Game of Thrones in English: The Battle of Stamford Bridge, Where the Last Viking and Scandinavian Hopes Perished

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

King Edward the Confessor died on January 5, 1066, and almost immediately the Witenagemot, or Grand Council, elected Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, as king. It cannot be said that the future of the new monarch looked completely cloudless - firstly, there was not a drop of royal blood in his veins, the influential counts of Mercia and Northumbria, the brothers Edwin and Morkar were in open opposition to him. But the most important difficulty was that there were at least two more contenders for the throne abroad who were watching the development of the situation in England.

First of all, the new king Harold had to settle issues with his political opponents. In particular, he went north to Northumbria, where, in the end, he managed to negotiate with the counts and consolidate the alliance by dynastic marriage. However, he could not fully rely on the loyalty of the northerners, and this alliance remained extremely fragile.

But this threat was far less significant than the one that was ripening far beyond the sea. When King Hartaknut (or Hardeknud) of England and Denmark died in 1042, the Danish royal line was cut short, and King Magnus of Norway began to claim the crowns of Denmark and England, guided by the agreement he had previously concluded with Hartaknut. Backing his words with deeds, Magnus landed in Denmark, and only his death in 1047 did not allow him to undertake the same invasion of England. However, Magnus's claims to the English crown did not go to waste, since they were revived by his successor Harald Hardrada, who was later called "the last Viking", who in 1066 turned his gaze towards the distant island.

Another person who claimed power in England was Duke William of Normandy, whom the ill-wishers called William Bastard. However, as a rule - behind the eyes. On closer inspection, his claims were far more justified than those of Harald Hardrada. The Duke's great-aunt Emma was the wife of King Ethelred the Unreasonable, and after his death she married the Danish (and then English) King Knud the Great, and in marriage they had a son - already familiar to us Hartaknut. Thus, Wilhelm was, albeit a distant, but relative to him.

In addition, according to Norman sources, Edward the Confessor, who spent most of his life as an exile in Normandy, was extremely loyal to the rulers there, and back in 1051, being childless and hardly hoping to acquire direct heirs, promised the right of succession to the English crown to William Bastard …

In addition, long before his proclamation as king of England, Harold Godwinson got into a rather unpleasant story - having suffered a shipwreck off the French coast, he, according to the then "coastal law", was taken hostage by the local feudal lord Count Ponthier. Hearing about Harold's imprisonment, William Bastard, who was the direct suzerain of Ponthier, ordered him to hand over the hostage to him. The duke already treated Harold as a guest of honor, and the only condition that the duke put before him before he was released was to confirm Bastard's rights to the English throne. Godwinson swore on the holy relics that he would not interfere with Norman's claims to the crown, after which he left home. Wilhelm, in this way, gave legitimacy to the oath in the eyes of Rome, and now the pope would take his side in case of a conflict.

In addition to these two applicants, the English king had ill-wishers among his own family, in particular, the younger brother Tostig, expelled from Northumbria and finding refuge in Flanders. There he quickly established contacts with Wilhelm Bastard, who, quite possibly, provided him with material assistance. One way or another, Tostig was able to find the necessary amount of resources, and in May 1066 sailed from France, intending to get himself possession of the sword. He raided the Isle of Wight and even briefly occupied Sandwich, but was driven out of there by Edwin of Mercia, after which he fled to Scotland. It was there that he made the decision to contact Harald Hardrada.

Harold perfectly understood what was going on, however, between the two potential dangers, he more distinguished the Normans (and, as time showed, he was right), so he concentrated his main forces in the south of the country, fearing William's invasion. The backbone of his army was the so-called - something like the king's personal guard, professional warriors armed with two-handed axes and shields. In essence, the huscarls were infantry, although they moved on horses, which increased their mobility, but they invariably dismounted before the battle. Their total number was approximately 3000 people, while the bulk of the army of the English king was represented by the so-called "fird" - the militia of free landowners. Often this force is described as a poorly armed crowd, but this was not the case - the militia was equipped for the war at his own expense, so only more or less wealthy farmers made up the fird.

Another thing is that, like any other peasant militias, the firda fighters were not professional soldiers. Other important features of the English army of that time was the absence of cavalry as a kind of troops and archers - as independent tactical formations (they formed part of the fird and were built along with the rest of the infantry).

Harold called a fird in the immediate aftermath of Tostig's failed invasion, and kept the militia and fleet on full alert throughout the summer. The militias, who were peasants, began to grumble, because they could not leave their farms unattended for so long. In addition, this whole crowd had to be fed and provided with everything necessary for three months in a row, which literally depleted the English treasury. Realizing that a little more, and the budget will go to waste, the king on September 8 dismissed the fird to their homes, and sent the fleet back to London.

And, as often happens, the principle of the law of meanness worked in full measure - as soon as the militia was disbanded, a messenger from Yorkshire brought the news from Yorkshire that Harald Hardrada and the brother of King Tostig had landed at Riccolla and moved to York.

Counts of Northumbria and Mercia Morcar and Edwin did not know if the king would come to their aid, since, as already mentioned, he was expecting a Norman landing in the south of the country. Therefore, after consulting, they themselves decided to give battle to the invading Norwegians. The two armies met at Fulford, a suburb of what is now York, on 20 September. It was raining, the field was wet and viscous, the battle turned out to be stubborn and lasted all day. At first, the English left flank was successful, but Harald, an experienced military leader, managed to turn the tide of the battle and push the enemy back to a huge ditch. The English formation broke down and a general exodus began. The army of the counts was smashed to smithereens.

In fact, Fulford was the battle that in many ways predetermined the fate of Anglo-Saxon England. If the counts had waited for the king and joined forces with him, they would have been able to avoid such large losses and save more forces by the time William Bastard landed on the English coast. As a result, neither Edwin nor Morkar, having lost their forces, did not take part in the Battle of Hastings, which ended the history of old, Anglo-Saxon England. However, in those days, few people thought about it - the Norman duke was still preparing an invasion, while the Scandinavians were already right there.

Tostig, who intended to regain Northumbria after the victory, convinced Harald not to plunder York. Instead, they entered into negotiations with the townspeople and they agreed to surrender the city. Harald, in turn, demanded that the inhabitants of York provide him with hostages as a guarantee of their fulfillment of the terms of the agreement, and also bring supplies for his troops. The place of gathering was the place of Stamford Bridge, where the Norwegians went on the morning of September 25, without expecting a catch. The weather was warm, and many Vikings left chain mail and other heavy ammunition on the ships.

Harold, having learned about the disaster at Fulford, rushed to York at full speed - in four days his army covered about 180 miles, which is a very serious indicator even in our time, not to mention the XI century. Finally, at about noon, the two armies met at Stamford Bridge, which came as a complete surprise to the Norwegians. Harald, however, decided to accept the battle and order his warriors to form in a ring - the traditional Viking defensive order.

There is a legend according to which, before the start of the battle, a lone horseman moved to the Norwegian "ring" from the British side, wishing to talk alone with Tostig. The parliamentarian said that the king could return the county to him if he left Harald and went over to the side of the British. Tostig asked what Harold was ready to offer to his ally Hardrada, to which the answer was:. After Tostig returned to the "ring", Harald, surprised by the courage of the unknown Englishman, asked who this rider was. The former Lord of Northumbria replied that King Harold himself was the rider.

After the negotiations ended in nothing, the British moved towards the Norwegian system. The town of Stamford Bridge had its name for a reason - if you believe the sources, a rivulet flowed in that place, across which a small bridge was thrown. One of the Vikings, a real giant, armed with an ax, single-handedly blocked the bridge and protected it from the English housecarls and militias - according to the chronicles, he killed forty husbands before he fell himself. Some cunning Englishman, realizing that in a fair fight he would not be able to defeat the giant, climbed into the barrel and swam in it under the bridge. Guessing the moment, he struck the spear from the bottom up - the point passed into the gap between the boards and struck the Norwegian. So the defender of the bridge fell, and Harold's army was finally able to continue moving.

When, at last, the main forces met in battle, neither side for a long time could gain the upper hand over the other. Despite the fact that many of them were unarmored, the Norwegians stubbornly resisted for several hours, but towards evening the advantages of the British began to take their toll. Finally, Harold's warriors managed to break through the "ring", which was the beginning of the end for the Scandinavians. Harald Hardrada, who had repeatedly found solutions in difficult situations, received an arrow in the throat, and seeing the death of the leader, the northerners simply broke down morally, and their system began to fall apart. When Tostig, the second commander, fell, the Vikings ran away.

And then the troops of the Norwegians appeared on the battlefield, remaining on the eve to guard the ships - the messengers informed them of the battle, and the Vikings, not sparing their feet, rushed to help their own. Alas, they were late, and nothing could be fixed. Nevertheless, their leader, Jarl Orre, attacked the British and slowed their movement, gaining precious minutes for their comrades hastily leaving the battlefield. If not for his desperate attack, the victims of the Norwegian army could have been even worse, since the most serious losses of the army of that time were usually borne not in battle, but during retreat. One way or another, this Viking detachment was also defeated, and Orre himself was killed.

Both sides lost several thousand people, and although Harold won the battle, in the long term he lost rather - perhaps it was these several thousand that he subsequently lacked in the battle of Hastings. A truce was concluded with the surviving leaders of the Vikings - they were allowed to sail home on condition that they vow to never again come to England with robbery.

Thus ended the last Scandinavian raid in English history. From the fleet of more than 300 ships, only 24 left back - for the rest there were simply no crews. And just three days after the Battle of Stamford Bridge, on September 28, the first troops of William Bastard landed in Pevensie, on the south coast of England, marking the beginning of a new era in the history of the long-suffering island.

Continuing, read:

- 10 facts about Scandinavian culture that break stereotypes about Vikings; - What did the Vikings eat and why all of Europe envied them; - 10 Viking inventions that tell a lot about their life and history;