Editing William the Conqueror (section)

=== Battle of Hastings ===
{{Main|Battle of Hastings}}

After defeating Harald Hardrada and Tostig, Harold left much of his army in the north, including Morcar and Edwin, and marched the rest south to deal with the threatened Norman invasion.<ref name=Carpenter72/> He probably learned of William's landing while he was travelling south. Harold stopped in London for about a week before marching to Hastings, so it is likely that he spent about a week on his march south, averaging about {{convert|27|mi|km|abbr=off}} per day,<ref name=Marren93>Marren ''1066'' p. 93</ref> for the distance of approximately {{convert|200|mi|km|abbr=off}}.<ref name=Huscroft124>Huscroft ''Norman Conquest'' p. 124</ref> Although Harold attempted to surprise the Normans, William's scouts reported the English arrival to the duke. The exact events preceding the battle are obscure, with contradictory accounts in the sources, but all agree that William led his army from his castle and advanced towards the enemy.<ref name=Lawson180>Lawson ''Battle of Hastings'' pp. 180–182</ref> Harold had taken a defensive position at the top of Senlac Hill (present-day [[Battle, East Sussex]]), about {{convert|6|mi|km|abbr=off}} from William's castle at Hastings.<ref name=Marren99>Marren ''1066'' pp. 99–100</ref>

[[File:Bayeux Tapestry Horses in Battle of Hastings.jpg|thumb|left|Scene from the [[Bayeux Tapestry]] depicting the Battle of Hastings]]

The battle began at about 9&nbsp;am on 14 October and lasted all day. While a broad outline is known, the exact events are obscured by contradictory accounts.<ref name=Huscroft126>Huscroft ''Norman Conquest'' p. 126</ref> Although the numbers on each side were about equal, William had both cavalry and infantry, including many archers, while Harold had only foot soldiers and few, if any, archers.<ref name=Carpenter73>Carpenter ''Struggle for Mastery'' p. 73</ref> The English soldiers formed up as a [[shield wall]] along the ridge and were at first so effective that William's army was thrown back with heavy casualties. Some of William's [[Breton people|Breton]] troops panicked and fled, and some of the English troops appear to have pursued the fleeing Bretons until they themselves were attacked and destroyed by Norman cavalry. During the Bretons' flight, rumours swept through the Norman forces that the duke had been killed, but William succeeded in rallying his troops. Two further Norman retreats were feigned, to draw the English into pursuit and expose them to repeated attacks by the Norman cavalry.<ref name=Huscroft127>Huscroft ''Norman Conquest'' pp. 127–128</ref> The available sources are more confused about events in the afternoon, but it appears that the decisive event was Harold's death, about which differing stories are told. William of Jumièges claimed that Harold was killed by the duke. The Bayeux Tapestry has been claimed to show Harold's death by an arrow to the eye, but that may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th-century stories in which Harold was slain by an arrow wound to the head.<ref name=Huscroft129>Huscroft ''Norman Conquest'' p. 129</ref>

Harold's body was identified the day after the battle, either through his armour or marks on his body. The English dead, including some of [[House of Godwin|Harold's brothers]] and his [[housecarl]]s, were left on the battlefield. [[Gytha Thorkelsdóttir]], Harold's mother, offered the duke the weight of her son's body in gold for it, but her offer was refused.{{efn|[[William of Malmesbury]] states that William did accept Gytha's offer, but William of Poitiers states that William refused the offer.<ref name=Godwine>Williams "Godwine, earl of Wessex" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> Modern biographers of Harold agree that William refused the offer.<ref name=Walker181>Walker ''Harold'' p. 181</ref><ref name=Rex254>Rex ''Harold II'' p. 254</ref>}} William ordered the body thrown into the sea, but whether that took place is unclear. [[Waltham Abbey (abbey)|Waltham Abbey]], which Harold founded, later claimed that his body had been secretly buried there.<ref name=Huscroft131>Huscroft ''Norman Conquest'' p. 131</ref>