Which battle in 1066 began Norman rule?
The autumn air over southern England crackled with tension as Duke William of Normandy faced King Harold Godwinson at Hastings on 14 October 1066. From dawn to dusk shields splintered and arrows rained while Harold’s weary Saxons held a shield wall atop Senlac Hill.
A legendary shaft—said to pierce Harold’s eye—broke English morale. William ‘the Conqueror’ seized the throne, importing continental castles, feudal law and a flood of French vocabulary that still colours modern English.
