There was more than one battle in 1066 - and the Battle of Stamford Bridge was the battle of the two Harolds - one English one Viking.
Many soldiers in King Harold of England’s army at the Battle of Hastings were fighting their third major battle in less than a month. Far to the north, more than 300 ships led by the Norwegian king, Harald Hardrada invaded the city of York.
Like Duke William of Normandy, the king of Norway was pressing his claim to the English throne, which had been grabbed by Harold Godwinson – a powerful earl, but not a member of the Anglo-Saxon royal house – following the death of King Edward the Confessor without a recognised heir in January 1066.
Who won the Battle of Stamford Bridge?
Despite the Viking army defeating the northern English earls at Fulford Bridge just south of York, they were surprised and overwhelmed by King Harold’s victorious army five days later at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, a few miles to the east of York.
Harald Hardrada was killed in the fighting and only 25 of his 300 plus ships escaped to tell the tale. Today, the precise location of the battle is unknown, though local tradition locates it to the aptly named Battle Flats east of the River Derwent.
King Harold’s triumph was emphatic but short-lived. Just three days later Duke William landed at Pevensey, and Harold’s army began a headlong dash southwards to confront this new foe at Hastings, marching nearly 300 miles in just 13 days.
In the end Harold's reign would last less than a year and his death ushered in a new dynasty, the Normans
Discover more about Britain's bloodiest past
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- Brutal massacre at Battle of Culloden. The bloody final clash that crushed the Jacobite Rebellion
- Decisive clash at Naseby: How one battle changed the fate of the English Civil War and the way the country was governed forever
