THE NORMAN CONQUEST
Chapter 8
The Battle at Stamford Bridge
......King Edward, the Confessor, died on
January 5, 1066, without heir and this opened the most important year in
English history. Edward had ruled over England for twenty-four years. Through
much of the time he had been little more than a body keeping the throne
warm while others [most notably Harold Goodwin] squabbled through the years
to control the kingdom and decide the succession.
......Still these had been rather peaceful
years and though England remained a cultural backwater, it had become materially
prosperous. London had grown to be an important center of commerce and was
now by far the most important city in the land, and it was to maintain its
primacy of place permanently. The total population of England at this time
is estimated to have been 1,500,000.
......Harold was at once proclaimed king as
Harold II and, potentially, began a new dynasty. It was clear, though, that
the start of his reign would be a most troubled one, for Duke William [of
Normandy], receiving the news of Edward's death and Harold's accession began
at once to make preparations for an invasion.
......He was after all, cousin to the old king
where Harold was no relative at all. William was also reasonably certain
that he himself was the personal choice of the old king for the succession.
And, if the story were true that Harold had sworn to help William become
king, he might view Harold as a blasphemous oath-breaker.
......But the rights and wrongs of the matter
probably interested few. Duke William offered volunteers good pay, the chance
at a good fight, plus the promise of glory, loot, and land. Men flocked
to him and William accepted them all.
......All broke right for William. Those
who had interest in opposing him found themselves impotent. Thus, Henry
I of France had died in 1060 and had left the French throne in the hands
of a child, Philip I. In 1066, Philip was still only fourteen and France
was in confusion. There was no central power to exert pressure against William
or to threaten Normandy with a takeover if William's expedition came to
grief. As a matter of fact, at the moment, one Baldwin of Flanders was regent
of France and who controlled the young king, and he also happened to be
William's father-in-law and he went with William.
......Furthermore, the count of Anjou which
was just south of Normandy and which was in a state of chronic war with
it, was itself tied into knots with internal fighting. It would have loved
to interfere with William's invasion, but at the moment it couldn't.
......Then again, William gained an important
ally in the Pope. The papacy, still guided by Hildebrand, remained bitterly
offended over the appointment of Stigan to the Archbishoporic of Canterbury.
They had demanded Stigand's removal once again and Harold had firmly refused.
Pope Alexander II therefore gave the papal blessing to William's invasion.
That did much to hearten the men already under William and improved the
chances of recruiting additional men.
......Harold was no weakling or coward.
He was a renowned warrior who had spent his years in the field. He knew
of William's preparations and he took measures against them. He gathered
an army in the south and he kept a fleet in readiness in the Channel. He
was completely ready for all eventualities--in the south.
......Unfortunately, he could not remain in
the south. His brother, Tostig was still hankering for revenge at any cost
because of Harold's willingness to see him ejected from Northumbria. Tostig
had been searching for someone to help him mount an invasion of his own
to regain his domain at Northumbria and he finally found the man he was
seeking in Harold Hardrada or "Hard-Ruler" of Norway.
......Harold Hardrada had an adventurous life. To begin with, he was the half brother of King Olaf II of Norway. In 1030, Olaf II had been defeated by Canute and Harold Hardrada had had to flee.
......He went to Russia and served the Grand
Duke Yaroslav who, at that time, ruled a vast eastern tract. Harold was
a tall handsome man and the daughter of the Grand Duke is supposed to have
fallen in love with him. Yaroslav was annoyed at this and Harold Hardrada
found it advisable to leave the county in a great hurry. He moved southward
to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
......The Byzantine emperor hired mercenaries
to make up a personal bodyguard. These came from the Swedish [Vikings] tribesmen
(Varangians) who had invaded Russia and who now formed a ruling class there.
Harold Hardrada joined this "Varangian guard" and soon became
its leader. He was employed in various parts of the Mediterranean world,
with considerable success, and was even supposed to have journeyed to Jerusalem.
......However, Harold Hardrada eventually got
into trouble in Constantinople, too. According to some stories, the Empress
herself was attracted to him.
......He left Constantinople in the usual hurry,
retraced his steps through Russia, marrying the daughter of Yaroslav and
taking her back to Norway with him. He had accumulated considerable wealth
through his adventures and he had no difficulty, once he had returned to
Norway, in having himself recognized as its king.
......Yet the habit of adventure was fixed
and when Tostig approached him with the suggestion that together they invade
England, Harold Hardrada could not resist. He was over fifty years old now,
but his joy in battle remained strong.
......In September, 1066, the Norwegian
force moved up the Humber and advanced into Northumbria. Harold, waiting
anxiously in the south for William, left the defense of the north to Morcar,
but that defense turned out to be inadequate. Harold Hardrada and Tostig
were victorious and marched into York.
......Harold was in a dreadful dilemma. William's
invasion was delayed from week to week and from month to month and Harold's
bored army was breaking up. The Saxon ships, consumed with useless sea duty
were brought back to port, a number being lost in the process. And now Harold
received the news of the Viking victories in the north.
......He had . to advance northward to meet this new threat, take
care of it, and come back as quickly as possible in order to continue waiting
for William. Gathering up his army, he swept northward; moving so rapidly
and skillfully that he was upon the invaders before they knew what was happening.
The armies met at Stamford Bridge, eight miles east of York, on September
25, 1066.
......Harold, desperately anxious not to ruin
his army before it had to face William, offered Tostig the return of Northumbria,
hoping to wean him away from Harold Hardrada and thus force the Norwegian
to choose between retreat and sure defeat. Tostig, however, did not have
the face to doublecross the ally he had brought with him and he therefore
demanded to know what English territory would be ceded to Norway.
......Harold, according to the tale, gave a
ringing answer: "Seven feet of English ground for a grave; or a little
more since Hardrada is so tall!"
......Harold was as good as his word. Some
of the army was detailed to help gather the ripe harvest but those who were
left fought as though inspired and the invaders were utterly smashed. Harold
Hardrada was killed and his thirty years of adventures across the length
and breadth of the continent came to an end in seven feet (or a little more)
of English ground at last. His son, however, was allowed to return to Norway,
where he reined as Olaf III. Tostig was also killed, and the north was secure.
......It was Harold's finest hour; but not
many more of any sort were left him.