Good evening, this is Michael Anthony, and you’re listening to British History 101. This episode will wrap up our Battle of Hastings series, giving us a brief overview of the aftermath of the Norman Conquest. To begin with, I feel the need to apologize for the comparative brevity of the history in this installment – due to both a lack of time this week and my desire to put in a bit of an editorial, the historical aspect of this episode won’t be quite as long as parts 1 and 2 of the series on Hastings. Nonetheless, I assure you what we do explore today will still be interesting and informative – otherwise, this wouldn’t be British History 101, now would it?
William of Normandy, though victorious in battle, was feeling the effects of war – at least one fourth of his army had been eliminated in the fighting with Harold. In addition to that, a violent epidemic of dysentery swept through the Normans in late October, causing further non-combat casualties. However, the biggest problem that William faced was building a stable power base in England – after all, he was the leader of a minority invading force, and he wasn’t dumb enough to expect all of England to bow down before him. With his battle-hardened demeanor, William decided the best way to gain the loyalty of the English was by show of force – he cut a path of destruction towards London, pillaging towns as he went and making it crystal clear that he was the dominant force on the island. One town that refused to do him homage paid the ultimate price – William simply slaughtered the entire town. When he started getting closer to London, William successfully decided that he couldn’t march directly on the capital – the city was far too strong for him to assault directly. Knowing this, William decided to circle the city and take the surrounding towns – a sort of long-distance siege tactic. This indeed proved to do the trick, and William was soon making his way through the streets of London. Edgar Atheling, whom Edward the Confessor had technically nominated as Heir Apparent in 1057, was proclaimed King after Harold died at Hastings but was never crowned – William came along too soon and too strongly for that. William arrived in London, and Edgar and most of England’s top nobility came to submit to their new overlord. Duke William of Normandy was crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day, 1066, in Westminster Abbey. This actually brought about some of the resentment the native English felt towards the Normans. William had placed guards outside the abbey itself in order to make sure the crowds outside were properly excited and jubilant at the coronation of their new king. However, when those inside the abbey proclaimed “Vivat Rex!” or “Long live the King!” the guards mistook this shouting as an assault on the king, and promptly burned everything in sight in retribution, destroying buildings in a wide circle around the abbey. This, understandably, enraged the English, and so began a series of small riots and revolts against the new Norman king. This, in turn, brought about the Tower of London, which William began constructing to handle rabble rousers.
Although he had a difficult time bringing the country under his total control, William eventually brought Norman influence over the whole of England. The Normans introduced the system of land tenure based on military service, as William was much more concerned with raising a loyal army from his knights and the men they owed him than granting land to the nobles who had participated in the Conquest. Bringing in this entirely new system to the English caused some amount of unrest – here was a foreigner installing a system completely alien to the common man. The newly rich Norman land owners also squabbled amongst themselves as to who should have this piece of land or that particular manor. This confusion gave birth to the 1086 survey we now know as Domesday Book, which listed in excruciating detail the exact holdings of the king and nobles throughout the land.
Domesday Book is excellent evidence as to the nature of the Norman invaders – they were administrators and lawyers, rather than legislators. This job they left to the native Saxon system. The old Saxon financial and secretarial methods were left intact, along with the system of counties, sheriffs, courts, and – of course – taxes and dues. In this way, we see a hybridization of Norman and Saxon government – old meets new, and it worked out rather well for William and his descendants.
And so there we have it. The invaders from across the Channel achieved their goal – total domination of England. William got what he finally thought he deserved, and the Norman influence that Edward had introduced was magnified exponentially. The course of England was forever changed, and the events that happened after that eventful year will be covered in future episodes of this podcast.
Now then – on to the non-historical segment of this episode. With the few episodes of British History 101 that I’ve actually produced, I’ve become very excited about each installment, and it’s something I take great pleasure it working on. The community – both listeners and fellow podcasters – is simply amazing, and this podcast would certainly not still be in production if not for the incredible support offered by other members of the podcast movement. I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Mr. Matt Dattilo of the Matt’s Today in History podcast, whom without I never would have started my own. He’s both an excellent podcaster and a great guy, whether he’s coming through your speakers or talking to you in real life. I heartily encourage you to check out his podcast and show your support there, as well.
In my admittedly limited interaction with other podcasters, I’ve found nothing but friendliness and a sense of camaraderie – everyone who has a hobby in podcasting is glad to share their experience and knowledge with everyone else, and it’s comforting to find that when you start a project that you know nothing about. One such example is Ms. Lara Eakins of Tudor Cast, a fellow British history podcast that has a bit more focused scope than mine. I’d describe it to you myself, but I think Lara could do a much better job of it.
All in all, podcasting has become a true joy in my life, and sharing centuries of history and learning with those who listen is a very human experience.
If you’d like to review the history heard in this episode, please check out my blog at britishhistory101.blogspot.com for a transcript of this and every other episode. Send suggestions, questions, comments, rants, and raves to BritishHistory101@gmail.com. Our music tonight is Handel’s “Oxford Water Music Suite in D Major: Part I, Minuet," performed by the Brook Street Band and available on Magnatune.com. Magnatune is an independent online record label that equally shares all revenue from album sales with their hand-selected artists while allowing them to retain full rights to their works. Visit magnatune.com for great music at low prices and support the many wonderful artists hosted there. Until next week, my best to you all, and as always, thanks for listening. If you like what you heard tonight, please subscribe to British History 101 and catch every episode fresh each week. Also, I’d like to ask you to vote for British History 101 at podcastalley.com, and show your support for the preservation of history, whether it be British or any other nationality. Thank you again for learning with me tonight, and we’ll talk again next week. Have a great evening.


MP3 File

Good evening, this is Michael Anthony, and you’re listening to British History 101. This episode brings us to part 2 of our 3 part series on the Battle of Hastings. Last time, we ended with the backgrounds of the 4 people I think of as the most important in this event – Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada, and William of Normandy. Now, we’re left with three of them alive; one is in England, one across the Channel in Normandy, and one in Norway. Our Norse contender, Harald Hardrada, was the first to move, invading England with Harold Godwinson’s exiled brother Tostig in late summer 1066.
Hardrada first sailed to the Orkneys and the Isle of Man, gathering recruits, and then landed on the northeast coast of England. In September, Harald sailed up the Humber and defeated the armies of the Edwin, Earl of Mercia and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, at Gate Fulford near York. He then made camp at Stamford Bridge, preparing his army to penetrate England deeper to the south.
Harold Godwinson would have none of this in his land. When he heard of the action at Gate Fulford, he headed up the road from London to York, gathering local armies as he went, and arrived just five days after Edwin and Morcar had been defeated. That same day, Harold marched out the 10 miles to Stamford Bridge to confront the Norse invaders. On September 25, the English and the Norse armies met, and so began the last ever Scandinavian offensive against the English. The Norsemen, fighting without their cumbersome armor, initially held their ground against the English. However, the King of England soon employed a common tactic by feigning a retreat, which Hardrada’s men easily fell for. At this turn of the tide, Harald Hardrada was killed, supposedly by an arrow to the throat, and Harold Godwinson offered his brother Tostig peace, along with quarter for all surviving Norsemen. However, the Norwegian army declared they would rather die than accept quarter from Englishmen, and the battle raged on. Reinforcements that had been left on the Norse ships actually arrived, but, tired from the march to the battle, they shucked their armor and soon paid for that mistake with their lives. They, along with most of the rest of the Norse army and Tostig, were destroyed. Godwinson spared the life of Olaf, Hardrada’s son, and allowed him and the few Norwegian survivors to return home alive. This marked one of the most decisive victories in English history. However, the joy at success was short lived – immediately after the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the King of England was informed that William, Duke of Normany, had landed at Pevensey on the southern coast. A second invasion had begun.
Throughout the summer of 1066, around the time that Harald Hardrada was preparing his expedition, William of Normandy built up an army around St. Valery on the mouth of the Somme. However, although his army was ready to go, the winds on the water were unfavorable and wouldn’t allow the force to set sail. Calling in the greatest force he knew, William had the bones of St. Edmund brought from the church at St. Valery and carried across the beach in prayer for seaworthy winds. Sure enough, the next day, a strong wind grew up, and William set sail for the island nation he was determined to take possession of. On 20 September, William landed at Pevensey with his invasion force. He was completely unopposed – the local army had been called out four times already that year, and thinking a false alarm, it didn’t bother to greet the Normans. Legend has it that William fell flat on his face when he came off his ship – turning this goof around, William said, “See, I have taken England with both my hands!”
William spent the next 2 weeks organizing his army, raiding the lands of Sussex for supplies, and building up a fortification to protect his fleet and army. Harold, learning of this, marched from York to London in seven days with what remained of his army. The local nobles in Kent and Wessex joined with their armies and retainers, and Harold stayed in London for another five days, gathering all the forces he could. Once he built up his army, Harold Godwinson marched toward Pevensey to defend the island nation he called his own.
Harold made camp on the evening of October 13 on Senlac Hill, with the great forest of Anderida at his back, on a line between Pevensey and London. The next morning, October 14, Harold formed his shield wall, a defensive line made up of his best troops, armed with swords, spears, and the devastating Danish axes. Behind this wall were the less trained troops, local levies called out along the way to London, armed with whatever weapons they could make or find. Regardless of their level of training or armament, all the troops were exhausted from the marathon march to meet William, and none were in great shape to fend off an invasion.
That same morning, William set out from Pevensey with an army comparable in size to Harold’s, made up of Breton, Norman, and Flemish nobles and their vassals, along with freebooters from as far away as Italy. The nobles had been promised English lands and titles upon victory, and the common troops were to be given cash and the “spoils of war”. Upon arriving at the English line, William arrayed his forces in the common medieval formation of three groups, or “battles”, facing the defenders. The Breton battle took the left, the Norman group the center, and the Flemish were on the right. So stood the opposing lines of armies prepared to decide the fate of England.
According to legend, William’s knight and minstrel Ivo Taillefer begged permission to charge out first against the English, and his request was honored. Taillefer rode out on his horse before the English lines, throwing his weapons in the air and catching them while singing an early version of the epic The Song of Roland. There are two versions of what then became of the Duke’s minstrel. One says that an English soldier rode out to challenge Taillefer, who killed the Englishmen and took his head as a trophy and proof that God favored the Norman invaders. The other version says that Taillefer charged the English ranks and was, of course, killed. Either way, upon this, the battle began.
William’s archers had little effect on the English lines – the shield wall prevented Norman arrows from doing much damage. As Norman archery tactics relied a great deal on launching arrows already fired at them by their enemies, and the English weren’t using archers, dwindling ammunition supplies soon caused the Normans to cut back their hail of arrows. William’s cavalry then charged the English, learning firsthand just how resilient Harold’s shield wall was.
Again and again, the Duke of Normandy’s forces charged against the English shield wall, and they were repeatedly turned away, unable to force their way through. However, the Bretons in the left battle soon saw that they could successfully employ a feigned retreat – the same tactic that Harold had used to defeat the Norsemen at Stamford Bridge. The Bretons then staged a retreat, and William’s Norman battle charged the English soldiers who had pursued the Bretons away from the safety of the shield wall. This proved to be Harold’s downfall. This feint was used over and over, slowly wearing down the English until little more than Harold’s personal bodyguard and some local levy troops remained.
William then ordered his archers to shoot high into the air, and traditionally, Harold, King of England, was killed by an arrow in the right eye. There are numerous versions of Godwinson’s death, but they all lead to the same point – once the King was dead, his troops were drained of their fighting spirit, and soon started being slaughtered by the Normans. Many of them fled into the forest at their backs, desperate to escape the battle.
William was victorious, but the bloodshed was not over for the day. His cavalry pursued the English army over Senlac Hill, only to fall into the deep ditch on the other side. Here, the frustrated English that remained in the forest cut the incapacitated Normans to pieces, saving what dignity they could and fighting to the last.
Learning of his death, Harold Godwinson’s mother offered his weight in gold to William for the chance to bury Harold in holy ground. William decided it was better to bury Harold on the Saxon shore, laid to rest in the ground he gave his life to defend. Later, Harold’s remains were transferred to Waltham Abbey, a church which he himself had founded.
So began the next era on the island nation William took by storm. The Saxon king was dead, and a Norman would soon take his place, thus setting into motion a change of life for the people living in William’s new country. Next week, we will wrap up our series with an examination of the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings – how easy was the transition? And what really changed throughout the land? If you’d like to look back over the battle, check out my blog at britishhistory101.blogspot.com for a transcript of this and every other episode. Send suggestions, questions, comments, rants, and raves to BritishHistory101@gmail.com. Our music tonight is Geminiani’s “Sonata V in A Minor: Part 3, Allegro" performed by the Brook Street Band and available on Magnatune.com. Magnatune is an independent online record label that equally shares all revenue from album sales with their hand-selected artists while allowing them to retain full rights to their works. Visit magnatune.com for great music at low prices and support the many wonderful artists hosted there. Until we talk again, my best to you all, and thanks for listening. If you liked what you heard in this episode, please subscribe to British History 101 and catch each episode fresh every week. Again, thanks for listening, and have a great night. I’ll look forward to learning with you next week.


MP3 File

Good evening, this is Michael Anthony, and you’re listening to British History 101. This episode brings us to part 2 of our 3 part series on the Battle of Hastings. Last time, we ended with the backgrounds of the 4 people I think of as the most important in this event – Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada, and William of Normandy. Now, we’re left with three of them alive; one is in England, one across the Channel in Normandy, and one in Norway. Our Norse contender, Harald Hardrada, was the first to move, invading England with Harold Godwinson’s exiled brother Tostig in late summer 1066.
Hardrada first sailed to the Orkneys and the Isle of Man, gathering recruits, and then landed on the northeast coast of England. In September, Harald sailed up the Humber and defeated the armies of the Edwin, Earl of Mercia and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, at Gate Fulford near York. He then made camp at Stamford Bridge, preparing his army to penetrate England deeper to the south.
Harold Godwinson would have none of this in his land. When he heard of the action at Gate Fulford, he headed up the road from London to York, gathering local armies as he went, and arrived just five days after Edwin and Morcar had been defeated. That same day, Harold marched out the 10 miles to Stamford Bridge to confront the Norse invaders. On September 25, the English and the Norse armies met, and so began the last ever Scandinavian offensive against the English. The Norsemen, fighting without their cumbersome armor, initially held their ground against the English. However, the King of England soon employed a common tactic by feigning a retreat, which Hardrada’s men easily fell for. At this turn of the tide, Harald Hardrada was killed, supposedly by an arrow to the throat, and Harold Godwinson offered his brother Tostig peace, along with quarter for all surviving Norsemen. However, the Norwegian army declared they would rather die than accept quarter from Englishmen, and the battle raged on. Reinforcements that had been left on the Norse ships actually arrived, but, tired from the march to the battle, they shucked their armor and soon paid for that mistake with their lives. They, along with most of the rest of the Norse army and Tostig, were destroyed. Godwinson spared the life of Olaf, Hardrada’s son, and allowed him and the few Norwegian survivors to return home alive. This marked one of the most decisive victories in English history. However, the joy at success was short lived – immediately after the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the King of England was informed that William, Duke of Normany, had landed at Pevensey on the southern coast. A second invasion had begun.
Throughout the summer of 1066, around the time that Harald Hardrada was preparing his expedition, William of Normandy built up an army around St. Valery on the mouth of the Somme. However, although his army was ready to go, the winds on the water were unfavorable and wouldn’t allow the force to set sail. Calling in the greatest force he knew, William had the bones of St. Edmund brought from the church at St. Valery and carried across the beach in prayer for seaworthy winds. Sure enough, the next day, a strong wind grew up, and William set sail for the island nation he was determined to take possession of. On 20 September, William landed at Pevensey with his invasion force. He was completely unopposed – the local army had been called out four times already that year, and thinking a false alarm, it didn’t bother to greet the Normans. Legend has it that William fell flat on his face when he came off his ship – turning this goof around, William said, “See, I have taken England with both my hands!”
William spent the next 2 weeks organizing his army, raiding the lands of Sussex for supplies, and building up a fortification to protect his fleet and army. Harold, learning of this, marched from York to London in seven days with what remained of his army. The local nobles in Kent and Wessex joined with their armies and retainers, and Harold stayed in London for another five days, gathering all the forces he could. Once he built up his army, Harold Godwinson marched toward Pevensey to defend the island nation he called his own.
Harold made camp on the evening of October 13 on Senlac Hill, with the great forest of Anderida at his back, on a line between Pevensey and London. The next morning, October 14, Harold formed his shield wall, a defensive line made up of his best troops, armed with swords, spears, and the devastating Danish axes. Behind this wall were the less trained troops, local levies called out along the way to London, armed with whatever weapons they could make or find. Regardless of their level of training or armament, all the troops were exhausted from the marathon march to meet William, and none were in great shape to fend off an invasion.
That same morning, William set out from Pevensey with an army comparable in size to Harold’s, made up of Breton, Norman, and Flemish nobles and their vassals, along with freebooters from as far away as Italy. The nobles had been promised English lands and titles upon victory, and the common troops were to be given cash and the “spoils of war”. Upon arriving at the English line, William arrayed his forces in the common medieval formation of three groups, or “battles”, facing the defenders. The Breton battle took the left, the Norman group the center, and the Flemish were on the right. So stood the opposing lines of armies prepared to decide the fate of England.
According to legend, William’s knight and minstrel Ivo Taillefer begged permission to charge out first against the English, and his request was honored. Taillefer rode out on his horse before the English lines, throwing his weapons in the air and catching them while singing an early version of the epic The Song of Roland. There are two versions of what then became of the Duke’s minstrel. One says that an English soldier rode out to challenge Taillefer, who killed the Englishmen and took his head as a trophy and proof that God favored the Norman invaders. The other version says that Taillefer charged the English ranks and was, of course, killed. Either way, upon this, the battle began.
William’s archers had little effect on the English lines – the shield wall prevented Norman arrows from doing much damage. As Norman archery tactics relied a great deal on launching arrows already fired at them by their enemies, and the English weren’t using archers, dwindling ammunition supplies soon caused the Normans to cut back their hail of arrows. William’s cavalry then charged the English, learning firsthand just how resilient Harold’s shield wall was.
Again and again, the Duke of Normandy’s forces charged against the English shield wall, and they were repeatedly turned away, unable to force their way through. However, the Bretons in the left battle soon saw that they could successfully employ a feigned retreat – the same tactic that Harold had used to defeat the Norsemen at Stamford Bridge. The Bretons then staged a retreat, and William’s Norman battle charged the English soldiers who had pursued the Bretons away from the safety of the shield wall. This proved to be Harold’s downfall. This feint was used over and over, slowly wearing down the English until little more than Harold’s personal bodyguard and some local levy troops remained.
William then ordered his archers to shoot high into the air, and traditionally, Harold, King of England, was killed by an arrow in the right eye. There are numerous versions of Godwinson’s death, but they all lead to the same point – once the King was dead, his troops were drained of their fighting spirit, and soon started being slaughtered by the Normans. Many of them fled into the forest at their backs, desperate to escape the battle.
William was victorious, but the bloodshed was not over for the day. His cavalry pursued the English army over Senlac Hill, only to fall into the deep ditch on the other side. Here, the frustrated English that remained in the forest cut the incapacitated Normans to pieces, saving what dignity they could and fighting to the last.
Learning of his death, Harold Godwinson’s mother offered his weight in gold to William for the chance to bury Harold in holy ground. William decided it was better to bury Harold on the Saxon shore, laid to rest in the ground he gave his life to defend. Later, Harold’s remains were transferred to Waltham Abbey, a church which he himself had founded.
So began the next era on the island nation William took by storm. The Saxon king was dead, and a Norman would soon take his place, thus setting into motion a change of life for the people living in William’s new country. Next week, we will wrap up our series with an examination of the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings – how easy was the transition? And what really changed throughout the land? If you’d like to look back over the battle, check out my blog at britishhistory101.blogspot.com for a transcript of this and every other episode. Send suggestions, questions, comments, rants, and raves to BritishHistory101@gmail.com. Our music tonight is Geminiani’s “Sonata V in A Minor: Part 3, Allegro" performed by the Brook Street Band and available on Magnatune.com. Magnatune is an independent online record label that equally shares all revenue from album sales with their hand-selected artists while allowing them to retain full rights to their works. Visit magnatune.com for great music at low prices and support the many wonderful artists hosted there. Until we talk again, my best to you all, and thanks for listening. If you liked what you heard in this episode, please subscribe to British History 101 and catch each episode fresh every week. Again, thanks for listening, and have a great night. I’ll look forward to learning with you next week.


MP3 File

Good evening, this is Michael Anthony and you’re listening to British History 101. This episode begins our three part series on the Battle of Hastings, fought between the Saxon king of England and Norman invaders in 1066. I thought it would be appropriate to set the background of the conflict up before the battle proper, so this evening’s episode will consist of profiles of who I consider to be the four main players involved: Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada, and William of Normandy. These were the figures who played out the real-life drama that is now commonly known as the Norman Conquest, and the last three were men bent on attaining and keeping the English crown. Please forgive my pronunciation of names and places should I get them wrong – I’m used to reading this material, where pronunciation doesn’t matter, rather than speaking it out loud.
We begin our profiles with that of Edward the Confessor, King of England from 1042 until 1066. Edward was the third such named king and the last ruler of the House of Wessex. His father was Ethelred II, and significantly, his mother was Emma of Normandy. This is an important fact because, in 1013, Emma took her two sons Edward and Alfred to Normandy, fleeing the Danish invaders of England. There the boys remained for 25 years – while they were most impressionable, we must understand. In 1036, Alfred and Edward returned to England, intent on deposing their stepbrother Harold Harefoot. However, their attempt failed, and only Edward escaped back to Normandy with his life – Alfred was blinded and then killed. Edward was, however, able to return six years later by invitation of the new King of England – Edward’s half brother Harthacanute. In fact, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that Edward was sworn in as king alongside Harthacanute himself. Edward was a hit with the people, and when Harthacanute died in 1042, “before Harthacanute was buried, all the people chose Edward as king in London,” claims the Chronicle. As Harthacanute had no children, his half-brother ascended the throne, becoming Edward III.
During his reign, Edward showed the most sympathy and favoritism to the Norman leaders within the country – understandable, when we recall his 25 years spent in Normandy. However, there was a large opposition movement to this favoritism, and none was more unhappy about it than Godwin, Earl of Wessex – Edward’s father in law, after his daughter Edith married Edward in 1045, and arguably the second most powerful man in England. Their dispute reached its high point when Edward rejected Godwin’s candidate for Archbishop of Canterbury, instead appointing the Norman bishop of London to the post. The disagreement turned from argument to a much more hostile situation when Godwin refused to punish townspeople rioting against Eustace, one of the king’s kinsman, in Dover. As a result, Godwin and his family were exiled in September of 1051. Edith, Godwin’s daughter and the Queen consort, was sent away to a nunnery in Wherwell. Godwin returned in 1052, but this time with a small army of his own. With this new backing, Godwin forced Edward to return his titles and lands to him, and also send away his Norman advisors. The reinstated Earl of Wessex died the next year, and his son Harold inherited his power and position, which he wielded as the new second most powerful man in England until he claimed the throne upon Edward’s death as his brother-in-law in 1066.
This brings us to the next man in our story. Harold Godwinson, Second Earl of Wessex, is also known as King Harold II. He was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, reigning for less than a year from 5 January to 14 October 1066. His father was, of course Godwin, the First Earl of Wessex, and his mother was Gytha Thorkelsdottir. He had a brother named Tostig (later his enemy) and a sister named Edith who we know married King Edward III. Because of his sister’s marriage to the king, Harold became the Earl of East Anglia in 1045. Harold followed his father into exile in 1051, returning a year later, and then assumed his father’s titles in 1053 after Godwin died. Five years later, he took the title Earl of Hereford, and followed his father’s footsteps by becoming the leader of the opposition to growing Norman influence in England. One of the most significant events in Harold’s life happened 2 years prior to the Battle of Hastings. In 1064, Harold was shipwrecked at Ponthieu, captured, and turned over to the Duke of Normandy, William. William let Harold go only after he pledged his support to William’s claim to the English throne upon Edward’s death – the Duke of Normandy insisted Edward (who was childless) had promised him the crown. The Normans would later say that Harold’s ascension to the throne made him guilty of perjury to his oath; supporters of Harold would claim that the oath was made under duress. Either way, when Edward died in January of 1066, Harold said that Edward had promised him the crowd on his deathbed, saying, “I commend my wife and all my kingdom to your care.” As the only eyewitness was Harold’s sister, the validity of this claim is dubious; nonetheless, Harold was crowned King of England the following day. He held the throne until that fateful October day less than a year later.
The Norseman who claimed the English throne was Harald Hardrada, whose surname roughly translates to “stern council” or “hard ruler”. Harald was the youngest of King Olaf II of Norway’s half brothers. When Harald was 15 in the year 1030, Olaf was killed defending his crown against Canute the Great at the Battle of Stiklestead. Harald participated in the battle, but managed to escape with his life. With Olaf dead, Canute became king, and Harald went into exile. During the 15 years he spent away from his homeland, Harald served military time in the land of the Rus and the Byzantine Empire, gathering a small army of men and making a large fortune along the way as a result of his victories. When he finally did return to Norway in 1045, the reigning king Magnus I, one of Olaf’s sons and Harald’s nephew who had taken over the throne in 1035, agreed to joint rule over the country – the force backing Harald was far too much for Magnus to challenge. Coincidentally, Magnus died about a year later, under less than perfectly explained circumstances. When Harold Godwinson ascended to the throne of England, Hardrada invoked an agreement supposedly made between Magnus and Harthacanute of England in 1038, when Harthacanute was king. The agreement stated that should either monarch died without heir, the survivor would inherit his kingdom, making that survivor King of England and Norway. Upon Harthacanute’s death, we know his half-brother Edward took the English crown, but neither Magnus nor Harald Hardrada attempted to depose him. Only when Harold Godwinson took the crown did Hardrada decide to claim what he believed to be rightfully his and invade England.
The last man we will examine is William of Normandy, who also carries the names William the Conqueror, William the Bastard, and William I of England. He was born illegitimately in Normandy to Robert the Magnificent and a woman named Herleva in 1027 or 1028. When he was only 7 years old, he succeeded the Duchy of Normandy, and at only 15 he was knighted by King Henry I of France. By the age of 19, he was successfully dealing with rebels and invaders of Normandy, and in 1047 he defeated the rebel Norman barons at Caen with the help of King Henry. By all this, we can see that William was a Norman powerhouse, and he fully intended to exert his influence in 1066 when Edward died. William claimed that Edward had promised him the throne on a visit in 1052, and that Harold had sworn his support on saint’s bones when he was shipwrecked in 1064. With this evidence backing him, William obtained the support of Pope Alexander II, assembled a force of 600 ships and 7,000 men, and set sail across the English Channel, determined to take the crown he thought belonged to him.
With that, we must end this episode of British History 101, and think about these men in preparation for part 2 of our Hastings series, when we cover the Battle itself. I know that the family connections, titles, and dates associated with this event can all be a bit confusing, as it was for me when I first learned this in school, so I’d encourage you to check out my blog at britishhistory101.blogspot.com for a transcript of this and every other episode. Send suggestions, questions, comments, rants, and raves to BritishHistory101@gmail.com. Our music tonight is "Scortese: Autumn – The Marvel" by "Da Camera," available on Magnatune.com. Magnatune is an independent online record label that equally shares all revenue from album sales with their hand-selected artists while allowing them to retain full rights to their works. Visit magnatune.com for great music at low prices and support the many wonderful artists hosted there. Until next time, my best to you all, and thanks for listening. If you liked what you heard in this episode, please subscribe to British History 101 and catch each episode fresh every week. Again, thanks for listening, and have a great night.


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Music: Prelude from Suite No. 1, composed by Johannes Sebastian Bach and performed by Cello Journey

Good evening, this is Michael Anthony and you're listening to British History 101. This is the podcast's first episode, so I'd like it to be an explanatory prelude to what the future may bring. My vision for this podcast is to provide a basic and intermediate level of British history - something the novice scholar and Anglophile can both enjoy simultaneously. I'd like to do profiles on British monarchs, overviews of significant battles and political events, and some trivia on British culture and society every now and then. My most pressing concern is the audience - what do you want to hear? What types of things are you interested in within the realm of the British Isles? I'd like to include a weekly question and answer, once this podcast builds a listener base, so start thinking about things you'd like to know but have never had a chance to find out. Send suggestions, questions, comments, rants, and raves to BritishHistory101@gmail.com. Also, check out my blog at www.britishhistory101.blogspot.com for a transcript of each show. Until next time, when we begin our three part series on the Battle of Hastings, my best to you all, and thanks for listening. Have a good night.


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