1066

5 Jan 1066 O.S. – 31 Dec 1066 O.S.27 items

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“Hic est Willelm dux”: Duke William lifts his helmet to show he is alive, from the Bayeux Tapestry, 1070s. Photo: Myrabella. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
“Hic est Willelm dux”: Duke William lifts his helmet to show he is alive, from the Bayeux Tapestry, 1070s. Photo: Myrabella. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

One year, three kings, two invasions

On 5 January 1066 Edward the Confessor died without a son. By Christmas England had crowned two kings, beaten one invasion from Norway and lost to another from Normandy. This timeline follows the year from Edward’s deathbed to William’s coronation in the same abbey: three battles, two fleets and two forced marches the length of England.

How to read it

  • Every date is Julian, as the chroniclers gave them. Add six days for the modern calendar: Hastings, on 14 October, fell on what would now be 20 October.

  • 14 October is told hour by hour, but only roughly. The sources say the battle began at the third hour of the day and ended at dusk; in between they give the order of events, not the time, and those items carry a stated uncertainty.

  • The bands are the year’s phases: Harold’s reign, the long watch on the south coast, the two fleets waiting for a wind, the marches between the battles. The marches and sea crossings are drawn as routes on the map.

  • Filter by vikings or normans to follow one invader, battles for the fighting, monarchy for the crowns, and bayeux tapestry for the moments the Tapestry embroidered.

The sources disagree more often than they agree. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle survives in several manuscripts that differ on dates and details; William of Poitiers wrote to praise the Conqueror; Snorri Sturluson wrote about Harald Hardrada 150 years after him. Where they part ways, the notes say so.

And the French had possession of the place of slaughter. — The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, manuscript D

Items

  1. Edward the Confessor dies

    Palace of Westminster

  2. Harold II’s reign

    9 months, 11 days

  3. Harold Godwinson is crowned

    Westminster Abbey

  4. A long-haired star

  5. Harold watches the south coast

    3 months, 25 days · Isle of Wight

  6. Tostig raids the coast

    Tostig’s raids: Isle of Wight, Sandwich, the Humber

  7. Harald Hardrada sails for England

    1 month, 12 hours · Harald Hardrada’s voyage: Solund, Shetland, Orkney, the Tyne, the Ouse

  8. The Norman fleet gathers at the Dives

    27 days · Mouth of the Dives, Normandy

  9. Waiting at Saint-Valery

    15 days · Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Ponthieu

  10. Battle of Fulford

    Gate Fulford, south of York

  11. Harold reaches Tadcaster

    London to Tadcaster, by the probable road

  12. Battle of Stamford Bridge

    Stamford Bridge, on the Derwent

  13. The Norman fleet crosses

    Saint-Valery-sur-Somme to Pevensey

  14. The Norman bridgehead at Hastings

    16 days · Hastings

  15. The Normans land at Pevensey

    Pevensey, the Roman fort of Anderitum

  16. Harold races south

    12 days · York to London to Caldbec Hill, by the probable road

  17. William’s march on London

    2 months, 1 day · Hastings, Romney, Dover, Canterbury, Southwark, Wallingford, Berkhamsted

  18. At the hoary apple tree

    Caldbec Hill, above Battle

  19. Battle of Hastings

    8 hours · Battle Abbey and the battlefield, Battle

  20. Archers open the attack

    Battle Abbey and the battlefield, Battle

  21. “Here is Duke William”

    Battle Abbey and the battlefield, Battle

  22. The feigned retreats

    Battle Abbey and the battlefield, Battle

  23. Harold falls

    Battle Abbey and the battlefield, Battle

  24. The Malfosse

  25. Edgar Ætheling is chosen king

    City of London

  26. Submission at Berkhamsted

    Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire

  27. William is crowned at Westminster

    Westminster Abbey