Hello everyone. Here is a special one-shot to celebrate the day where a famous battle took place. I hope that you enjoy it. :)
1066, a year that will come to define a chain of events that would change the course of history forever and it would also come to signify a great change in leadership for the crown and throne of England, a chain of events that started with the death of Edward the Confessor, a male Spix Macaw, on the fifth of January.
Three men wanted the crown and throne of England, one is Harald Hardrada, a male Green Macaw who is the King of Norway and the leader of the Vikings, the second is William, a male Scarlet Macaw who is the duke of Normandy and leader of the Normans, the third is Harold Godwinson, a male Spix Macaw, who is the Earl of Sussex and leader of the Anglo-Saxon army.
All three men had a claim to the throne of England and it was Harold Godwinson, who got himself crowned on the same day as Edward the Confessor's burial, the sixth of January with news of his coronation reaching both Harald and William, the latter was furious at the betrayal and he vowed to usurp Harold while it is unknown how Harald Hadrada took the news.
Both Harald Hadrada and William of Normandy began to prepare their respective armies for an invasion of England, while Harold Godwinson marched his army to the south coast of England in order to prevent William from invading his country, though after a long-summer wait, he was forced to disband his army as his men were needed to gather in the harvest and deal with the crops, but, Harold had no idea that an invasion was coming...but not from William.
The invasion came from Harald Hadrada, who has allied himself with Tostig Godwinson, the younger brother of King Harold Godwinson, which resulted in the battle of Fulford, near the city of York, on the twentieth of September between them and the two Earls of York, Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria with Harald Hadrada and his Viking army emerging from the battle as victors.
Unfortunely for Harald Hadrada and Tostig Godwinson, their victory was short-lived as news had travelled fast which resulted in Harold Godwinson marching his now-rebuilt army towards the new threat and it took them five days to get there, which ultimately gave Harold and his army the big advantage: Surprise.
So on the twenty-fifth of September, at Stamford Bridge, Harald Hadrada and Tostig Godwinson are with most of their forces while leaving a third of their army behind which would ultimately prove to be a mistake when they saw the army of Harold Godwinson marching in their direction with the speed of the Anglo-Saxon advantage surprising both Harald and Tostig.
Knowing that Harold Godwinson's army greatly outnumbered theirs, Harald Hadrada and Tostig Godwinson, along with their forces, managed to cross a small, narrow, bridge while leaving one gigantic Norwegian Viking on the bridge, who managed to hold up the Anglo-Saxon army before being killed by a cunning Saxon, who drifted under the bridge in a barrel before killing his enemy.
Luckily for Harald and Tostig, the Norwegian Viking gave them and their army enough time to form a shield-wall, while they watched as Harold Godwinson and his Anglo-Saxon Army crossed the bridge before they, too, formed a shield-wall as both sides started shouting insults at each other while waiting for the other side to make the first move.
It was Harold Godwinson and his Anglo-Saxon army, who made the first move as they charged at the Viking army which resulted in an shield-to-shield clash between the two armies which took a few attempts from Harold and his army to finally beat Harald Hadrada's army into submission with Harald being shot dead by an arrow in his throat and Tostig was said to be killed by Harold Godwinson, himself, while the third of the Viking army, the one that had been left behind, were quickly defeated by Harold and his army.
It took only twenty-five of the three hundred Viking ships to carry the survivors home, it was to be the last of the Viking invasions of England and victory for Harold was short-lived as he found out that William of Normandy had landed in Pevensey, east Sussex, on the twenty-eight of September, which caused Harold to march his battle-weary army back south to face his most fearsome rival.
Harold Godwinson and his battle-weary Anglo-Saxon army arrived at Senlac hill, having marched two hundred and forty-one miles to intercept William of Normandy, where they stood on the high ground in their famous shield-wall formation as they waited for William and his Norman, who were at the bottom of the hill, to attack them with the battle starting at nine o'clock on the fourteenth of October.
The battle started out well for Harold as his men stood their ground while repelling the Norman Army's advance up the hill, though it wasn't long before disaster struck and that disaster was when some of his men on his right flank started charging after their enemy, when it was believed that William had been killed, down the hill before being struck down by the Normans, who revealed their rout to be a trick.
After tricking some of Harold's men to come down from the safety of the hill, William decided to end the battle once and for all with the very men that started the battle, his archers, who fired their arrows up at Harold's army which killed many of them and one of the arrows managed to hit Harold in the eye, which badly wounded him while William led his army in one, final, charge which finally shattered the shield-wall.
Harold, who was still badly wounded by the arrow in his eye, was brutally cut down by a gang of Norman knights while his Housecarls, Harold's bodyguards, fought on against William and his forces which resulted in their deaths, while the rest of the Anglo-Saxon army turned and fled for their lives which meant that William emerged from the battle as victor before, two months later and on Christmas day, he was crowned King of England.