Fact or Fiction E03 King Harold

[@Nellsbells79]

I’m a Jewish mom from Brooklyn NY, I have no ties to England but, for some reason the story of Harald Godwineson makes me cry, even though I know almost all of what there is to know about him, I absolutely loved this video. Thank you Tony Robinson, well done sir

[@IndependentGeorge76]

Sad thing is Harlod was responsible for one of England's greatest ever victories, against Harald Hardraada who had assembled the largest Viking army of all time and landed in Yorkshire. Stamford Bridge was an amazing victory, based on the speed and tenacity of Haralds tactics. He tried to repeat this at Hastings and in his haste, was undone. If he had waited, brought in more troops and allowed his army to rest it all would have been different. He may have ultimately lost the throne, but he was still a great King in my view.

[@v.britton4445]

Thanks for the interesting info. !!

[@jaqkerouac6708]

I totally agree completely! Have been saying that same thing for years!

[@neeters5]

I love Tony's passion. You can tell he's truly interested in the subject and not just presenting. Thank you again for posting this wonderful series along with the time team series!

[@kevwhufc8640]

Me too, he does genuinely love history , I met him when time team came to my area , the Roman temples in Hertfordshire , a decent bloke, down to earth & passionate about British history, especially English history.

[@DavidAndrewsPEC]

The nation's history & archaeology teacher, really.

[@MsLeebee2]

really enjoy Tony he tells a great story you dont get bored. he makes it so real thankyou Tony R.

[@KKTR3]

What I don't get is how he and his like love the historical times of British people and yet there lives and things they believe in in the Morden world is so far from even our resent past

[@danielclermont4631]

He has good writers.

[@DaneStolthed]

All in favor of a monument to King Harold Godwinson!

[@Trecesolotienesdos]

DaneStolthed why? William I had as much an effect on England.

[@DaneStolthed]

coalikesdesi Why shouldn't there be a monument to King Harold Godwinson?

[@Trecesolotienesdos]

DaneStolthed there are more worthy Kings to make one to. If it's because he's English and WIlliam I wasn't, so what? the Normans contributed a lot to us, just as much as the Anglo-Saxons did. And King Harold was half Viking....many English were a mix of Viking and Saxon.

[@HesperianHorsePower]

coalikesdesi and King William was ALL viking!

[@DaneStolthed]

coalikesdesi So you're saying, "there are more worthy Kings" in your opinion!

[@urbanhobbyfarm2022]

It's such a shame that all anyone remembers 1066 for is his loss, rather than what he was able to achieve at the battle of Stamford Bridge.

[@potatopeeler1862]

Urban Hobby Farm Everyone remembers it cause of the Hastings direct insurance advert 😂

[@alexmoore432]

Naturally Harald would have been a Chelsea fan

[@sarahgodwin7794]

Yes. I quite agree with you !!

[@sarahgodwin7794]

I do love this gentleman's enthusiasm and knowledge!!

[@westminstercovenanter912]

Tony Robinson does a great job telling the story of King Harold Godwinson and of the complicated events which led up to the Battle of Hastings. Wonderful video!

[@breakaleg10]

Who needs Game of Thrones? Reality triumphs again and again.

[@odoggow8157]

game of throwns is a sensationalism of true history, the writter said that he gets most of it from the war of the roses period so its kind of reality if u look at the maps at the intro sequence its pretty much europe and the middle east! the faceless lot of assins is ancient dalmascus kings landing is london the blackwatch are up at the border between eengland and schotland and is basically hadrians wall if u ever heard of that, lord of the rings and middle earth is also sort of similar mordor being germany sauron is literally hitler the gondor would be paris the shire is ireland the irish being the hobits!

[@Cate7451]

Odog Gow you've got it!

[@altareggo]

@EmtronVenger You must have blinked at JUST the wrong time!!

[@PeterWalkerHP16c]

@EmtronVenger *_"going to arm my girls with a bit of obsidian steel, I'm sure one of them can save the day..."_* Yeah, King James' mother.

[@wolfmauler]

Game of Thrones is just Geoff Chaucer meets Tolkien meets Ali Baba and the 40 thieves.

[@snoroof58]

I love history, especially the history of our mother country (England, Britain or Great Britain as you may prefer), the tiny island nation that came to rule the world. This is an awesome program and worth watching again and again until it's entirety is soaked into my thick skull. Thank you to Tony Robinson and Channel Four for this outstanding program!

[@Grapesforbananas]

Exactly 😊😊😊😊

[@talithadibble8782]

Have always loved the story of Harold. As a kid my family had the book by G.A. Henty called 'Wulf the Saxon' which chronicled Harold's later life and the events that occurred, up until the 1066 invasion and Harold's subsequent death. He always seemed like such a humble yet capable and skilled leader.

[@TheJapanChannelDcom]

"Ralph the Timid" :-D He should have known not to rely on him! :-D

[@dibdap2373]

Sire, there is a constant threat of invasion at this point in the country we must send someone there to oversee its defences. Who shall we send? BRING ME RALPH THE TIMID.

[@edwardgriffin8092]

No mention of where i live, Harold Hill, Romford, Essex, (north east London) and a local pub less than half a mile from my house called "The Saxon King". Harold Hill is next to Harold Wood, and the pub at Harold Wood train station is called "The King Harold" :-)

[@cathjj840]

11th century York to Hastings pit stop?

[@chachadodds5860]

Thank you for saying so! Godwin descendant here; never would've guessed there would be a pub, named after him. Done right!

[@tyrssen1]

Wonderfully done -- and, I thoroughly agree, Harold should be celebrated.

[@zoetropo1]

Stephen Morillo (an editor for the Battle Conferences) has valuable insights into the tactics at Hastings. He writes that the feigned cavalry retreat was standard practice by the Alans who merged with the Bretons in the middle of the fifth century. They employed it in the battle of the Catalaunian Plain against Attila the Hun, a battle longer, larger and fiercer than Hastings. Breton archers provided covering ‘fire’. Charles the Bald brought an army of Franks and Saxons into Brittany in 851 to subjugate it once and for all. On sighting Breton cavalry, Charles formed a shield wall. The Bretons rushed the wall, threw Roman pilae (anti-shield javelins) and turned just in time to avoid crashing into the defenders. This continued in wave after wave, with feigned retreats drawing out infantry who were surrounded and slain. This assault continued for two days. At sunrise on the third morning, Charles's men realised that he had fled in the night and that the Bretons were overrunning their camp. So it's a nonsense to suggest that the Bretons were (a) unfamiliar with the dangers of the shield wall, (b) unequipped to deal with it, and (c) lacking in tactical discipline. Attrition was the best way to approach the problem, and they knew exactly how to go about it. According to Morillo's analysis, after an early Norman assault, the Saxons advanced in a counter-attack that almost slew Duke William, but Earls Gyrth and Leofwine were killed in the fray. A Breton cavalry feint followed, which tempted a portion of the western shield wall to advance further downhill. A section of Norman cavalry then cut them off so they were encircled. The Breton commanders were Count Alan Rufus and his brother Count Brian. Alan owned properties in Normandy and frequently witnessed charters of his cousin Duke William (and vice-versa). Domesday shows that William and Alan shared Earl Gyrth's manors equally, which indicates that Gyrth's demise owed much to Alan's intervention. The coordinated Breton-Norman cavalry action suggests that Alan and Brian were working in concert. The shield wall was thick and situated at an altitude that meant that short bows did not have the range to pass over it. It was essential therefore to apply attrition to thin the wall. This is what the early phases of the battle were about: thinning the wall until the arrows could fly over it. Due to the greater experience of the Breton troops, the shield wall broke first on the west and the Breton cavalry were the first to reach the top of the hill. Harold therefore moved his command post east. This is why the Flemish knights reached him first. Had William perished that day, it has to be remembered that Alan's and Brian's father, Count Eudon Penteur, was an elder first cousin of Edward the Confessor so he had a claim to England in his own right, which no doubt would in that contingency have been exercised on his behalf by his sons. William's half-brothers Robert of Mortain and Odo of Bayeux had witnessed one of Eudon's charters in 1050, and in the circumstances (no ships remaining with which to make their escape) they would have seen the wisdom of fighting on under new leadership. Had Harold nonetheless narrowly gained victory, there was yet another contender: Eudon's nephew Duke Conan II of Brittany, another of William's cousins and an energetic claimant to the Duchy of Normandy. While WIlliam was invading England, Conan had invaded and defeated Anjou (an unheard-of feat) and marched into Norman-occupied Maine en route for Normandy itself. Conan failed to conquer Normandy only because on 11 December he was poisoned (probably by Roger Montgomery). Had William died at Hastings, the Normans might have seen the wisdom of recognising Conan as their rightful Duke. Conan was a descendant of Alfred the Great, so he would soon have England in his sights.

[@zoetropo1]

+northerner Yes, Harold was protected by a loyal guard of Huscarls and Thegns, as were his brothers Gyrth and Leofwine. But the shield wall was eventually broken, large numbers of Saxons were slain by arrow, sword, axe, spear or trampling to open a path for cavalry, then Harold's guard were cut down, to a man. And then he was attacked at once by a group of at least three or four Knights (we have their names) on horseback, who hacked at him and his thigh and head were severed. These Knights were Flemish or from Ponthieu, because Harold had moved his command post east when the Bretons broke the shield wall on the west. Leofwine and Gyrth's bodies were found near Harold's, but they had been slain lower down the hill during a fierce Saxon assault. During a chivalrous break in fighting, their corpses had been retrieved. It should be remembered that until 1915, armies still treated each other with some formal courtesy during battle: they had tea breaks and exchanged gifts at Christmas.

[@zoetropo1]

+northerner I don't know on what part of the field Leofwine was when he was killed, but some historians, including Morillo, think that Gyrth was leading an assault on Duke William's position. In one account, William's horse was slain and he fell headlong into the mud. Gyrth and his men rushed the position, only to be stopped just before they could slay William. The Norman version is that William unaided slew Gyrth. Domesday shows that William and his cousin-bodyguard Alan Rufus shared Gyrth's manors equally, suggesting that Alan and his men fended off Gyrth. Almaer of Bourn, a tenant of Harold's wife, is thought by Keats-Rohan to have been a Royal Thegn serving Gyrth and Leofwine. If so, it's amazing that he survived to serve Alan, who treated him very favourably. Alan had tremendous battle prowess, so he became the most famous knight in Western Europe, the one everyone hoped to beat but couldn't. If Keats-Rohan's right, then Alan must have captured Almaer during this fiercest melee!

[@zoetropo1]

+northerner One might wonder whether high-ranked aristocrats really were the best knights, but recall that they were selectively bred for exactly that, and they could afford the time and money for the best available training. Bretons, even commoners, were comparatively wealthy and experienced in the use of arms, so Breton knights were the crême de la crême of soldiers for centuries. In those days some women also trained as knights, e.g. Isabel de Montfort whose fighting skills Orderic Vitalis practically swooned over, comparing her to the legendary Camilla and to the Amazons.

[@mookins45]

+Zoe Porphyrogenita Oh, knowledge and sweet Reason- what a relief after reading what the Trumpys have to say over on the political youtube videos!

[@mookins45]

+moo kins Yeah those Northmen- and Northwomen- were impressive- creative, organized, good laws, intrepid explorers- and as for the raids, honestly, I feel like it would've been an honor even just to fight them!

[@djacquelinelisa3987]

Tony Robinson just love this man great narrator love British history 🇬🇧

[@anitagoodwin4785]

+djacqueline lisa , history of my family.

[@timoneil544]

He really does love the subject, that comes across certainly.

[@anneanderson4616]

Totally in love with this man's intelligence. His voice soothing, cheecky smile. ❤❤❤

[@burnsport1]

Engaging, strong, flowing story. Rad music.

[@remember_annie]

Well said. Totally agree

[@hottubmobileneil]

Thank you for another wonderfully presented documentary , always love your work , well done.

[@deborahromilly2766]

Harold was a better man and would have been a better king for England. William was a ruthless bloodthirsty tyrant.

[@valmarsiglia]

The arrow in the eye was added later to the Bayeux tapestry. There's an 18th-century print of it and there's no arrow there. Harold could well be the one getting ridden down and hacked by the Norman knight.

[@marieayala7871]

Why hasn't there ever been a movie made about Edward the Confessor, Harold and William of Normandy? Hollywood and the English movie moguls seem only to care about the Tudors. I would prefer a movie about Edward, Harold and William. In my opinion they are far more interesting than the Tudors.

[@zoetropo1]

Lennice Ayala: I agree. There are TV films like “1066: A Year to Conquer England” and that weird one that likens England to Middle-Earth and Normans to Orcs. But I’d love a more thorough treatment, even if partly fictionalised like Bernard Cornwell’s “Sharpe’s Rifles” (a talented but common British soldier’s view of the Napoleonic Wars) or “The Last Kingdom” (about King Alfred). Any volunteers to script it?

[@danielponder690]

I know, and we even have a new film out about the last Stuart queen, Anne and her circle (great film, but let's see some of this on the big screen)

[@bossamood6536]

The Tudors were not rightful kings in any case as they apparently descend from an Illegitimate king, Edward IV! If you haven't already seen it, watch Tony's research on this issue, backed up by University academics and Debretts the geneaology experts etc: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqS5q3ecYrCbjrc, or just type in the yahoo search bar 'The true king of England'

[@bossamood6536]

Sorry, You Tube search bar!

[@zoetropo1]

BoSSa mOOd Henry Tudor’s Beaufort claim through Swynford was expressly forbidden. But, let’s speak frankly, he became king by Conquest, as William I did

[@lademafowler5616]

I am an american Hollingsworth and pondered what.everybody else was doing while my ancestors were etching out our path in history. I love your narrating Tony.

[@VCYT]

Ironically, an anglo-saxon English princess who was earlier married off in scotland, had a descendant who later married into king williams royal line, an so the anglo-saxon heritage still exists in britains royal family :-)

[@chachadodds5860]

Yes!!! This is so true! Margaret, and Mathilda; eventually forming the House of Plantagenet.

[@pd7263]

All the historic DNA lost by Edward IV's bastardy - see the Richard III show.

[@Wombat1916]

@@pd7263 But retained by Henry Tudor, the victor at Bosworth. He was descended from John of Gaunt, the younger son of Edward III.

[@zoetropo1]

Hey! King Harold's death wasn't the end of the Battle of Hastings! As dusk fell, English survivors lured the Normans into covered pits filled with stakes, where it's said more died than in the main battle.

[@davidharris1194]

Remember that even if William did not have a real claim to the throne, his wife -- the Duchess Matilida of Flanders -- did, as great-granddaughter of Alfred the Great. Every monarch of England is descended from Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, and since 1603 Scotland's Robert the Bruce and William the Lion. They are also ancestors of almost every one of the US Presidents.

[@chachadodds5860]

Well, succession to the throne of England, at this time in history, was not yet necessarily restricted to ancestral/paternal lines. Harold was named successor by Edward, and confirmed successor by unanimous vote of the witnessing nobility of the day. Even if succession WAS based on paternal lines, that wouldn't validate a claim by Mathilda; she was not ascending the throne, William was/did.

[@stevegasparutti8341]

Harold would certainly have dealt with William had he not had to fight at Stamford Bridge.

[@andywainwright1516]

Great programme - and great background music, too :-)

[@industriebauten]

I can't agree with the final assumption, that it'd be appropriate to erect a monument for Harold to honor his bravery in the battle and loyalty to England. Because as a matter of fact, kings never fight for their country - but for their very own power and wealth. But so did William, who eventually won in the end. So, who do we want to honor? A king, who fought for his kingdom and lost, or a king, who fought for a kingdom and won? I keep it simple and decide for the very old rule: the winner takes it all: the kingdom and the honor.

[@zoetropo1]

England should honour Count Alan Rufus. Yes, he fought for William in 1066 (two Norman chroniclers, Wace and Gaimar, attributed the victory that day to Alan and his men). But he soon befriended and protected the English (including Harold's daughter Gunhild), excluding Normans from his lands. He even persuaded the Conqueror, before his final trip to France, to apologise to York for the harm the Normans had done! In 1088 most of the Norman barons rebelled (truth be told, more against Alan than against the new king William II) and they were supported by the Duke of Normandy and the Count of Boulogne. Alan combined with the English to trounce the Norman rebels on land and at sea. One English exile in Scotland, Waltheof of Allerdale, even named his son and heir "Alan".

[@Trecesolotienesdos]

Michael Zientkiewicz maybe...but then Harold's claim on the throne was tenuous anyhow. and he had given fealty to William. if anything, Athelstan should have a monument, he founded England and most English don't even know who he was.

[@zoetropo1]

coalikesdesi At the start of Athelstan's reign, England was almost surrounded by viking realms. As part of a strategy to counter this, Athelstan sponsored the expedition of his godson Alan, son of Count Matheudoi of Poher, to recover Brittany from the Loire vikings. Alan succeeded in driving them out, was declared duke as Alan II, and then combined with the French king Louis IV (a son of Athelstan's sister Eadgifu of Wessex) to destroy Normandy (version 1).

[@zoetropo1]

coalikesdesi Who are you now speaking of? I thought we were in agreement that Athelstan merits a statue.

[@zoetropo1]

***** The Normans lost it to the Angevins/Plantagenets, they to the Tudors, they to the Stuarts, they to Cromwell, but regained it, only to lose it again to the Hanoverians. Who has it now?

[@cassiescott6884]

I remember my dad telling me about the battle of Stamford bridge as we were moving to york and i loved history. My dad did note that whenn harold got the news on hastings he was probably feasting and drinking in celebration. Mead was the drink of the saxon nobility and apparently it gives a fearsome hangover. He probably did the forced march with his house carls on a really really bad case of morning after the night before. Its reckoned a saxin hangover lasted 3 days. It would explain how the engkish lost

[@MsDjessa]

I wonder if any of the books about falconry Harold had survives to this day. Even if not the exact same print he had, which would be really cool. And you know, even though Henry V or Richard I gets so much hype I think Harold was one of the if not THE greatest English kings ever. I would have gladly served him, not something I say lightly.

[@kbess7535]

Tony is awesome really like how he put info across without the bullshit

[@vroomkaboom108]

BALDRIC IS A HISTORY TEACHER NOW! man, i miss blackadder. Good show lads, good show

[@tallthinwavy3]

+Steel Patterns It is was his cunning plan to be a history and science presenter :-) ;-)

[@vroomkaboom108]

Jon J OF COURSE! How could i ever doubt Baldric's cunning plans.

[@tallthinwavy3]

I know . It is funny all the same

[@missmelyss3626]

OMG, I just read this and realized he IS Baldric!! DUH!! I feel so stupid - I knew he sounded familiar.

[@annoyed707]

It must beat playing a codpiece, especially a stunt codpiece.

[@Imadethisaccount]

"the normans weren't french, but descendant of vikings" Not completely true

[@remember_annie]

Everything this far back blurry

[@terrysmudge5090]

Damn Normans are still here...

[@rogerwilco2]

I find it funny that the guy talking at 46:45 is nearly using only Norman words to praise Harold. He could have used more Saxon words, but he is using the words of the ruling class to express himself. (Note: I am Dutch, not English, this is a comment about language, not British society)

[@zoetropo1]

41:20 The cavalry feint was a Breton specialty: they’d employed it to destroy Frankish and Angevin armies for centuries, and the Normans learnt it from them (many of the Normans were immigrant Bretons) and in turn they had used it in both northern and Southern Europe for several decades.

[@Nosmaclear]

-Also please note a different documentary hosted by Mr. Robinson in which the arrow is also reasoned to just as likely be a spear in Harold's hand.

[@TheKeyser94]

It had been a long, long, long time ago that I had seen a documentary with Tony Robison, basically when I was a kid, now I see there is a mountain of documentaries that I hadn't see, there is a lot to catch up.

[@history12397]

If only he hadn't left his Northern army behind and had waited for Earl Edwin and Morcar who were on their way. He would have had at least another 10,000 warriors. He only the battle because he was killed and was around half an hour from victory. So imagine his army with another 10,000 warriors

[@max-mu6ir]

Edwin And Morcars army were virtually destroyed at Fulford,so where you get these figures of ten thousand men from amazed me quite frankly,The two brothers had their noses put out after Stamford bridge as Harold after his victory would not share out the Viking loot,the only reason Harold had any loyalty to these two is he had earlier married their sister as a way of creating a bond with the two earls, as a peaceful solution to appease earl Tostigs rule in Northumbria. They were certainly not on the way with Harold to fight at Hastings,they did however end up in London a few weeks after to get their sister and head north again,hope this helps.

[@Taketimeout3]

@@max-mu6ir Ha ha. Great reply! Almost sounds as if you were there helping to hustle her through Cheapside at midnight. I was told farmers overheard many of the English army wanted to wait too. But Harold felt he had to protect the locals from Williams terror tactics. (I was there too).

[@carlcookson9693]

@@Taketimeout3 No you were not,if you were you would have known that William specifically targeted Harolds estates, to force a reaction,and he got one Hastings.William made straight for Harolds estates as soon as he landed,for that reason,the reaction.....and the battle was lost on that basis.

[@pascalgorter79]

Straight from Wikipedia: "Robin Hood of Wakefield The antiquarian Joseph Hunter (1783-1861) believed that Robin Hood had inhabited the forests of Yorkshire during the early decades of the fourteenth century. Hunter pointed to two men whom, believing them to be the same person, he identified with the legendary outlaw: Robert Hood who is documented as having lived in the city of Wakefield at the start of the fourteenth century. "Robyn Hode" who is recorded as being employed by Edward II of England during 1323. Hunter developed a fairly detailed theory implying that Robert Hood had been an adherent of the rebel Earl of Lancaster, who was defeated by Edward II at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322. According to this theory, Robert Hood was thereafter pardoned and employed as a bodyguard by King Edward, and in consequence he appears in the 1323 court roll under the name of "Robyn Hode". Hunter's theory has long been recognised to have serious problems, one of the most serious being that recent research has shown that Hunter's Robyn Hood had been employed by the king before he appeared in the 1323 court roll, thus casting doubt on this Robyn Hood's supposed earlier career as outlaw and rebel.[79]" Maybe they could give us an overview about new material rather than doing research that led to a death road decades ago. I have to admit, the names seem to be right, but Will Scathelock and John Little might be common names and familymembers who are priests or other functions might also not be that rare. This sucks.

[@zoetropo1]

Pascal Gorter: Robin Hood and his companions have continental names. Alan (a’Dale) is plainly Breton. Little John may be a literal translation of the Breton “Yann Bihan”, meaning “John son of John”. The Bretons and Normans did not get along, and still have an intense rivalry, as did the Angevins. The Bretons particularly hated King John.

[@raprice79]

Since this is an English programme, it would probably be over-optimistic to expect them to describe Gruffydd ap Llywelyn as King of the Britons. But he's not even named as King of Wales! Instead he's just "the Welsh leader". Harold Godwinson's "psychopath" brother Swein was an ally of Gruffydd's, as was Harold's main English rival, Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia. The British side of the story is very interesting, so it's a shame it's largely ignored by this programme.

[@vveet]

raprice79 go back to where you came from! ; )

[@IndependentGeorge76]

+raprice79 the Welsh have never posed a threat ;)

[@raprice79]

IndependentGeorge76 That's what this programme suggests, yeah! But talking about Welsh rascals "still making trouble on the border" totally glosses over why Harold would want to get rid of the most important ally of his main English rival. And saying the "demoralised Welsh" cut off Gruffydd's head skips over the situation on the British side of things - people benefited from Gruffydd's betrayal, and that's a big reason why he's so poorly remembered compared to people like Hywel Dda or Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. I think it's a great shame the programme doesn't at least mention these political subtleties, because it's a side of Harold's story is not well known, and being aware of it helps understand what he was like - which is suppose to be the point of the programme! ;)

[@zoetropo1]

+raprice79 Hastings was perhaps not the Normans' hardest battle in England: that honour may go to the Battle of Stafford in 1069, when the Welsh allied with the Mercians. I don't understand why this battle is not better known. Two battle-hardened Norman and Breton armies combined to put down this "rebellion". According to contemporaries the fighting was exceptionally bloody even by the standards of the day. Brian of Brittany, whose troops were the first to break the Anglo-Saxon shield wall at Hastings, was a commander at Stafford, but he then disappears from English records, so this may well be where he received the debilitating injury that forced his retirement.

[@raprice79]

Zoe Porphyrogenita Thanks for the interesting comment! The events of the Norman conquest after 1066 are often overlooked. Although the period is of interest to English nationalists who are looking for examples of "Anglo-Saxon resistance", Bleddyn and Rhiwallon led troops in the Battle of Stafford, so perhaps it seems foreign and boring to them. The "Harrying of the North" is probably better suited to their purposes.

[@emilypaxton5601]

Thank you for posting this! Believe it or not, I can trace my genealogy back to Harold II and Edith the fair, so being able to get a glimpse into what their lives were like means a lot to me. I'm glad to know he was such a valiant and honorable man - not so happy about the relation to that Sweyn dude, though. xD

[@oldetoniantoryboy2932]

Yeah yeah and I trace my dna back to my ancestor, Alexander the Great. I am superior to you as Alexander controlled all the known world. Harold got his butt kicked and controlled just a shitty little bastardised country.

[@emilypaxton5601]

Old Etonian Tory Boy Yo, if you think any human is superior to another based on genes they were born with, and therefore no effort or strength of character on their own part, you've already lost.

[@oldetoniantoryboy2932]

+Emily Norwood Genes are everything. It's our genes that define us. I would never choose to mix my superior gene pool with yours.......I am looking to mate with a woman who can trace her ancestors back to Caligula, the Roman emperor. Our offspring would grow up to conquer all the world, in producing a son.....

[@emilypaxton5601]

Old Etonian Tory Boy xD Alright, then, you do that. xD I'm just going to assume you're joking and move on with my life. xD

[@creswelldispatch3451]

+Emily Norwood I TOO HAVE DONE THE SAME RESEARCH IN WHICH WE DATE OUR GENEOLOGY BACK TO THE GODWINS. MY GRANDFATHER ACTUALLY GOT A DNA TEST DONE TO PROVE THE NORWOODS/NORTHWOODS WERE ACTUALLY RELATED. -SCOTT NORWOOD, SAN ANTONIO TEXAS.

[@MattyMonk]

born 18th Aug 1017 we should celebrate his birthday

[@AceOfTestPilots]

Thank you so much for posting these videos. I've become a big fan of both Time Team and Tony. Any chance of posting Tony's "Gods and Monsters" series?

[@chipking2765]

We need time team back desperately

[@tonycavanagh1929]

I wanted the saxons to have won, we would not have been such a class obsessed nation then.

[@zoetropo1]

+tonycavanagh1929 In most nations social and economic classes are still treated very differently in practice. I don't know where you get the idea that the Saxons were egalitarian. If there was ever a medieval nation that approached this ideal, it was Brittany: as early as the 800s the law courts were quick to pull up any baron who trespassed on a peasant's land. The country was administered in units called "plou" (Breton for the Latin "plebs", plebeians, the common people). The government of the duchy recognised that its wealth was in its people. Normans who visited Brittany found the multitude of smallholdings and the absence of large estates puzzling, but this more even distribution of land encouraged trade and thereby enriched the nation for many centuries: so much so that large numbers of Bretons dominated the mercantile class in neighbouring duchies. When Henry IV of France (the founder of the Bourbon dynasty) travelled through the Breton border town Vitré he was so astonished by how wealthy the citizens were that he exclaimed that were he not King, he'd wish he'd been born there. A classic example of the Breton mindset is Count Alan Rufus, who held land in both Normandy and Suffolk during the reign of his father's maternal cousin Edward the Confessor. Alan's prowess was instrumental in the Norman victory at Hastings, yet he heavily preferred English tenants over Normans. According to letters in reply to her by the disapproving Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, King Harold's orphaned daughter Gunhild loved Alan. People who felt oppressed by other barons appealed to Alan for help. He made a point of emphasising the debt owed to the English, so much so that he gave William I a guilty conscience. In 1088 Alan allied with the English fyrd to defeat a rebellion by most of the Norman barons which was led by the hated Bishop Odo of Bayeux. In the course of this, an invasion fleet from Normandy was intercepted and destroyed. In 1091 this was followed up with an invasion and annexation of more than half of Normandy by an army that included many English soldiers. English exiles began to name their eldest sons (e.g. Alan of Allerdale and Alan of Galloway) after him. The "Earl of Huntingdon" version of the Robin Hood story relates to an intermarriage between the descendants of the martyred English Earl Waltheof and Alan's heirs (all of whom disliked King John for much the same reasons). But back to economics: Alan abolished the onerous Danegeld on his lands, funded markets and trade fairs, built large ports (most notably Boston in Lincolnshire, which soon rivalled London) to encourage English exports, and even wangled a lasting deal with William the Conqueror that all of Alan's tenants and employees would be exempt from tolls and other transit charges everywhere in England: I say "lasting deal" because it continued at least into the reign of Charles I in the 1600s!

[@tonycavanagh1929]

The Normans came as conquerors. There is always a rigid line between the occupiers and occupied.

[@zoetropo1]

tonycavanagh1929 The Normans didn't turn up alone, or they would certainly have lost. The Bretons didn't see things the same way: they often went out of their way to cross the "rigid line" by promoting the locals first whenever possible. After all, they used to be the locals. The Brets got a lot of flack for that, and the Norman propagandists had a field day when the Bretons refused to cross the Pennines to attack the folks in Chester who had politely declined to bow to William. The word was put about that the Bretons were too weak and cowardly to face up to the brisk hill air. (Blow raspberry here.) Flash forward 20 years to 1088 and the Breton leader Alan Rufus invited the royal court up to York for yet another Norman public apology to the citizens. Odo of Bayeux had just been released from 5 years' prison for treason, and he, as we say, "blew a gasket". He plotted with most of the Norman magnates to overthrow William II for listening to Alan, and the rebellion looked very promising at first, but it was rapidly derailed when Alan allied with the English fyrd to thrash all the rebels, sink the Norman fleet, and exile Odo for life. How the English cheered! Alan then enacted a seriously clever strategem to send the disgraced William de St-Calais, Bishop of Durham, to Normandy to neutralise Odo's influence on the Duke. This paralyzed Normandy's government for years, while large numbers of Englishmen were trained and recruited into the royal army. In early 1091 an English invasion of Normandy eliminated the threat permanently.

[@zoetropo1]

+Elizabeth Marcotte All of this is documented by chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis (who was quite a fan of Alan and his brothers, by the way). However, to reunite England with Normandy, a rebellion in Normandy would have been easier: less land, fewer people, weaker leader. Why rebel then, and why did Alan, who also had land in Normandy (in Rouen and at Richemont, County Aumale, after which he named Richmond Castle) oppose them so vigorously?

[@zoetropo1]

+Elizabeth Marcotte Not all new barons were foreigners. William Malet was half English, Ralph the Staller ("Ralph the Englishman" he was called in Brittany) had been a military commander for Edward the Confessor, Alan Rufus (whose father Eudon was a first cousin to Edward) used to own Wyken Farm in Suffolk, presumably until King Harold divested him of it. Had Harold left the part-English lords well alone, William's army might have had half its strength and he mightn't have even tried to invade.

[@brianhaskard1042]

The armour bloke ? Full of himself? Oh dear too much.

[@dorianleakey]

"the armour bloke" I think i know who you mean, even though he wasn't wearing any today.

[@jsmcguireIII]

This is quite good, and dense with fun nuggets I knew little about.

[@megganking2595]

Just a question. The Saxons originate from Germany; what we call Anglo-Saxons come from Germany, Denmark, and The Netherlands. My question is since this is the case why are they considered by Britons to be the "original" Britons? Wouldn't the Celtic Britons be considered more original? They were there before Rome and even though during Roman occupation they adopted some Roman ways; when Rome fell they eventually went back to what they had always done and knew..what was native. It was those customs and traditions that were lost and replaced by the Saxons and then again by The Normans. I just find it odd, no judgement or anything like that...just a curious soul in a large world.

[@holmanrw]

+Meggan Peron The British do not consider Anglo-Saxons to be the 'original' Britons. They do consider them to be the main ancestors of the English.

[@megganking2595]

Richard Holman Thank you for the clarification, the way they were talking was misleading to me.

[@billijomaynard9081]

+Meggan Peron The Welsh are the orignal Britons, they were driven into land we call Wales by the Anglo Saxons after their invasion, in fact the word Welsh is Anglo Saxon for stranger, even though the Saxons stole the land from them. the people that became Welsh were the people whose ancestors had defended the land from the Roman' Empire's invasion.

[@holmanrw]

The Celts were not the original Britons, they were themselves invaders.

[@megganking2595]

Richard Holman Well considering that most of the DNA in Britons comes from male farmers who left what is now Iraq, do you consider yourself to be "middle-eastern"? By what is today called The Iron Age in Brition the Celtic way of life and it's people were the most prevalent peoples and the culture from which Briton stuck to before, during, and after the Romans invaded. When I say "original" Britons I am speaking about the peoples and culture that was permanent for you guys. Let's face it, Beltane is still celebrated there. Celtic is the people and the people are Celtic. Most of the former invaders to that land died off during Ice Ages and we know very little about the Beaker peoples except that we no longer carry on any of their traditions, but the Celtic way of life is still strong. After Romans, Brutal Christianity, and "modern" thinking....the Celtic way of life is still going strong.

[@erictaylor5462]

15:20 it's funny that a place open 24 hours would need a razor wire topped wall.

[@WhiteCamry]

One quibble: Robinson's string of heroes @ 47:33 would never have emerged if Harold had survived.

[@zetter13]

I used to be a king like you, then i took an arrow in the eye

[@1sailornelson]

We all know the arrow in the eye was Norman spin,it was not mentioned by the two contemporary writers,only 30yrs after.It was to do with Harold probably swearing over a saints bones,so it was an arrow from heaven,as Harold went back on his promise,according to the Normans.He was killed by sword,read William of Poitiers and Guy of Amiens Carmen de hastings.

[@silliaek]

Also, to blind an opponent was to symbolically remove them from potential King-dom. Edward's brother Alfred was attacked and blinded, and then died of his wounds. Edward always partly blamed Godwin for Alfred's death.

[@anitagoodwin4785]

where my last name comes from.

[@chachadodds5860]

My maternal maiden name, is Goodwin. Have you traced your line back far enough, to figure out which part of the family line you're descended from? It's far a removed descendant, but a fascinating link, nonetheless, isn't it?

[@crazyredfoxes]

you are like my enthusiastic uncle, taking me about my country and its history

[@zoetropo1]

42:05 It was the Bretons reached the hilltop first, forcing Harold to move his command post east.

[@joeturner1597]

You shoot an arrow and fire (or give fire) to a gun (previously matchlock).

[@sjnm4944]

The last Viking assault on "Britain" culminated in the 1263 Battle of Largs, when in response to the King of Scots' invasions of the Western Isles and Argyll the King of Norway intervened, and was eventually defeated. Unlike England, "Scotland" wouldn't be fully united until well into medieval times.

[@zoetropo1]

Yes, but Scotland soon took over England.

[@WOLFROY47]

i beg your pardon, which history, are you talking about ?

[@dorianleakey]

@@zoetropo1 Every where else you give an essay like answer, here an enigmatic sentence that will baffle most people.

[@zoetropo1]

Dorian Leakey: Sorry, everyone. I was alluding to the Stewarts inheriting the English throne from the Tudors. Not that James I was particularly pleasant to the Highlanders.

[@dorianleakey]

@@zoetropo1 Now you say it it tickled my memory and what you said makes sense all of a sudden.

[@fredygump5578]

1066 is burned into my brain from watching Time Team, but none of this story ever came up. From this story it sounds like this event was kind of normal for the time. It's heralded (or Harolded?) as the decisive turning point in english history, but at the same time, it seems that kingdoms and rulers were fairly transient at the time. It seems a person could literally pick any year as a decisive turning point in English history!

[@zoetropo1]

fredy gump: 1066 was special in its long-lasting good and bad effects. The bad is well-known. The good includes the foundation of Parliament in 1089, the beginning of popular representation in government.

[@deona267]

They should build something to King Harold.

[@luchiananami6305]

Harold is my (1000 year) grandpa

[@zoetropo1]

Maybe. But you're almost certainly descended from Eudon of Brittany, Edward the Confessor's maternal first cousin.

[@luchiananami6305]

+Zoe Porphyrogenita What do you mean?

[@luchiananami6305]

+Zoe Porphyrogenita He is my grandpa, don't you understand? My grandfather tell me..

[@zoetropo1]

+Luchia Nanami 🤔

[@zoetropo1]

+Luchia Nanami Eudon is a known ancestor of loads of people. That's what Ermine in Royal robes signifies.

[@brianhaskard1042]

Ralph the timid? Wow I'm so afraid!

[@martinborman4195]

This story has missed out some of the most important aspects of Harold and the Godwinssons.

[@zoetropo1]

Martin Borman: this is your opportunity to expound.

[@annoyed707]

So there is no ostrich involved in this struggle?

[@wilsonthewarrior]

"HOLY CROSS!!!!"

[@SecretaryBarbie]

Thanks so much for uploading these! Of you have Gods and Monsters that would be soooo great!

[@gregt4202]

Excellent video. Thanks.

[@zoetropo1]

Another thing: the Bayeux Tapestry isn't Norman propaganda: it's a Breton design. The Bretons in some ways preferred the English to the Normans. Certainly, their leader Count Alan Rufus did: try to find many Normans among his tenants! They're mostly English survivors (men or women) or Bretons (often his half-brothers Ribald, Bodin or Bardolph or his half-sister and her Occitan husband Enisant Musard); even the ones he brought from Normandy were mostly ethnic Bretons.

[@billijomaynard9081]

Considering that Edward the Confessor was made a Saint because of his virginity, it is pretty hard to lay the blame on his wife, Edith of Wessex for his lack of an heir. It would be very difficult for Edward to produce a heir since he died a virgin and refused to have sex with her.

[@billijomaynard9081]

www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/saints/edward.shtml I suggust you read this, Edward made a vow of Chastity, he was made a Saint without Martyrdom because he kept that vow, even though he was married, ,leran a bit more about him besides what Tony Robinson says

[@silliaek]

I enjoyed this video and the engaged comment section. It's strange that he fails to mention that Edward held Godwin responsible for the death of his brother Alfred.

[@wtrdawnlord]

Completely irrelevant question, but why does a retail store like Tesco need to be surrounded by a 10'-12' brick wall topped with razor wire? I've never seen anything like that here in the U.S....not at a Walmart or grocery store at least.

[@chachadodds5860]

To protect an ancient ruin.

[@LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts]

Tesco are terrified of someone skip diving.

[@chinahog1872]

Anyone interested in medieval combat should definitely check out Mike Loades' on KZbin. He's featured several times in the documentary and he definitely knows what he's talking about.

[@zoetropo1]

42:10 Breton archers, largely. Their ancestors showered Attila the Hun’s army with arrows at Chalons both in the day battle and again when he attempted a sneak night attack: it was said that their arrows poured like rain.

[@williamstheconqueror9457]

Harold had an eye for catching arrows.lol.

[@clivestratton9709]

BASTARD .

[@williamstheconqueror9457]

CLIVE STRATTON That's William the Bastard,lol

[@shannonmiller8144]

I never did understand how riding nude would get the taxes reduced.It probably got Lady Godiva a beating from her husband

[@zoetropo1]

Shannon Miller: Godgifu was a Mercian Royal, her husband Leofric was just a lucky consort. He was probably in awe of her. Leofric was lucky Godgifu wasn’t like Elizabeth de Montfort who rode armed into battle. We know who’d get the beating then!

[@saralynfosnight5139]

I read a really interesting book about King Harold but I can't remember the name of it. It contained a report of the Battle of Hastings. I'm looking forward to Tony's reconstruction of the battle.

[@michaelahern9883]

Acording to catweasel Harold was shot by an arrow in the chest lol

[@zoetropo1]

Michael Ahern: Catweazle! That takes me back. :)

[@sarahgodwin7794]

I love this documentary. !!!

[@neferanubis4749]

this video was amazing!!!

[@zoetropo1]

40:27 The story that the Bretons broke and ran is what one Norman propagandist wrote to save face, but the Bayeux Tapestry, which as we’ve already seen is more accurate regarding Harold, shows the Normans fleeing, as the Breton Rearguard advances from the left to take out Earls Leofwine and Gyrth, an action that assuredly saved William’s life. The BT shows Bishop Odo urging the Normans to resume battle, and only then do we see William on a new mount, rallying his men as Eustace of Boulogne rallies his Flemish soldiers on the right wing.

[@ian_b]

Imagine going down in history as Ralph The Timid.

[@FeistyMongoose]

Bahaha oh no 😅

[@markdoldon8852]

Better than Aethelred theUnready, surely?

[@michaelwhite8031]

Tostig had already been to William for help as their wives were related. William probably knew Harold would have to fight two battles.

[@anitagoodwin4785]

all i heard about my family name was this story. it has change over the years, now its Goodwin.

[@creswelldispatch3451]

+Anita Goodwin THE GODWINS WERE TRACKED AND KILLED BEFORE AND AFTER HAROLDS DEATH. HAROLD HAD A SON WITH A MISTRESS OF HIS. JORDANIS. JORDANIS LIVED IN THE NORTHWOOD MANOR AND CHANGED HIS LAST NAME TO NORTHWOOD. THAT LAST NAME STAYED UNTIL THE NORTHWOOD FAMILY LATER CAME TO AMERICA BEFORE COLUMBUS (VIRGINIA) IN WHICH THEY CHANGED THEIR LAST NAME TO NORWOOD.

[@mariahammarstrom7934]

FYI, there is a rule on the internet that if you write in capitals, that means that you are screaming.

[@anitagoodwin4785]

love to have a DNA test done.

[@chachadodds5860]

@@creswelldispatch3451 Not all of them. Your research obviously, is slanted toward what you would like it to be. Your claim to the ancestral line, may be valid, but that doesn't give you the right to INvalidate, those of us who have the Godwin name, and DNA to prove it.

[@chachadodds5860]

Hey, Anita! I wonder how closely we are related. My maternal grandfather, was a Goodwin.

[@taffbanjo]

Excellent documentary!

[@k33bl3rkooki3kid]

Why is episode 2, about Boudicca the only missing episode? I cant find it ANYWHERE. :(

[@IndependentGeorge76]

+k33bl3rkooki3kid search Ytube for 'michael woods boudicca' - a far superior documentary, from a great Dark Ages series back in the early 80s

[@JohnMorley1]

34 minutes in. The story is that he floated under the bridge in a barrel. Nobody ever said he waded under the bridge.

[@hellspite]

That's my home town Battle in East Sussex.

[@royfr8136]

Harold really messed up....attack when you want to on your own ground

[@Trecesolotienesdos]

Baldrick!! isn't the arrow in the eye just a legend?

[@zanderadams4448]

No.

[@MrDidz]

coalikesdesi The arguement seems to go round in circles. I've heard both claims. Though this is the first time I've heard the theory that the tapestry was doctored after the event.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

David Hatch Indeed, and I wonder why the tapestry was doctored. It clearly shows that the King had an Arrow in his eye, but the next image the Arrow is removed. Could it be that it was deemed not honorable even in those days to hack to pieces a defenseless enemy? I just wonder.

[@zoetropo1]

+coalikesdesi The panel in question depicts an armoured man holding what appears to be a fletched arrow that has struck his helmet. It's not pointing into his eye but has clearly missed it. If that is Harold, and if the arrow was intended by the original embroiderers, then the impact may have cut his brow, causing blood to fall onto his eye and obscure his vision. Similar injuries happen fairly often in modern sports. The popular story would then be poetic licence.

[@zoetropo1]

+Ronald de Rooij Hacking Harold was indeed dishonourable: those responsible were identified, held accountable and shamed. The Carmen Hastingae (Song of Hastings) was written in an attempt to return the family of one of those offenders to King William's good graces.

[@max-mu6ir]

Amazing,no finds from the battle field then Tony ? maybe its the wrong site? more questions than answers,anyway the only think for certain is that Harold didn't win. However due to the Norman propaganda we may never know the truth.

[@manuelkong10]

totally the wrong spot

[@JohnMorley1]

@@manuelkong10 We only know it is the wrong place because of another programme presented by the same Tony Robinson though.

[@michellejaneday8100]

Tostig is my Great-Grand-Father! HI! We are in America! We own the fig accounts and invented the toaster!

[@2gfan]

Naff off, Harold wasn't meant to be king, because Edward the Confessor hated the Godwins,, because harold's father Earl Godwin had killed his brother in 1036, and Edward also took a vow of celibacy when he married Harold's sister, because he didn't want to give Earl Godwin a grandson, so why would he gave harold the kingdom. It don't make sense. As far as I'm concerned Harold stole the kingdom from William, because he had the saxons bury Edward in the morning and had Harold's coronation on the same day but in the afternoon. So Harold is a lying thief and he got what he deserved.

[@fredygump5578]

When was it that Time Team proved that the battle did not happen on this particular hill? Or that Harold didn't get shot in the eye?

[@zoetropo1]

fredy gump: Time Team’s argument, once analysed, amounts to observing that the battle covered a lot of land, so there’s no one location where it all happened. Harold initially stood further west, opposite William, which was up the road, perhaps near Tony’s roundabout. However, the Bretons gained the west of the ridge, so Harold had to move his command post quite a way down the road, which explains why Battle Abbey is where it is. Moving far to the east meant that the Normans couldn’t reach Harold. However, the Flemings did.

[@fredygump5578]

​@@zoetropo1 My point was that Time Team debunked what Tony says here, so this must be before that Time Team episode? But I just found these on KZbin at the same time. Any theory is possible. My guess is that the assumption that Harold died instantly on the front line is probably an error...and the idea that the monument is placed exactly on the spot where he died seems a little questionable. But I'm sure it's close enough. And there's the part about how the tapestry was repaired, and likely harold was actually holding a spear, not grabbing an arrow stuck into his eye.

[@zoetropo1]

fredy gump: it’s a pity we don’t have the complete, unaltered Bayeux Tapestry, as that would resolve such questions. The Carmen de Hastingae Proelio (“Song of the Battle of Hastings”), written very soon after the battle, claims that a small group of Flemish and French knights (therefore from the Right wing of William’s army) collaborated to attack Harold’s position. Of course it only gives the names of the leaders, and I’m sure they had many men with them. I visualise them forming a moving wedge, with the lower ranks sacrificed to force a gap in the (already depleted) English lines so that the leaders could reach the king. A similar tactic appears to have been employed by Alan Rufus against Earl Gyrth (scene 53 of Wikipedia’s “Bayeux Tapestry Tituli”).

[@fredygump5578]

@@zoetropo1 I'm still interested on the timing. I would hope this program was filmed before the Time Team investigation....since the Time Team conclusions contradict what Tony is saying here.

[@zoetropo1]

fredy gump: Yes! m.ranker.com/list/full-list-of-tony-robinson_s-fact-or-fiction-episodes/reference King Harold: aired 27 December 2002. www.google.com.au/amp/s/secretsofthenormaninvasion.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/time-team-special-battle-of-hastings-8pm-sunday-1st-december/amp/ Time Team Special: Battle of Hastings: aired 1 December 2013.

[@royfr8136]

that sword guy though

[@markgodwin987]

I want my Crown back

[@kevwhufc8640]

How did wessex lose the crown ? Was there no others with a blood line going back to Alfred the great , after Edward the confessor died ? I can't find anything that links ( by blood) Harold 11 , to kings from wessex. His family just happened to be the richest..

[@silliaek]

There was another of Alfred's descendants that had been exiled to hungary and when he was brought back to England he happened to die. his young son was next in line but had little support.

[@kevwhufc8640]

@@silliaek I didn't know about that, do you know when & why Alfred's relation was exiled to Hungary ?

[@PalleRasmussen]

Harald Hårdråde's attack was not the last great Viking assault on it. There were three Danish ones later, culminating in one aborted in 1086 that made William scourge the North and require what became the Doomesday Book, and which made the Danish king; Knud a saint by getting killed by hos own people in Skt Alban's in Odense, for holding them up too long before departure.

[@zoetropo1]

That planned Danish invasion was intended to take place in 1085. "William's scourge" as you call it (most say "harrying") was in 1069-70 (over winter), but there was a second one, even worse, conducted by the dastardly Bishop Odo of Bayeux in 1080. In 1082, Odo was imprisoned for emptying England's garrisons so he could seize the Papacy; he wasn't let out until after William died.

[@PalleRasmussen]

True enough, it was the fines he demanded of the magnates abandoning the attack while Knud procrastinated/skirmished with the Holy Roman Empire), that made them rebel and kill him.

[@zoetropo1]

***** The Vikings sometimes took the money and attacked anyway, reckoning that there must still be lots cached away somewhere.

[@PalleRasmussen]

Zoe Porphyrogenita Can you provide us with sources for this?

[@zoetropo1]

PalleRasmussen Shame on me! I don't have a source handy. So please disregard my previous comment. Offhand, the nearest I can get (does this count?) is that the Loire Vikings turned on their Breton paymasters and overran much of the Duchy, which proved a great springboard for attacks on all the neighbouring states: probably one reason why King Athelstan supported his godson Alan II's mission to liberate Brittany in 936. The plan involved a two-pronged attack: Athelstan's nephew Louis IV of France almost simultaneously attacked the Seine Vikings (Normans). After a year or more's fighting, the outcome was the destruction of the Loire Vikings, the death of William Longsword, the collapse of Normandy,and the capture of William's son Richard. To rebuild Normandy, Richard allied himself with the Bretons and English: his heir Richard II and a daughter Hawise both married into the Breton sovereign house and another daughter Emma married Aethelred II. Emma was the mother of Edward the Confessor. You probably recall how all that turned out: the Normans and Bretons combined to conquer England.

[@dastardlydianne5657]

I wonder why Harold didn't use the remaining Harald Hardrada ships to sail south instead of tiring his men even more?

[@silliaek]

They didn't conquer the ships just the men that were on the land. The Men who were back at the ships escaped.

[@LambChowder1]

you put razor wire around grocery stores???

[@bendygirl9889]

I know, weird huh?

[@chinahog1872]

How do you keep the marauding Vikings out of your Tesco then?

[@madiantin]

Huh. Marc Morris had a different interpretation of the relationship between Edward the Confessor, Edith, and Harold. Interesting.

[@zoetropo1]

madiantin Almost no one talks about the Bretons other than tangentially, yet they were vital to the victory at Hastings and essential to the government and prosperity of post-Conquest England: they were the merchants and administrators. Even in Normandy, they ran the businesses and the town councils.