Battle of Stamford Bridge

A battle fought in Yorkshire on 25 September 1066, in which King Harold Godwinson defeated and killed Norwegian king Harald Hardrada and his invading army.

Harold Godwinson: The last crowned Anglo-Saxon king of England, who ruled from 1066 until his death at Hastings. He marched north and led the English force that defeated the Norwegian invasion.
Edward the Confessor: King of England from 1042 to 1066, whose death without a direct heir precipitated a succession crisis. His death created the contested throne that both Harold and Harald sought to claim.
Battle of Hastings: The battle fought on 14 October 1066 in which William, Duke of Normandy, defeated and killed Harold Godwinson. Harold’s northward campaign was followed within weeks by his defeat at Hastings.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A collection of Old English annals recording events in England from the late ninth century onward. Its accounts provide a contemporary English narrative of the invasion and battle.
Harald Hardrada: King of Norway from 1046 to 1066 and a claimant to the English throne. His invasion force met Harold Godwinson’s army at Stamford Bridge.
English succession crisis of 1066: The struggle over the English crown after Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 without a direct heir. The Norwegian invasion was one of several campaigns driven by the disputed succession.
Norman conquest of England: The conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, beginning with his victory at Hastings in 1066. The battle did not settle the succession crisis; the Norman invasion soon did.
Heimskringla: A collection of sagas about Norwegian kings, written in Old Norse by Snorri Sturluson in the thirteenth century. It preserves a later Norse narrative of Harald Hardrada’s campaign and death.
Tostig Godwinson: An Anglo-Saxon earl and brother of Harold Godwinson who allied with Harald Hardrada in 1066. His alliance brought Norwegian forces into northern England and helped trigger the battle.
Magnus the Good: King of Norway and Denmark who agreed that Harthacnut’s kingdoms would pass between their heirs if either died childless. Harald Hardrada invoked the agreement as part of his claim to England.

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