TWC in UK - Hastings - 1066 Country

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in 1066, edward the confessor (later saint), king of anglo-saxon england died. harold, son of earl godwin and brother of edward's wife, edith, was nominated king by edward on his deathbed, and proclaimed king upon edward's death. immediately, england two invasions: one from harold hardraada, the viking king of norway, and the second, from duke william of normandy, a duchy formed by french-norsemen on the northen coast of france. william had been promised the throne of england by edward - the promise of which was confirmed by the archbishop of canterbury and reinforced in 1064 by harold godwineson's oath of fealty after a suspicious rescue by william following a shipwreck and subsequent detention by a norman lord.

harold ii, as godwineson was now known, marched northwards to york, which was recently surrendered by its anglo-viking citizens to the norwegians. not far from the city, harold defeated the viking army and slained their king. upon hearing that the french duke had landed on the southern coast near hastings, he rushed his forces southwards.

at a field 6 miles north of hastings, harold forces met the norman forces for battle. the numerically superior english were at a high-point, and hence possesed a strategic advantage. william, however, commanded his knights to feign a tactical retreat, drawing the english after them. the latter were then attacked suddenly by arrows. harold was hit by an arrow in his eye and struck down by norman knights. with the fall of the king, english resistance melted and were totally routed.

this marked the end of an anglo-saxon england. the normans took a few more years to crush all resistance throughout the country, and then proceeded to colonise the country. eventually, like all previous invaders, they became localised and the french-latin culture they brought from the continent had merged with the germannic anglo-saxons to form what is today the english language and culture.

modern invader on the ancient battleground

the battle abbey built by william the conqueror to commemorate the battle

the rolling english countryside near battle

sunset at hastings' beach

saxon knights

norman castle at hastingsl