The Battle of Stamford Bridge

On 25 September 1066, King Harold Godwinson won a crushing Anglo Saxon victory at Stamford Bridge, destroying the invading Norwegian army of Harald Hardrada and Harold’s own brother Tostig just days before the Norman landing at Hastings. Harold’s army had marched roughly 185 miles north in under a week, catching the Vikings by surprise as many were camped east of the River Derwent without their armour on a hot day.  The English surged across (and around) the bridge, broke the Norwegian line, and drove them back toward their ships in a bloody rout in which both Hardrada and Tostig were killed. Contemporary chronicles stress the ferocity and the scale of the slaughter, of around 300 ships that had brought the invaders, only about 20 25 were needed to carry the survivors home.  One famous passage even describes a lone Norwegian holding the bridge against the English until he was speared from below, allowing Harold’s men to pour across and finish the battle. Stamford Bridge ended the last serious Viking attempt to conquer England and secured the north for Harold but at heavy cost.