available forces were mobilized for Hastings. One possible explanation comes from the "Roman de Rou" (one of the later French sources, written in 1166). It states the in addition to the banner and relics, William had a writ of excommunication for Harold which was reveled by a messenger. Because all English Kings of this period fashion their rule as being given by 'the grace of God', excommunication just prior to a major battle would have disastrous effect on the Army's morale.

     It is quite possible that the Papal support for William and it's effect on his army was one of the reasons that Harold felt quick action was necessary. But it is also likely the Harold wished to repeat the same tactic of surprise and quick deployment which had been the deciding factor of the battle of Stamford Bridge. But William was no Viking raider, he had an extensive reconnaissance network of out-riders. It turns out that it was William who achieved the element of surprise and forced the battle.

     Harold's army numbers about 6000-7000 men. About 1000 were the elite Housecarls who wore mail armor wielded battle axes and threw javelin; they may have rode to the battle site but they fought on foot. The balance of the army was fyrd (which ranged from landed Thanes with swords and armor to peasant militia who were generally unarmored and arrived with very mixed arms some with agricultural weapons on necessity). These troops were untrained to poorly trained and needed to be strengthened by the Housecarls if they were to be effective. The bow, later to become the mainstay of the English army during the Hundred Years War was considered a hunting weapon and was not present any number in the English army at Hastings.

     The Norman forces were somewhat smaller, perhaps 6000 men. His army consisted of about 1500 knights, 3500 heavy infantrymen, and 1000 archers. All were trained, many by lengthy experience in the private wars which were all too common in France. But the whole force had received about two months training as a unit prior to departure.

     The English held the crest of a small hill, they formed a line of about 300 yards led by a shield wall of Housecarls in the front with 5-7 ranks deep. The Normans split their forces into three battles, the Bretans on the left, Normans in the center, and the French mercenaries on the right.

     The initial volley of Norman archers had little effect, the arrows were absorbed by the shield wall. Then the Normans followed with an infantry, then cavalry charge up the hill to the English line. The initial Norman attack is repulsed and at this point it was anyone's battle. Fragments of the English follow the fleeing Normans; a rumor starts that William was killed. William rallies his troops by removing his helmet to show he is alive. The cavalry wheels and cuts down the pursuing English troops.

     After seeing the success of this surprise attack following a retreat. The Normans knights begin a series of feigned retreats after which they wheel and mop up the English pursuit defeating them in detail. Also at this phase of the battle, the Norman archers are instructed to fire there arrows high and let them fall on the back ranks which are unprotected by the shield war.

     As the light begins to fade the English army is outnumbered and exhausted but still fighting when Harold falls, likely being hit with an arrow in the eye. By this time both his brothers were dead and without leadership the English army began to breakdown and flee as dusk was approaching.

     By the end of the day, William stood on the field in triumph. Tactically, once the battle began its outcome was hardly unexpected. The victory was largely due to the effective use of combined arms (cavalry, missile weapons, and infantry) versus infantry alone. The difference in training also was a major advantage for the Normans. Once the battle started, the English perhaps could have carried the day if they made a full scale advance following the initial Norman retreat. But clearly their defeat lied in the strategic arena and was due to a series of unlucky events (chiefly, the two invasions coming so quickly after each other) and poor choices (especially the decision to engage William so quickly with a small tired army).

     Earls Edwin and Morcar and the two archbishops come to London and appoint Edgar Atheling King. After gathering reinforcements, William begins his march to London. Romney opposes him and is savagely harried in retaliation. Dover submits when he approaches and Canterbury surrenders before he arrives. William spends about five weeks in Canterbury to recover from sickness which is running through the army. Winchester, held by Edith, sister of Harold offers surrender. By now, William controls all south eastern England.

     He turns his attention to London and is turned away in his initial approach from the south. So he burns Southwark and continues around London destroying and burning as he goes isolating the capital by a ring of destruction.

     Archbishop Stigandis the first leader to submit at Wallingford. By the time he got to Berkhamstead and was approaching London again from the north, the rest of the leaders offered their surrender. There Edgar Atheling, Earls Edwin and Morcar, Archbishop Ealdred, and all the leading men in London came and swore fealty to William and William agreed to rule them justly.

     William crowned on Christmas day, 1066 in Edward's Westminster abbey by Aldred Archbishop of York. The battle for Britain was hardly over, William spend most of the rest of his life consolidating the victory he won at Hastings. The toll on the local English was huge. English suppression was achieved by harrying a large number of towns and the wanton destruction of houses and fields and murder of the peasants, the effects of William's retaliations were especially hard felt in the north.

     In the end William controlled a united England in part due to his building of strategically placed castles but in a larger measure due to his ruthless destruction of those who opposed him. By the time of his death in 1087, most of the Old English nobility was replaced by French overlords. Gone was the system of rights enjoyed by the Thanes attended the witans and the election of kings. Replacing it was a French system of feudal obligations and a hereditary king.