Battle Wednesday: The Battle of Hastings

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this massive world we all call home! Today on Battle Wednesday, we'll be discussing the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the last successful invasion of England, the first and only since the Roman conquest a thousand years ago. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's dive straight into it!

     The Battle of Hastings was an invasion that took place in England in 1066. It happened because 3 men tried to claim the throne of England, Harold Godwin, William the Duke of Normandy, and King Harald Hardrada of Norway. These three duked it out for the throne until tensions boiled over. 

     Harald and William assembled their armies and sailed to England to secure their claims. King Harald's 10,000 Vikings arrived at England and attacked the city of York and seriously weakened the country's defenses. Hearing of the battle, Godwin turned his armies north and covered the 200 miles in 6 days to York.

     At Stamford Bridge, Godwin's forces surprised the Vikings and soundly defeated them. The retreating Vikings only filled 24 out of the 300 ships they brought over to England and they suffered an embarrassing defeat. 

     William marched into London with little opposition and claimed the crown as his own. 

     Fun Facts

• Godwin got hit in the eye with an arrow, killing him and forcing the leaderless Saxons to retreat.
• The battle did not actually take place in Hastings. 
• The battle took unusually long, even by medieval standards. Most battles of the time lasted less than an hour, while the Battle of Hastings lasted almost an entire day.

     Picture of the Battle of Hastings:

     

     Sources: http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/topten/index.html

     https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-hastings/