September 25, 1066 · East Yorkshire, England Theater
September 25, 1066
Harald Hardrada — the last great Viking warrior-king, a veteran of the Byzantine Varangian Guard and thirty years of campaigns from the Black Sea to Scotland — invaded northern England with 300 ships and 9,000 men, defeated the northern English earls at the Battle of Gate Fulford, and settled at Stamford Bridge awaiting the city of York's surrender. Harold Godwinson marched his army from London to Yorkshire in four days — one of the great forced marches of medieval warfare — and appeared at Stamford Bridge before the Norse force expected him. The Norse, spread out and many without armor on a warm late-summer day, were caught off balance. Harald Hardrada was killed by an arrow in the throat. Tostig (Harold's traitorous brother) was killed shortly after. The Norwegian army was shattered; of the 300 ships that had arrived, only 24 were needed to carry the survivors home.
Commanders