171 Battle Of Stamford Bridge Facts To Know For Your History Test

The Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 pitted the English against the Vikings in a great battle for the English throne.

The battle at Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066, is often regarded as the end of the Viking Age. An army headed by the English king, Harold II, defeated an invading force led by Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

Despite being overshadowed by the Battle of Hastings, which occurred just 19 days later, the Battle at Stamford Bridge is widely seen as heralding the end of the Viking Age and paving the path for the Norman conquest of England.

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Fun Facts About Battle Of Stamford Bridge

Here are some interesting facts about the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

The invasion of Viking king Harald Hardrada ignited the bloody battle. In the year 1066, Harald was one of at least five contenders for the English throne.

Harold Godwinson, Edward the Confessor's right-hand man, ascended the throne after Edward the Confessor died in January of that year. Harald, on the other hand, believed he had a legitimate claim to the throne and invaded Yorkshire in September.

After being exiled by King Edward and Harold in November 1065, Harold's own brother, Tostig Godwinson, paired up with Harald for vengeance. The decision to outlaw Tostig came when he refused to resign as Earl of Northumbria in the face of a rebellion.

Tostig, on the other hand, felt the move as unjust and, after attempting to depose Harold himself, asked Harald Hardrada to invade England.

King Harold's soldiers caught Hardrada's army off guard. The Viking army had not expected a battle at Stamford Bridge; they had been expecting hostages to arrive from nearby York, which they had recently conquered. When Harold learned of the northern invasion, he rushed north, assembling an army along the way and surprising Harald and Tostig's men.

The Vikings were on one side of a single thin bridge over the River Derwent, while Harold's army was on the other. According to accounts, when Harold's soldiers attempted to cross the bridge in a single file, they were stopped by a giant axeman who hacked them down one by one. The axeman reportedly killed 40 of Harold's men.

This axeman, though, is said to have gotten his comeuppance very quickly, according to sources. A member of Harold's troops is said to have floated beneath the bridge in a half-barrel and slammed a big spear into the axeman's vitals.

Historical Facts About Battle Of Stamford Bridge

The Battle of Stamford bridge holds great significance in history. The Vikings suffered the loss of more than 8000 men while the casualties suffered by the Anglo-Saxons are unknown.

On September 25, 1066, the two armies collided at Stamford Bridge, just outside York. It was a terrible encounter, but Harold's army (the Anglo-Saxons) managed to break through the Viking invaders' front line and won the battle.

The Vikings were in a terrible position. Their force was split into two sections, with some troops on the west bank of the Derwent and the rest on the east bank. They weren't expecting English intervention, and because it was an unusually warm day for late September, they left their armor on board.

The English army arrived and slaughtered the Vikings who had been fighting a hopeless defense on the river's west side. The Vikings on the west side were either murdered or escaping across the bridge by the time the rest of the English army arrived.

Before the fight began, Harold Godwinson arrived on the bridge with his 20 Hurscal knights to oppose Tostig and Harald. It was a sibling rivalry, with Harold promising Tostig his prior earldom of Northumbria if he returned home. In addition, he will receive a third of the England prize for deserting Hardrada.

The English advance was hampered by the need to pass through the bridge's choke point. According to historic accounts, a gigantic Norse axeman arrived on the bridge, barred the little crossing, and held up the entire English army on its own.

Tostig persuaded Hardrada, the Norse ruler, to return and to battle again when the conditions were better.

But Hardrada declined, knowing that since his initial triumph at Fulford Gate, his army needed a win. He dispatched two men on the fastest horses to return to the fleet at Riccall and immediately retrieve his reserve soldiers to assist their monarch.

Whatever the reason for the delay, the bulk of the Norse army was able to move to Battle Flats, a small hill, to construct a shield wall against the English attack.

Because the English horsemen charged up the hill and attacked the Norse shield-wall after the last section units of Vikings arrived at the location a line. The Norwegians stood firm and suffered the English horsemen's casualties before fleeing or feigning retreat.

The conflict stretched far beyond the bridge, and despite the fact that it raged for hours, the Norse army's decision to leave their armor behind put them at a significant disadvantage. The Norse army finally splintered and disintegrated, allowing English fighters to break through the Norwegian shield wall.

However, the English had difficulties breaking through and the Vikings became more aggressive. Many people were killed on both sides. The Norseman was taken off guard as the English cavalry turned around and attacked.

After receiving the message, the reinforcements rushed to the battlefield. Harald Hardrada was fatally wounded by an arrow to the windpipe, Tostig was killed, and the Norwegian army disbanded and was practically wiped out at this point.

The Norwegians were bolstered in the final phases of the conflict by troops left behind to defend the ships at Riccall, led by Eystein Orre, Hardrada's daughter's fiancé. On the battlefield, some of his troops were believed to have collapsed and died of weariness.

Unlike their companions, these men were properly equipped for the fight.

Their counter-attack, dubbed 'Orre's Storm' in Norwegian history, halted the English assault for a time but was soon overcome, and Orri was killed by a Saxon warrior. The Norwegian army was routed, and several of the fleeing Norsemen perished in the rivers as they were chased by the English.

Facts About The Armies Involved In The Battle

At the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the English army, led by King Harold Godwinson, met an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada of Norway and Tostig Godwinson; the brother of the English King.

For the invasion of England, King Harald gathered a fleet of more than 300 ships, carrying approximately 15,000 men. In September, he arrived off the coast of England, accompanied by additional men raised in Flanders and Scotland by Tostig Godwinson. Hardrada's Viking army was further fortified by forces recruited by Tostig Godwinson.

Around 11,000 Norwegians and Flemish mercenaries - the latter paid by Tostig – made up the invading force. When Harold and his army landed at Stamford Bridge, however, only about 6,000 were present. The remaining 5,000 stood 15 mi (24 km) to the south, defending the Norse ships stranded at Riccall.

Only 24 ships returned out of an initial fleet of 300 or more. Harold pledged before the fight that Hardrada would only obtain "seven feet of English land" for his invasion, and he kept his word, albeit Hardrada's remains were later returned to Norway.

Although Hardrada only had a minor role in the Norman Conquest, many historians believe that his choice to invade England at the same time as William was a critical component in the final collapse of Anglo-Saxons.

Hardrada had a strong military resume, having served as a mercenary for the Kievan Rus and, before that, in the Byzantine Empire's elite Varangian Guard, famously assisting in the seizure of Messina and Syracuse on Sicily from the Arabs in 1038 CE.

Each Viking ship could possibly transport around 80 men, including the rowers, but a force of 24,000 men would be improbable. A total of less than half of that seems much more likely.

On September 8, the fleet traveled from Trondheim to Orkney before landing near the mouth of the River Tyne off the northeast coast of England.

Tostig led a small fleet of maybe 12 ships that joined Hardrada there. From there, the two fleets sailed south, halting in Cleveland to plunder the city before going down the coast to the mouth of the Humber River, up the River Ouse, and dock at Riccall, only 10 m (16 km) from York.

Facts About The Aftermath Of The Battle

The surviving Norwegians agreed to a ceasefire with King Harold, including Hardrada's son, Olaf, and Paul Thorfinnsson, Earl of Orkney. After promising not to attack England again, they were allowed to leave.

Both Hardrada and Tostig were killed in the ensuing battle, and the Norwegian invasion was nearly wiped off when the Viking shield wall eventually broke. The Norwegians had gathered a fleet of 300 ships for the invasion of England, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Only 24 ships out of a fleet of nearly 300 were needed to transport the survivors because the Norwegians had suffered such terrible losses.

They spent the winter on Orkney, and returned to Norway in the spring. The kingdom was subsequently divided and shared between him and his brother Magnus, who had been placed in charge of the realm while Harald was away.

The defeat of Harald Sigurdsson, King of Norway, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 is considered the end of the Viking raiding era.

A variety of broader causes led to the Vikings' decline: armies and fortresses improved the ability of villages formerly attacked by Vikings to defend themselves; the introduction of Christianity in Europe; and reduced egalitarianism in Viking society.

Harold has achieved a complete victory, but his triumph was temporary. While Harold was fighting the Vikings in the north of England, William the Conqueror and his Norman army were preparing to march south. When the Normans landed in Sussex on September 29, Harold's triumphant army was still celebrating their victory at Stamford Bridge in the north.

King Harold scored a tremendous victory, but he lost a third of his army, and only four days later, he led his army on another lengthy forced march to confront Duke William near the south coast of England.

Harold's victory would have been hailed as one of the greatest in English history at any other time, but the outcome of the battle against Duke William three weeks later at Hastings would determine his fate.

On October 14, less than three weeks after the Battle of Stamford Bridge, King Harold was defeated and killed at the Battle of Hastings, signaling the start of the Norman Conquest of England and marking the end of the Anglo-Saxon era.

It was impossible for the Anglo-Saxon army to resist their new Norman lords because so many senior Thegns and lesser noblemen died at Stamford Bridge and Hastings; there were virtually no leaders standing to unite around.

The king had died by the end of the battle, and William was on his way to taking the English Crown.

The Battle of Hastings may have pushed the Battle of Stamford Bridge to historical obscurity, but the latter was responsible, probably more than any other event, for the defeat of both the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings, ushering in a new period of Northern European history.

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