What happend at the battle of Stanford bridge?

Answer 1

The English (who had been camped waiting for the Normans [or French] to invade) raced up to fight the Viking force that had invaded England in the north. The English won, and then had to leg it down the The Battle of Hastings as the Normans had invaded whilst the English were fighting up at Stamford Bridge. The Normans then beat the English at the battle of Hastings (the one made famous for the arrow to the eye of King Harrold - although it was probably horsemen that killed him)

Answer 2

This was a battle between King Harold II of England and King Harald III of Norway for the English crown. the English won and Harald was killed. A few weeks later Harold himself was killed at the battle of Hastings and William, Duke of Normandy, became King of England. The contenders for the throne were, Edgar 'The Atheling' , Harold Hadrada, William Duke of Normandy and Harold Godwinson. The new king was needed because the past king (Edward the Confessor) had died. The wittan chose Harold Godwinson to be the new king of England. Edgar 'The Atheling' just gave up because he was only about 14 when this happened. But the other contenders wanted a fight. The fight of Stamford Bridge Involved Harold Godwinson (the new King of England) and Harold Hadrada (one of the other contenders).

Answer 3

The Battle of Stamford Bridge took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire in England on 25 September 1066. This was shortly after an invading Norwegian army under King Harald Hardråde (Old Norse: Haraldr harðráði) defeated the army of the northern earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria at the Battle of Fulford two miles south of York. After a lengthy forced march up to Stamford Bridge that took place in just four days, King Harold Godwinson of England caught Harald's force by surprise, which meant that the soldiers were unarmoured. After a stubborn battle, the majority of the Norwegians were killed along with Harald Hardråde and Earl Tostig, Harold's brother. Although Harold repelled the Norwegian invaders, his victory was short-lived: he was defeated and killed at Hastings less than three weeks later.

Answer 4

the vikings started out split in two. in york, they were separated by a river, connected by a narrow bridge. on the east bank there were a few vikings, but the main force was on the west bank. the Saxons attacked the east bank, and some vikings resisted, but were cut down. others tried to escape over the bridge, and joined up with the rest of their army. the story goes that a giant Norwegian held up the saxon army and cut down 40 Saxons, and was only taken down when a saxon floated under the bridge in a barrel and stabbed up with his spear. by this stage, every viking who had been on the east bank was either dead, or had fled back across the river. the two armies formed shield walls, and the main phase of the battle began. the battle raged for hours, but the viking leaders were killed, their army annihilated.

Answer 5

The year was 1066 and King Edward the Confessor had died naming Harold, the Earl of Wessex, as his successor with the agreement of the Witan. Harold's brother Tostig had rebelled and travelled to the court of King Harald Hardrada of Norway in order to seek assistance. The King of Norway was at this time the most renown and feared warrior in the whole of Europe. He stood 6 feet 6 tall and had fought and won many battles. Tostig eventually persuaded Harold Hardrada that he could invade England and no one there would have the force to stop him. Meanwhile in Normandy after hearing of the Witan's decision William, the Duke of Normandy, began to put together an invasion fleet. Through his spies Harold knew that William would be coming and gathered together a huge army backed up by the navy on the southern shores of England. Unfortunately the southerly winds which kept the Normans in France were welcomed by Harold Hardrada who immediately set sail for England and landed near York with a massive army of Viking warriors. They were immediately met by the Northern Earls and at the Battle of Fulford Gate the local forces were quickly routed. On the south coast Harold heard the news of the invasion and immediately marched the 200 miles north with his army; completing the entire journey in under four days. The Norwegian army was at this time camped at Stamford Bridge when they first became aware of a dust cloud coming towards them. Not believing that a second English army could have travelled from the south so soon they took no immediate action until Tostig recognised the two banners; the Dragon of Wessex and King Harold's own personal banner "The Fighting Man". King Harold rode out with twenty of his Housecarls and was met by the Norwegian King, his body guards and Tostig. Snorri Sturluson; a Norwegian who was present at the battle later wrote that King Harold rode forward and spoke to Tostig: "Your brother King Harold sends you his greeting, and this message to say you can have peace and the whole of Northumbria as well. Rather than have you refuse to join him, he is prepared to give you one third of his whole kingdom" Tostig replied asking if he accepted this offer what would King Harold offer the Norwegian King. "King Harold has already declared how much of England he is prepared to grant him: two metres of English ground " BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE page 2/2 With the talking finished both armies formed their battle lines. The Norwegian King asked Tostig who was the man was who had spoken so well and stood so proudly in his stirrups. Tostig replied that, that was his brother King Harold of England. The Norwegian King was annoyed that if he had been told he could have killed Harold there and then. Tostig replied:"That would have made me his murderer and I would rather that he was my killer than I his" At this point battle was joined and the English army fell on the Vikings. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (SA 1066), the Stamford Bridge was immediately held by a powerful individual Viking who delayed the approaching English; he was finally brought down by a spear from underneath the bridge. This delay gave Harald Hardrada time to form his army in a circle on high ground and let the English approach uphill with their backs to the river. The battle lasted for hours and eventually the Norwegian King was killed. After a stubborn battle with losses on both sides, although particularly bad for the unarmoured Vikings, and despite the arrival of Norwegian reinforcements, in the end the Norwegian army was decisively defeated. Harold offered quarter to Tostig and the remaining Norwegians but they refused this and once again the battle was rejoined until the Norwegian army was eventually destroyed. King Harold accepted a truce with the surviving Norwegians, including Hardrada's son Olaf and they were allowed to leave after giving pledges not to attack England again. This battle marked the end of the era of full scale invasions of England from the Vikings of Scandinavia. Harold had won a stunning victory against a foe that up until now had been considered unbeatable. The Norwegian fleet which had come to England had been 300 ships strong. After a final surrender Harold once again showed mercy to the survivors and allowed the remnants of the army to leave in peace. It took only 20 ships to carry them home. The English had also suffered casualties and many of Harold's Housecarls, the core of the army lay dead on the battlefield. Word soon reached Harold that once again the winds had changed and William had landed at Pevensy Bay in Sussex. After taking his brother's body for burial at York Harold gathered the remnants of his army together and once again force marched the 200 miles to London. Once in London Harold tried to bolster his exhausted army with local levies raised from the surrounding areas. By the 14th October 1066 it was a very different English army that faced the Normans at Hastings from the one that had waited for them just twenty days earlier.

Answer 6

Harold Godwinson won the battle of Stamford Bridge, but it tired his army, and afterwords the army had to march a very long way to get to the Battle of Hastings. It is thought that part of the reason he lost at Hastings was that his army was tired.

Answer 7

Harold Godwinson heard about the news that Harold Hardrada had pillaged and defeated the English at Gate Fulford. He marched North and covered 190 miles in 4 days. This completely caught Hardrada by surprise who alongside most of the Vikings where not fully equipped and drunk through celebrations. In another long bloody battle, Harold Godwinsson won total victory.

Answer 8

Harold defeated invading Vikings, but William of Normandy used it for his own advantage, that he would face a tired English army at Hastings.

Answer 9

Harolds' army turned around & marched from Yorkshire to the south coast to fight William at Hastings.