On Thursday 5th January 1066, Edward the Confessor, King of England since
1402, died at Westminster. He was buried, hardly 24 hours after his death, in
the abbey church of St.Peter which he had built and consecrated just a few days
earlier.
Harold Godwineson, Earl of Wessex, Edward's brother-in-law and the most powerful
man in the kingdom, who had for some time been in effect executive ruler, was
crowned as King Harold in the same church by Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury,
on the same day as Edwards burial.
Harold claimed that he had been bequeathed the kingdom by the dying Edward,
and one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says he was 'elected thereto'.
Harold was not of royal blood, but seemed to have no difficulty in getting the
support he required of a great number of English magnates, though some in the
north would not recognize him. He sought to win these over by a visit to Northumbria.
He even went so far as to marry Edith, sister of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria.
His position seemed strong, but he was not to endure a tranquil reign.
The tree below shows the ruling houses of England & Normandy, showing
the Conqueror's blood relationship with Edward the Confessor.
When William, Duke of Normandy, found out about Harold's coup d'état,
he was taken by surprise and was affronted. He made protestations to the English
Court but knew these would not be heeded and began to consider asserting his
claim by force. This course of action would entail a seabourne invasion and
it had to succeed. Special ships were built, thousands of horses, strong enough
to stand a long sea journey found and gathered near the harbour. He received
a papal blessing for his quest and authorization for him to arrange reform of
the English Church.
It took seven months to arrange everything and then the weather confounded
his plans for another six weeks and it was the 27th September before he received
favourable winds to sail from the Somme and head for England's coastline around
Eastbourne and Pevensey.
Harold had in the meantime decided to ignore William's protest and had also
forgotten about the oath of fealty he had sworn to William in 1064, a scene
depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. The Normans were not popular in England and
the leading Magnates did not wish to see a Norman king or their replacement
by Norman lords, so Harold had much support in England for this stance.
Another complication was Harold's half-brother Tostig, banished in 1065, but
made a series of raids from Northumbria to Kent. During the summer
of 1066, Tostig formed an alliance with the King of Norway, Harald III Hardraada,
who had his own, dubious claim on the English throne.
Bayeux Tapestry: Harold Godwineson touching two shrines,
swears his oath to Duke William that he will support his succession.
They marched on York and took the City after a battle at Gate Fulford with
Morcar and his brother, Edwin of Mercia. Harold marched to York immediately
he had news of the defeat marching by day and night and entered York without
a fight. He learned the invaders had gone to Stamford Bridge so he marched on,
and took Tostig and Hardraada, who did not expect him, by surprise. A bitter
battle ensued and it was the days end before the invaders were routed. Tostig
and Hardraada were slain in the battle and Hardraada's son, Olaf, was granted
quarter and allowed to take ship home.
On the morning of the 28th September, William reached Pevensey, unopposed
by any force and set about constructing a castle. His force consisted of 600
ships to carry 7,000 men, including 2 to 3,000 knights and squires with horses,
arms and supplies. After leaving a garrison in the newly formed castle, he moved
his main forces to Hastings and there raised a second castle not far from the
shore, again depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.
Upon hearing the news of Williams landing at Pevensey, Harold as much of his
army as he could and marched to London in a week (200miles). Exhausted by the
time they reached there, Harold halted only long enough to raise fresh levies
from the Home Counties then force-marched the makeshift army towards Hastings,
another 55 miles away. On Friday 13th October, Harold reached what is now Battle,
which was then just a ridge marked only by a solitary apple tree. They camped
around the ridge overlooking the valley to the south and Harold hoped the rest
of his forces would arrive the next day.
William, upon hearing the arrival of Harold and his forces, and the unreadiness
of such. Decided it was a God given opportunity for the Duke to catch his adversary
by surprise, and he took it. At dawn on Saturday he left his base under cover
of darkness and headed towards Harold's lines. When the sun began to rise the
forward scouts could see the English on the ridge. By 8am, William had reached
Hedgeland on Telham Hill, on the south-east of Battle. The ground in front sloped
sharply down to the southern side of the marshy valley below Harold's ridge.
Within the hour the battle would commence and the fate of England's history
would change again.
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