1066 and the Battle of Stamford Bridge

There is no battle in the English-speaking world that captures more attention than the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but Hastings may not have been successful for William, Duke of Normandy, if another battle had not happened in the preceding weeks. That battle, at a bridge in Yorkshire, laid the ground work for the nascent King of England, Harold Godwinson, to be defeated on 14 October, 1066 at Hastings. This article will explore the Battle of Stamford Bridge, its key players, and how it doomed Harold Godwinson, even as victor. When the English king Edward the Confessor died without heirs in 1066, several prominent men sprung to seize the throne for themselves. These contenders, Harald Hardrada, Harold Godwinson, and William I, all had both equally strong and spurious claims to the throne, throwing the realm into chaos. Starting with the (spoiler alert) eventual victor of this tripart war, the claim of William, we will briefly breakdown each faction prior to exploring the battle itself.

William, Duke of Normandy, is easily one of the most recognizable figures in medieval history but by his more commonly used name, William the Conqueror, or his derisive nickname, William the Bastard. William became Duke of Normandy at the age of 7-8 in 1035 as the only child of the prior duke, Robert I. His illegitimate birth, the by-product of a romance between Robert and William’s mother, Herleva, that did not result in marriage, made things complicated for him early on but had the support of powerful nobles in Norman, English, and French politics, helping him be recognized as the only true choice. He spent the early years of his rule shoring up his position, being pulled between vying factions taking advantage of his youth, until his position was finally secured around 1050-1051 with the defeat and exile of rival lords. The core of William’s claim is as follows: according to one of the versions (version D) of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, William visited England to see his relative, Edward the Confessor in 1051. William was the grandson of Edward’s maternal uncle, Robert II of Normandy, and as Edward had no children of his own, chose William as his heir, with William’s visit securing the succession. The prevailing historical opinion of today doubts that this trip ever took place but there is primary source evidence (with muddled chronology) that claims Edward offered the crown of England to William in 1051 as Edward’s heir. Harold Godwinson, one of our other contenders for the throne, was also rumored to have sworn to uphold William’s claim as Edward’s heir in 1064 while participating as an ally of William in his campaign against Brittany, but this too is doubted as potential Norman propaganda. However, regardless of the true story, William believed he had a rightful claim enough to press it and invade England in 1066 after Edward’s death and Harold Godwinson’s seizure of the English crown.

Our next contender, Harold Godwinson, was born around 1022 as the oldest (legitimate) son of Earl Godwin of Wessex and Gytha Throkelsdottir. The Godwins were a powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in England, from the old Anglo-Saxon heartland of Wessex. As an ally of the late King Cnut the Great of England, Godwin was made the first Earl of Wessex in 1020, making him a major power-player and advisor to the English king. Edward the Confessor married Edith, Godwin’s daughter and sister of Harold, in 1045, cementing their ties to King. However, this did not prevent Godwin’s family from running afoul of Edward on several occasions, one even resulting in the exile of Godwin to Flanders in 1051 after Godwin refused a royal order to punish the people of Dover. Godwin eventually was allowed to return to England in 1052 but died shortly after, and his son Harold succeeding him as Earl of Wessex. Harold, although now the most powerful noble in England and a strong claimaint to the throne as brother-in-law to the King if Edward and Edith remained childless, was still was not secure in his position due to his troublesome brother Tostig, Earl of Northumbria. Tostig’s reign in Northumbria was far from popular, as Tostig violently suppressed challenges to his position, killing several prominent Northumbrian lords through murder, assassination, and treachery. Tostig also did little to stem the raiding of Scots into his earldom and employed unpopular and expensive Danish mercenaries. Although Harold Godwinson was the brother-in-law of King Edward and a well respected English noble and leader, he had no royal blood himself, undermining his eventual claim to the throne. To further complicate matters, Harold was also said to have sworn fealty to William, Duke of Normandy after he was shipwrecked there in 1064. Why he was traveling to northern France is hotly debated, with sources claiming that he was sent to swear his fealty to William, to secure the release of some family members being held in France, or that he was on a fishing expedition blown off course. Harold helped and fought alongside William in his war against the Duke of Brittany, and the famous Bayeux Tapestry claims that he supposedly swore upon holy relics to support William’s claim as King of England when Edward died, before returning to England. In 1065, Harold convinced Edward the Confessor to exile his brother Tostig from Northumbria to end a rebellion there against the Earl. Tostig fled England to Flanders and then made contact with our next contender, Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, convincing him to invade England and seize the throne as King.

Our last claimant of the throne, Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, lived an extraordinary of adventure, traveling, and fighting in places ranging from Eastern Europe, the Byzantine Empire, the Middle East, Italy to his eventual defeat and death in Northern England. Frankly, we will have to gloss over much of Harald’s life because recounting his adventures could be an article itself. Harald was born around 1015 in Norway, to a powerful Norwegian family and half-brother to King Olaf Haraldsson. In 1028, Olaf was driven into exile by Cnut (Cnut the Great) but made an attempt to return for his crown in 1030. At only 14-15, Harald assisted his half-brother but was defeated at the Battle of Stiklestad that same year. Olaf was killed in the battle and Harald was badly wounded, forcing him into exile. Harald traveled through Norway and Sweden for a year to recover, eventually arriving in the land of the Kievan Rus of Eastern Europe. Harald was made captain by the Grand Prince of Kiev due to his desperate need of forces and his relation to Olaf who had also spent time in the Kievan Rus kingdom. For several years Harald fought campaigns against the Poles, the Eastern Romans, tribes in Estonia, and against nomadic people from the eastern Steppes. In either 1033 or 1034 Harald took 500 men to Constantinople to join the renowned Varangian Guard of the Eastern Roman Empire. Harald, in this service and as eventual leader of the Varangians, fought in many different campaigns for the Eastern Romans and against many different people such as Arab pirates, Turks in Anatolia, Arabs in Iraq, against peasants in Bulgaria, and may have even fought around Jerusalem. He is claimed to also have fought alongside Normans in Sicily and against Normans in southern Italy. Harald eventually found himself out of favor at court in Constantinople during a dynastic struggle, was imprisoned and either released or escaped in 1041. Harald returned to Kiev Rus in 1042 an immensely rich man from his campaigns and married Elisiv, the daughter of the Kievan Rus Grand Prince, showing his status as man of great importance. In 1045, Harald returned to Norway and became co-ruler of Norway in 1046 and then sole ruler in 1047. Harald set his sights on England in the 1050s, which he believed was rightfully his due to an agreement made by the Kingdom of Norway and Harthacnut, King of England in 1042. Conveniently for Harald, he was approached by Harold Godwinson’s exiled brother, Tostig, inviting him to take the crown of England from Harold. This would settle Harald’s claims to the English throne as well as securing revenge for Tostig, so Harald took him up on the offer and invaded Northern England in September of 1066.

Edward the Confessor died childless on 5 January 1066 and was buried in the newly completed Westminster Abbey the next day, with Harold Godwinson also being crowned by the English Witan as Harold II on the 6th. After hearing of Harold’s ascension to the English throne, William began invasion preparations in Normandy, securing the support of Pope Alexander II for his press as rightful King of England. Anticipating this move, Harold raised an army and marched to the Isle of Wight, where they waited for a Norman seaborn invasion. William’s forces however did not leave port for almost seven months for an unknown reason. Due to lack of food and ability to continuously supporting his army sitting in place, Harold disbanded his forces and marched for London on the 8th of September, the same day that Harald Hardrada’s forces landed in England at the mouth of the River Tyne. Harald’s invasion force consisted of around 7-8,000 men but was further enhanced by Scottish and Flemish forces recruited by Tostig, swelling to as much as 11,000. Harald secured an early victory against English forces quickly raised to resist him outside of York, capturing the city. Hearing of Hardrada’s invasion, Harold rescinded his disbanding order and forced marched his army of 12-17,000 185 miles north, reaching Yorkshire in an almost unbelievable four days, catching Hardrada and Tostig by surprise.

While the exact location of the wooden bridge where the battle was fought has been lost to history, the beginning of the battle is recorded by several near contemporary sources. Their recording is as follows: on 25 September, a single man rode up to the Norse invaders, meeting with Hardrada and Tostig. He stated that the earldom of Northumbria would be returned to Tostig if he turned on Hardrada, with Tostig asking what Hardrada would get for “his trouble.” The rider responded by saying “seven feet of English soil, as he is taller than other men.” Hardrada asked Tostig who this bold rider was, and Tostig replied that it was Harold Godwinson himself, with the English army suddenly appearing on the hillcrest behind the rider. While this article’s author doubts the unfolding of the pre-battle parlay in this way, it’s a remarkable story and the Hollywood like details don’t end there. When the terms were refused, the English forces swept down the hillside they were positioned, taking the Norwegians by complete surprise, even catching the Norwegians without their full battle armour. It is said by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that a single Norse warrior delayed the English army, by meeting them on the bridge itself with an axe, killing up to 40 men, only being defeated by an English soldier swimming under the bridge and spearing the warrior from below through the wooden bridge’s slats. The Norwegians used the delay to form a shield wall and resisted the English battle line for hours. During the battle, Hardrada fell to an arrow hitting him in the throat and Tostig was killed in the fighting at some point. A reinforcement of Norwegians rushed up from defending their longboats (with many dying of exhaustion trying to reach the battle) but it was to no avail and the Norwegians were defeated. Casualties are estimated to be 5,000 on the English side and up to 8,000 on the Norse side.

Whilst this was a great victory for Harold Godwinson and the English, it weakened his forces and his ability to resist a Norman invasion considerably with William finally invading England only three days after Stamford Bridge. Harold once again had to force march his army, this time south to meet the Normans where he was defeated at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October. It is recorded by the Bayeux Tapestry that Harold Godwinson was killed during the battle by an arrow hitting him in the eye, ending the Anglo-Saxon period of England’s history. William ascended the English throne as William I, better known to us as William the Conqueror, and his dynasty ruled England until 1135.