On 14 October 1066, King Harold II’s English army fought William, Duke of Normandy’s invading forces, near Hastings. By the end of the day, Harold was dead, and William had won the battle that opened the way for the Norman conquest of England.

Harold became king in January after Edward the Confessor died. William claimed that Edward had promised him the English throne and that Harold had sworn to support his claim. When Harold took the crown, William prepared an invasion and landed at Pevensey in Sussex in late September.

The English king was returning from another invasion of the North. On 25 September, his army had defeated the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge, near York. Harold then moved rapidly south to confront William.

The two armies met on a ridge at the place now called Battle. The English fought on foot behind a shield wall, while William used archers, infantry and mounted knights. Norman attacks failed to break the English position early on. At one point, a rumour that William had been killed caused part of his army to retreat. He showed his face to his troops and restored order.

The battle continued for most of the day. Some English soldiers left the ridge to pursue retreating Normans and were cut down. Later attacks weakened the shield wall. Harold was killed during the final stages, although the surviving accounts disagree about how he died. His brothers Gyrth and Leofwine were also killed.

Without its king and leading commanders, the English army broke. William’s victory did not give him immediate control of the kingdom, but organised resistance weakened as he advanced towards London. He was crowned king at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.

The conquest replaced much of the English landholding elite with Norman lords. The Normans built castles across the country, and the Church was reorganised under Norman leadership. Around 1071, William founded Battle Abbey on the battlefield as a memorial to the dead and as an act of penance for the bloodshed.