The Other Battles of 1066

Posted by Joseph Allen McCullough Nov 27, 2006

Welcome to another week on the “Path to Hastings“. This time around, we'll be looking at the other two major battles that occurred in England in 1066, both of which had important consequences for the later battle at Hastings.

But it is more than just the military significance of these battles that interests me, its the individuals. In fact, I believe one of the major reasons I find the year 1066 so interesting is because of the number of diverse characters involved in the events.

Although my main article concentrates on the battles, I thought I might include a couple of shorter bonus articles later this week, looking at two of the major personalities from these battles for those who like to know a bit more about them.

The first is Tostig Godwinson, the younger brother of King Harold. Tostig makes an especially interesting case study, because of his wild and erratic behaviour in the time before and during 1066. (Article appearing on Wednesday)

The other person is Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, often considered to be the last of the big name Vikings. Most of what we know about Harald comes from the Icelandic poet, Snorri. Although Snorri is thought to have embellished a few details here and there, he can likely be trusted for the bigger picture. (Article to appear on Friday).

Feel free to skip over these articles if you want. Tostig Godwinson is unlikely to come up in any pub quiz, or even university history test, and one could make a strong argument that Harald Hardrada only sort of belongs on a British History page. Still, they are both fascinating subjects and both had an important part to play in the events of 1066.