1066 - Definition and Overview

Events

• January 6 - Harold II is crowned King of England the day after Edward the Confessor dies.
• Tostig Godwinson and Harald Hardraada of Norway invade England.
• September 25 - Harold II defeats Tostig and Harold Hardraada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, killing both.
• September 28 - Norman Conquest: William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades England.
• October 14 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, the Norman invasion forces of William the Conqueror defeat the English army and kill King Harold II of England. The Norman dynasty of English Kings followed. England was not successfully invaded again until the invasion of William III on November 5, 1688.

• The Viking port of Hedeby was destroyed by marauding Slavs.
• A new church is begun at Monte Cassino.
• Halley's Comet is sighted in Britain.

Births

Deaths

• January 5 - Edward the Confessor, King of England.
• September 25 - Tostig Godwinson, deposed Earl of Northumbria and brother of Harold II of England.
• October 14 - Harold II Godwinson of England, the last Saxon King of England.
• Harald III of Norway