Edward had until the mid-1050s been able to structure his earldoms so as to prevent the Godwins becoming dominant.

Godwin himself died in 1053 and although Harold succeeded to his earldom of Wessex, none of his other brothers were earls at this date.

His house was then weaker than it had been since Edward's succession, but a succession of deaths in 1055–57 has completely changed the picture.

Siward had died in 1055 but his son was considered too young to command Northumbria, and Harold's brother, Tostig, had been appointed.

Leofric of Mercia and Ralph the Timid both die in 1057, and Leofric's son Ælfgar succeeds as Earl of Mercia, while Harold's brother Gyrth succeeds Ælfgar as Earl of East Anglia.

The fourth surviving Godwin brother, Leofwine, is given an earldom in the southeast, carved out of Harold's territory, and Harold receives Ralph's territory in compensation.

The Godwin brothers by 1057 thus control all of England subordinately apart from Mercia.

It is not known whether Edward approved of this transformation or whether he had to accept it, but from this time he seems to have begun to withdraw from active politics, devoting himself to hunting, which he pursues each day after attending church.

After Edward ordered the assassination of the south Welsh prince Rhys ap Rhydderch in 1053 in reprisal for a raid on England, Rhys's head had been delivered to him.

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn had in 1053 established himself as the ruler of all Wales, and had allied himself with Ælfgar of Mercia, who had been outlawed for treason.

They had defeated Earl Ralph at Hereford, and Harold had had to collect forces from nearly all of England to drive the invaders back into Wales.

Peace is concluded with the reinstatement of Ælfgar, who in 1057 is able to succeed as Earl of Mercia on his father's death.

Gruffydd swears an oath to be a faithful under-king of Edward.

England’s childless Anglo-Saxon king, Edward, called the Confessor, on his deathbed in the first days of January 1066, allegedly names Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, heir to the English throne; he dies on January 4 or 5.

In any case, the Witenagemot, gathering at Thorney Island where Edward's Westminster Abbey had been dedicated days before he died, proclaims Harold, the richest and most powerful of the English aristocrats, King of England.

He is crowned as Harold II on January 6, by Ealdred, Archbishop of York, probably in the new Westminster Abbey, although Norman propaganda will claim the ceremony had been performed by Stigand, the uncanonically elected Archbishop of Canterbury.

Later in the month, Harold marries Ealdgyth, daughter of the late Earl Ælfgar, and widow of Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.

Harold is at once challenged by two powerful neighboring rulers.

Duke William of Normandy claims that he had been promised the throne by King Edward and that Harold had sworn agreement to this.

Harald III of Norway, commonly known as Harald Hardrada, also contests the succession.

His claim to the throne is based on an agreement between his predecessor Magnus I of Norway, and the earlier King of England Harthacanute, whereby if either died without heir the other would inherit both England and Norway.

William and Harald immediately set about assembling troops and ships for separate invasions.

Halley's Comet appears in the sky in April 1066, and is widely reported throughout Europe.

Contemporary accounts connect the comet's appearance with the succession crisis in England.

The first sign of real trouble for Harold comes from his exiled brother, Tostig.

According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Tostig lands on the Isle of Wight in May 1066 with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, later joined by other ships from Orkney, before ravaging the south coast of England, and ending up at Sandwich, Kent.

At Sandwich, Tostig is said to have enlisted and impressed sailors.

Threatened by Harold's fleet, …

…Tostig moves north and raids in East Anglia and Lincolnshire.

He is driven back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia, and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria.

Deserted by most of his followers, he withdraws to Scotland, where he will spend the middle of the year recruiting fresh forces.

Meeting and making a pact with Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, he agrees to support Hardrada in his invasion of England.

The medieval historian Orderic Vitalis has a different version of this story; he says that Tostig traveled to Normandy to enlist the help of William, Duke of Normandy.

Then, as William was not ready to get involved at that stage, Tostig had sailed from the Cotentin Peninsula, but because of storms ended up in Norway, and made his pact with Harald Hardrada there.

Edwin had succeeded as Earl of Mercia on the death of his father, Aelfgar, in 1062.

His younger brother, Morcar, had been elected Earl of Northumbria on October 3, 1065, when Tostig Godwinson was ejected by the Northumbrians.

Tostig returns in early September with further forces recruited in Flanders and Scotland, accompanied by King Harald Hardrada, who had set sail from Norway with three hundred ships.

As he approaches the English coast, his fleet is joined by Tostig's ships and they sail together along the River Ouse towards the city of York.

The Orderic Vitalis version says that in the month of August Hardrada and Tostig set sail across the wide sea with a favorable wind and landed in Yorkshire.

Edwin had brought some soldiers to the east to prepare for an invasion by the Norwegians.

The battle starts with the English spreading out their forces to secure their flanks.

On the right flank is the River Ouse, and on the left flank is the Fordland, a swampy area.

The disadvantage to the position is that it gives Harald higher ground, which is perfect for seeing the battle from a distance.

Another disadvantage is that if one flank were to give way, the other one would be in trouble.

If the Anglo-Saxon army is forced to retreat, it will not be able to because of the marshlands.

They will have to hold off the Norwegians as long as possible.

Harald's army approaches from three routes to the south.

Harald lines his army up to oppose the Anglo-Saxons, but he knows it will take hours for all of his troops to arrive.

His least experienced troops are sent to the right and his best troops on the riverbank.

The English strike first, advancing on the Norwegian army before it can fully deploy.

Morcar's troops push Harald's back into the marshlands, making progress against the weaker section of the Norwegian line.

However, this initial success proves insufficient for victory to the English army, as the Norwegians bring their better troops to bear upon them, still fresh against the weakened Anglo-Saxons.

Harald brings more of his troops from the right flank to attack the center, and sends more men to the river.

The invaders are outnumbered, but they keep pushing and shoving the defenders back.

The Anglo-Saxons are forced to give ground.

Edwin's soldiers who are defending the bank are now cut off from the rest of the army by the marsh, so they head back to the city to make a final stand.

Other invading Norwegians, who are still arriving, find a way to get around the thick fighting and open a third front against the Anglo-Saxons.

The defenders, outnumbered and outmaneuvered, are defeated.

Edwin and Morcar however, manage to survive the fight.

It has been estimated that at Fulford the Norwegians had about ten thousand troops, of which six thousand were deployed in the battle, and the defenders five thousand.

Casualties during the battle are heavy on both sides.

Some estimates claim fifteen percent dead giving a total of sixteen hundred and fifty (based on eleven thousand troops being deployed in the battle).

It is clear from all accounts that the mobilized power of Mercia and Northumbria was cut to pieces at Fulford.

York surrenders to the Norwegians under the promise that the victors will not force entry to their city, perhaps because Tostig would not have wanted his capital looted.

After briefly occupying York and taking hostages and supplies from the city, they return to their ships at Riccall.

They offer peace to the Northumbrians in exchange for their support for Harald's bid for the throne, and demand further hostages from the whole of Yorkshire.

It is arranged that the various hostages should be brought in and the Norwegian army retires to Stamford Bridge, seven miles (eleven kilometers) east of York, to await their arrival.

There is no village at Stamford Bridge in 1066 and not even in 1086 when the Domesday Book will be compiled.

The name is locative and descriptive of crossing points over the River Derwent being derived from a combination of the words stone, ford and bridge, i.e., stoneford and bridge.

At the location of the present village, within the river bed, there is an outcrop of stone over which the river once flowed as a mini-waterfall.

At low water levels one could easily cross over the river at this point, either on foot or horseback.

King Harold has spent mid-1066 on the south coast with a large army and fleet waiting for William to invade.

The bulk of his forces are militia who need to harvest their crops, so on September Harold had dismissed the militia and the fleet.

Learning of the Norwegian invasion, he heads north at great speed with his house carls and as many thegns as he has been able gather, traveling day and night.

He makes the journey from London to Yorkshire, a distance of about one hundred and eighty-five miles (three hundred and ten kilometers), in only four days, enabling him to take the Norwegians completely by surprise.

Having learned that Northumbrians had been ordered to send the additional hostages and supplies to the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge, Harold hurries on through York to attack them at this rendezvous on September 25.

Until the English army comes into view the invaders remain unaware of the presence of a hostile army anywhere in the vicinity.

The Vikings are at an enormous disadvantage.

Their army is divided in two; with some of their troops on the west side of the River Derwent and the bulk of their army on the east side.

They are not expecting English intervention, and since it is an unseasonably warm day for late September; they leave their armor behind at their ships.

The English army arrives and annihilates the Vikings, who fight a futile defense on the west side of the river.

By the time the bulk of the English army has arrived, the Vikings on the west side are either slain or fleeing across the bridge.

The English advance is then delayed by the need to pass through the choke-point presented by the bridge.

A later folk story has it that a giant Norse axeman (possibly armed with a Danish Axe) blocked the narrow crossing, and single-handedly held up the entire English army.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that this axeman cut down up to forty Englishmen.

He was only defeated when an English soldier floated under the bridge in a half-barrel and thrust his spear through the laths in the bridge, mortally wounding the axeman.

Whatever the delay, this has allowed the bulk of the Norse army to form a shieldwall to face the English attack.

Harold's army pours across the bridge, forming a line just short of the Norse army, locks shields and charges.

The battle goes far beyond the bridge itself, and although it rages for hours the Norse army's decision to leave their armor behind has put them at a distinct disadvantage.

Eventually, the Norse army begins to fragment and fracture, allowing the English troops to force their way in and break up the Scandinavians' shield wall.

Completely outflanked, Hardrada at this point is killed with an arrow to his throat and Tostig slain.

The Norwegian army disintegrates and is virtually annihilated.

In the later stages of the battle, the Norwegians are reinforced by troops who had been left behind to guard the ships at Ricall, led by Eystein Orri, Hardrada's daughter's fiancé.

Some of his men are said to have collapsed and died of exhaustion upon reaching the battlefield.

These men, unlike their comrades, are fully armed for battle.

Their counterattack, described in the Norwegian tradition as "Orri's Storm", briefly checks the English advance, but is soon overwhelmed and Orri is slain by a Saxon warrior.

The Norwegian army routs, pursued by the English army.

Some of the fleeing Norsemen drown in the rivers.

So many die in an area so small that the field is said to have been still whitened with bleached bones fifty years after the battle.

King Harold accepts a truce with the surviving Norwegians, including Harald's son Olaf and Paul and Erland Thorfinnsson, Ears of Orkney.

Olaf, who is only sixteen years old, had stayed on a ship and had not participated in the fighting.

The survivors are allowed to leave after giving pledges not to attack England again.

The losses the Norwegians have suffered are so horrific that only twenty-four ships from the fleet of over three hundred are needed to carry the survivors away.

They withdraw to Orkney, where they will spend the winter before returning to Norway in the spring, Olaf leaving on good terms with the Thorfinssons.

William has meanwhile assembled a large invasion fleet and an army gathered from Normandy and the rest of France, including large contingents from Brittany and Flanders.

He has spent almost nine months on his preparations, as he has had to construct a fleet from nothing.

According to some Norman chronicles, he had also secured diplomatic support, although the accuracy of the reports has been a matter of historical debate.

The most famous claim is that Pope Alexander II gave a papal banner as a token of support, which only appears in William of Poitiers's account, and not in more contemporary narratives.

William had mustered his forces at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, and was ready to cross the English Channel by about August 12, but the crossing had been delayed, either because of unfavorable weather or to avoid being intercepted by the powerful English fleet.

The Normans cross to England a few days after Harold's victory over the Norwegians, following the dispersal of Harold's naval force.

William lands in Sussex on September 28 on the south coast between Pevensey and Hastings.

A few ships are blown off course and land at Romney, where the Normans fight the local fyrd.

The ships used by William to invade England are (judging from the Bayeux Tapestry celebrating the event) similar to Viking longships, except for being partially decked and having a corvus (small castle) at bow and stern, from which soldiers can use their bows and arrows against the enemy before they draw near enough enough to board.