4. Tostig and Harold

In spring 1066 Harold's estranged and exiled brother Tostig Godwinson raided in southeastern England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, later joined by other ships from Orkney. Threatened by Harold's fleet, Tostig moved north and raided in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, but he was driven back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria. Deserted by most of his followers, he withdrew to Scotland, where he spent the summer recruiting fresh forces. [4]

King Harald of Norway invaded northern England in early September, leading a fleet of over 300 ships, carrying perhaps 15,000 men. This was further augmented by the forces of Tostig, who threw his support behind Harald's bid for the throne. Advancing on York, the Norwegians were met on 12 September by a northern English army under Edwin and Morcar, but they defeated the English at the Battle of Fulford and occupied York. Harold had spent the summer on the south coast with a large army and fleet waiting for William to invade, but on 8 September he had finally been forced by the exhaustion of his food supplies to dismiss them. He rushed north, gathering forces as he went and took the Norwegians by surprise, defeating them in the exceptionally bloody Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Harald of Norway and Tostig were killed, and the Norwegians suffered such horrific losses that only 24 ships were required to carry away the survivors. The victory came at great cost, as the Anglo-Saxon army was left in a battered and weakened state. [5]

5. Norman invasion

Meanwhile William had assembled an invasion fleet of approximately 600 ships and an army of 7,000 men. William had recruited soldiers from all of northern France, the Low Countries and Germany. Many soldiers in his army were second- and third-born sons who had little or no inheritance under the laws of primogeniture. William promised that if they brought their own horse, armour, and weapons to join him, they would be rewarded with lands and titles in the new realm. William also gathered over 2,000 horses, transported across the channel in specially adapted horse transports. [6]

William had gathered his ships at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. His army was ready on 12 August; however, unfavourable weather caused him to arrive in the south of England just days after Harold's victory over the Norwegians. The delay turned out to be crucial; had he landed in August as originally planned, Harold would have been waiting with a fresh and numerically superior force. William finally landed at Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September and assembled a prefabricated wooden castle near Hastings as a base. The choice of landing was a direct provocation to Harold Godwinson, because this area of Sussex was Harold's own personal domain. William began immediately to lay waste to the land. It may have prompted Harold to respond immediately and in haste rather than to wait at London long enough to reassemble the full strength of the southern English fyrd. Again, it was an event that favoured William. Had he marched inland, he might have outstretched his supply lines and possibly have been surrounded by Harold's forces.

Harold rushed south at the news of William's landing and paused at London to gather more troops, then advanced to meet William. They fought at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October. It was a close battle, but in the final hours Harold was killed, along with his brothers Earl Gyrth and Earl Leofwine, and the English army fled.

After his victory at Hastings, William expected to receive the submission of the surviving English leaders, but instead Edgar Atheling was proclaimed king by the Witenagemot, with the support of Edwin and Morcar, Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury and Aldred, Archbishop of York. William, who had received reinforcements from across the English Channel, therefore advanced, marching through Kent to London. He defeated an English force which attacked him at Southwark, but he was unable to storm London Bridge and therefore sought to reach the capital by a more circuitous route. He marched west to link up with another Norman force near Dorking, Surrey. The combined armies then moved up the Thames valley to cross the river at Wallingford, Oxfordshire. While there, he received the submission of Stigand. William then travelled northeast along the Chilterns, before advancing towards London from the northwest. Having failed to muster an effective military response, Edgar's leading supporters lost their nerve, and the English leaders surrendered to William at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire. William was acclaimed King of England and crowned by Aldred on December 25, 1066, in Westminster Abbey. [7]