An arrow in the eye, according to a later tradition
The story appears in twelfth-century accounts; the embroidery's figure is ambiguous and may have been altered by restorers.
History · Medieval
The Battle of Hastings
14 October 1066
Norman conquest of England
William, Duke of Normandy, defeated and killed King Harold Godwinson on a ridge in Sussex, ending Anglo-Saxon rule in England. Harold had marched south within three weeks of destroying a Norwegian invasion in Yorkshire; his shield wall held most of the day before breaking, and William was crowned at Westminster on Christmas Day.
How to spot them
- ▸Clue patterns: a shield wall on a ridge, feigned flight, a king killed, a coronation that Christmas
- ▸Fought on Senlac Hill, some seven miles from the town it is named after
- ▸An abbey was later built on the site with its high altar where the king fell
- ▸Recorded in a 70-metre embroidery, not a tapestry
What happened
Recorded in a 70-metre embroidery, kept in a Normandy cathedral town
The Bayeux Tapestry, about 68.4 m long and 50 cm high, wool on linen.
The winner's rival had beaten a Norwegian king at Stamford Bridge nineteen days earlier
Harald Hardrada and Tostig Godwinson were killed on 25 September 1066.
A shield wall on a ridge broken by repeated feigned retreats
The Normans combined cavalry, infantry and archers against a purely infantry line.
A minstrel called Taillefer who supposedly rode out singing before the fighting
Recorded by Wace in the Roman de Rou, a century later.
An abbey founded on the site in penance, its high altar on the spot where the king fell
Battle Abbey, in the town of Battle, East Sussex.
A great survey of the conquered kingdom, completed twenty years later
Domesday Book, 1086.
Quick-fire facts
- •It was fought on 14 October 1066 at Senlac Hill, about seven miles north-west of Hastings, at the place now called Battle.
- •William, Duke of Normandy, defeated Harold Godwinson, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king of England.
- •Harold had defeated Harald Hardrada of Norway and his own brother Tostig at Stamford Bridge on 25 September, then marched about 250 miles south.
- •Harold's brothers Gyrth and Leofwine were also killed in the battle.
- •The story that Harold was killed by an arrow in the eye is a later tradition and not certain.
- •The Bayeux Tapestry, about 70 metres long, is an embroidery narrating the conquest; it is displayed at Bayeux in Normandy.
- •William was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.
- •Battle Abbey was founded on the site, reputedly with the high altar where Harold died.
- •William commissioned the Domesday Book survey in 1085–1086.
- •1066 is the most famous date in English history and gave the title to the comic classic 1066 and All That (1930).
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Sources
- David Howarth — 1066: The Year of the Conquest
- Marc Morris — The Norman Conquest
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Battle of Hastings