Four Rival Claimants and Three Battles Decided the English Crown in 1066

The death of Edward the Confessor on January 5, 1066, left England without a clear heir and triggered a succession crisis that drew in four rival claimants. Harold Godwinson, the powerful Earl of Wessex, was elected and crowned within 24 hours by the witenagemot, an unusually swift move that reflected the threat of invasion. He immediately faced Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, whose claim derived from a 1040 treaty between Magnus the Good and Harthacnut. Encouraged by Tostig Godwinson, Harold's exiled brother, Harald invaded northern England in September 1066. On September 20, the Vikings defeated Earls Edwin and Morcar at the Battle of Fulford Gate, but on September 25, Harold Godwinson surprised and crushed the Norwegian army at Stamford Bridge, where both Harald Hardrada and Tostig were killed. Meanwhile, Duke William of Normandy pressed his own claim, based on an alleged 1051 promise from Edward and a sacred oath he said Harold had sworn in 1064. William secured papal sanction from Pope Alexander II and landed at Pevensey Bay on September 28. The Battle of Hastings on October 14 ended with Harold's death on Senlac Hill. Although Edgar Ætheling, a young descendant of the Wessex line, was briefly proclaimed king by a witenagemot in London, he submitted to William at Berkhamsted in December 1066. William was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, completing the Norman Conquest.