What was the battle of Hastings?
The battle was fought between William of Normandy, who was trying to conquer England, and Harold, who was King of England. William believed he had a better claim to the throne of England than Harold, because he claimed he had been promised the throne by the previous King, Edward the Confessor. Even if this is true, which is doubtful, it did not mean that the throne was automatically his, since under Saxon law, the new ruler had to be approved by the Witan (the council). So Harold’s rule was perfectly legal. However, William landed at Hastings with his Norman soldiers and marched a few miles inland to the place that is now called Battle, where he met Harold and his Saxon forces. Harold’s men were tired as they had just marched back from the North of England where they had been fighting the Vikings. It was a long and hard-fought battle, but in the end William’s forces prevailed. Harold was slain, by an arrow shot through his eye, and William took possession of the English crown. You can
