Battle of Hastings

The 1066 battle in which William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold II of England, opening the way for the Norman conquest of England.

Senlac Hill: The ridge near Hastings where Harold’s English army formed its defensive line. Harold used the ridge’s steep slopes to strengthen the English shield wall.
Edward the Confessor: King of England from 1042 to 1066, whose death without a direct heir triggered a succession crisis. Competing accounts of Edward’s promises helped William justify his claim to the throne.
Norman conquest of England: The conquest of England by William and his followers after the 1066 invasion. Hastings was the decisive battlefield victory that enabled the wider conquest.
Bayeux Tapestry: An embroidered narrative depicting the Norman conquest of England and events leading to Hastings. Its scenes provide the most celebrated visual account of the battle and its surrounding events.
Shield wall: A defensive formation in which soldiers stand close together with overlapping shields. The English relied on this formation to resist Norman attacks from the ridge.
Harold Godwinson: The English noble chosen king as Harold II after Edward the Confessor’s death. His accession brought him into direct conflict with William’s claim.
Coronation of William the Conqueror: William’s crowning as king of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. The victory cleared the path for William’s formal claim to the English crown.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A set of Old English annals recording events in England from the late ninth century onward. Its account offers a contemporary English perspective on Harold’s death and the conquest.
Norman cavalry: Mounted troops who fought with weapons such as lances and swords in medieval European warfare. William’s cavalry repeatedly attacked the English line and helped exploit its eventual breaks.
William the Conqueror: Duke of Normandy who became king of England after his 1066 invasion and victory at Hastings. His claim to the English crown drove the invasion and shaped the battle’s leadership.

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