The conquest of England

The conquest of England began when King Edward, the Confessor, died and left his kingdom to his brother in law, Harold Godwinson. The King of the Norwegians, Harald Hardrada, invaded the Northern part of England, and he won the Battle of Fulford, which was fought on the outskirts of the village of Fulford. In his next battle at Stanford Bridge, he not only lost, but was also killed. Just three days after the battle, William of Normandy, who believed that he should have inherited the position to be king of England after King Edward’s death, landed on the Southern shores of England. Although Harold Godwinson’s army was weary after their last battle, they marched on to fight William in the Battle of Hastings. Harold had the high ground in this battle so he was actually quite successful and sent William’s army into retreat. William turned around and crushed Harold and his army, as he was luring him of the high ground likely because he did not expect it. In the battle, it is suspected that Harold died from being hit by arrows from William’s archers. After the Battle of Hastings, William of Normandy continued his conquest until he became king over England in 1072 AD. William of Normandy was not liked by the people of England as they considered him an outsider and in fact William had to build castles to protect himself and the local lords from revolts.