Don Hollway: The Year of Three Battles (1066)

1066 was the year that England’s destiny was decided. In this superbly analysed episode, the author Don Hollway takes us back to the scenes of the three great battles that changed the course of history: Fulford, Stamford Bridge and Hastings.

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The drama of 1066 began in its very first week, with the death of the old king, Edward the Confessor, on 5 January. The following day the powerful earl Harold Godwinson was crowned in Westminster Abbey and the dynamic was set for the clash that followed.

Harold’s claim to the throne was famously put down to a deathbed wish from Edward. But this was complicated by an earlier promise Edward had seemingly to Duke William of Normandy. While King Harold looked nervously towards the Channel that summer, for signs of a Norman invasion, another grave threat was developing in the north.

In September 1066 the news reached London that Harald ‘Hardrada’ the Viking king had landed with a great army of invasion near York. The month that followed would be one of the most dramatic and decisive in English history as a trio of battles were fought in the north and south.

In this episode, Don Hollway, the author of The Last Viking: The True Story of King Harald Hardrada takes us back to these three battles. While they were fought on different terrain and in different parts of the country, he points out, they all had one key point in common: the failure of a shield wall.

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Show notes

Scene One: 20 September 1066. The Battle of Fulford, just south of York in the north of England.

Scene Two: 25 September 25 1066. Stamford Bridge, east of York.

Scene Three: 14 October 1066. Hastings on the south coast, or more precisely Senlac Hill, a few miles inland.

Memento: Harald Hardrada’s raven flag or Harold Godwinson’s ‘fighting man’ flag.

People/Social

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Don Hollway

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Ace Cultural Tours

Theme music: ‘Love Token’ from the album ‘This Is Us’ By Slava and Leonard Grigoryan

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