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Norman Conquest Timeline

(1066 - 1071)

The Norman Conquest was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French forces led by Duke William II of Normandy. Culminating in the decisive Battle of Hastings in 1066, it overthrew Anglo-Saxon rule, crowned William as King of England, and profoundly reshaped English language, law, architecture, and aristocracy. Less

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Consolidation of Power

Norman language dominates the nobility

Jan 1, 1066 - Dec 31, 1071

William the Conqueror never developed a working knowledge of English, and for centuries afterwards English was not well understood by the nobility, reshaping the linguistic landscape of elite England.

Image source: Norman Conquest

Norman language dominates the nobility

Marriages between Normans and English

Jan 1, 1066 - Dec 31, 1071

Several marriages are attested between Norman men and English women during the years before 1100, but such marriages were uncommon. Within a century of the invasion, intermarriage between the native English and the Norman immigrants had become common.

Expropriation of English landholders

Jan 1, 1066 - Dec 31, 1071

A colossal programme of expropriation transferred land from English to Norman hands; by 1086 only about 5 per cent of land in England south of the Tees was left in English hands. After 1075 all earldoms were held by Normans, and Englishmen were only occasionally appointed as sheriffs.

Norman settlement of England underway

Jan 1, 1066 - Dec 31, 1071

An estimated 8000 Normans and other continentals settled in England as a result of the conquest, although exact figures cannot be established. They were few in number compared to the native English population; historians estimate the number of Norman landholders at around 8000.

William acclaimed King of England

Dec 25, 1066

With his rivals gone after Hastings, William was acclaimed King of England on Christmas Day 1066, marking the beginning of Norman rule over the conquered kingdom.

Image source: William the Conqueror

William acclaimed King of England

Coronation of William at Westminster Abbey

Dec 25, 1066

William was crowned by Ealdred on 25 December 1066, in Westminster Abbey, formally establishing him as King of England following his victory at Hastings.

Image source: Coronations of William the Conqueror and Matilda

Coronation of William at Westminster Abbey

William returns to Normandy with prisoners

Mar 1, 1067

William remained in England until March 1067, when he returned to Normandy with English prisoners, including Stigand, Morcar, Edwin, Edgar Ætheling, and Waltheof.

William returns to England

Nov 1, 1067

The unrest in England forced William to return to England at the end of 1067 to reassert his authority over the unsettled kingdom.

Death of Archbishop Ealdred

Sep 11, 1069

The see of York had become vacant following the death of Ealdred in September 1069, leaving a key ecclesiastical post unfilled during a time of crisis.

Image source: Ealdred (archbishop of York)

Death of Archbishop Ealdred

Danes bought off and agree to leave England

Dec 1, 1069 - Mar 31, 1070

William bought off the Danes, who agreed to leave England in the spring, removing a major external threat to his rule during the winter of 1069–70.

Image source: Harrying of the North

Danes bought off and agree to leave England

William ceremonially wears his crown at York

Dec 25, 1069

As a symbol of his renewed authority over the north, William ceremonially wore his crown at York on Christmas Day 1069 amid the suppression of the northern rebellions.

Submission of Waltheof and Gospatric

Jan 1, 1070

In early 1070, having secured the submission of Waltheof and Gospatric, William consolidated control over the remaining English magnates of the north.

William crushes resistance in Mercia from Chester

Feb 1, 1070

Having secured the north, William returned to Mercia, where he based himself at Chester and crushed all remaining resistance in the area before returning to the south.

Road to War

Tostig Godwinson raids southeastern England

Jan 1, 1066

In early 1066, Harold's exiled brother, Tostig Godwinson, raided southeastern England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, later joined by other ships from Orkney, adding to the instability surrounding the English succession.

Death of King Edward the Confessor

Jan 5, 1066

King Edward died at the beginning of January 1066. The lack of a clear heir led to a disputed succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of England.

Image source: Edward the Confessor

Death of King Edward the Confessor

Harold Godwinson succeeds to the throne

Jan 6, 1066

Edward was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, whose accession was disputed by other claimants including Duke William of Normandy and the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada.

Image source: Harold Godwinson

Harold Godwinson succeeds to the throne

Invasion and Battles

Harald Hardrada invades northern England

Sep 1, 1066

Another claimant for the throne, the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, invaded northern England in September 1066, opening a second front against Harold Godwinson's new regime.

Image source: Harald Hardrada

Harald Hardrada invades northern England

Battle of Fulford

Sep 20, 1066

Hardrada was victorious at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September 1066, defeating the northern English earls. Their forces were devastated and unable to participate in the rest of the campaigns of 1066, although the two earls survived the battle.

Image source: Battle of Fulford

Battle of Fulford

Battle of Stamford Bridge

Sep 25, 1066

Godwinson's army marched north and defeated and killed Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066, eliminating one of his main rivals for the throne.

Image source: Battle of Stamford Bridge

Battle of Stamford Bridge

William's invasion army crosses to England

Sep 28, 1066

The Norman Conquest was an 11th-century invasion by an army made up of thousands of Norman, French, Flemish, and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.

Size of William's invading force

Oct 14, 1066

Modern historians have offered a range of estimates for the size of William's forces: 7000–8000 men, 1000–2000 of them cavalry; 10,000–12,000 men; 10,000 men, 3000 of them cavalry; or 7500 men.

Size of Harold's army at Hastings

Oct 14, 1066

Recent historians have suggested figures of between 5000 and 13,000 for Harold's army at Hastings, but most agree on a range of between 7000 and 8000 English troops.

Image source: Battle of Hastings

Size of Harold's army at Hastings

Battle of Hastings begins

Oct 14, 1066

The battle began at about 9 am on 14 October 1066 and lasted all day, but while a broad outline is known, the events are obscured by contradictory accounts in the sources.

Death of Harold Godwinson at Hastings

Oct 14, 1066

King Harold fell at the Battle of Hastings. The Bayeux Tapestry has been claimed to show Harold's death by an arrow to the eye, but this may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th-century stories that Harold had died from an arrow wound to the head.

Rebellions and Resistance

Kent rebels attack Dover Castle

Jan 1, 1067

In 1067 rebels in Kent launched an unsuccessful attack on Dover Castle in combination with Eustace II of Boulogne, one of the first uprisings against Norman rule.

Siege of Exeter

Jan 1, 1068

In 1068 William besieged rebels in Exeter, including Harold's mother Gytha, and after suffering heavy losses managed to negotiate the town's surrender.

Massacre of Robert de Comines at Durham

Jan 28, 1069

Early in 1069 the newly installed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines, and several hundred soldiers accompanying him were massacred at Durham, igniting rebellion in the north.

Danish fleet arrives off the English coast

Aug 15, 1069

In August or September 1069 a large fleet sent by Sweyn II of Denmark arrived off the coast of England, sparking a new wave of rebellions across the country.

Image source: Sweyn II of Denmark

Danish fleet arrives off the English coast

Harrying of the North

Dec 1, 1069 - Mar 31, 1070

During the winter of 1069–70 William's forces systematically devastated Northumbria in the Harrying of the North, subduing all resistance through scorched-earth campaigns.

Edgar Ætheling driven back to Scotland

Jan 1, 1070

Early in 1070 William drove Edgar Ætheling and his remaining supporters back to Scotland, ending the last serious dynastic challenge based in England itself.

Image source: Edgar Ætheling

Edgar Ætheling driven back to Scotland

Sweyn II joins Hereward the Wake in the Fens

Jun 1, 1070

In 1070 Sweyn II arrived to take personal command of his fleet and renounced the earlier agreement to withdraw, sending troops into the Fens to join forces with English rebels led by Hereward the Wake, at that time based on the Isle of Ely.

Final outbreak of Fenland rebel activity

Jan 1, 1071

After the departure of the Danes, the Fenland rebels remained at large, protected by the marshes, and early in 1071 there was a final outbreak of rebel activity in the area.

Image source: Hereward the Wake

Final outbreak of Fenland rebel activity

Key Facts

  1. The conquest began with the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066, where King Harold II was killed, reportedly by an arrow to the eye.
  2. William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England on Christmas Day, 1066, at Westminster Abbey.
  3. Anglo-Saxon resistance persisted for years, with major revolts crushed during the 'Harrying of the North' (1069-1070), which devastated northern England.
  4. The Domesday Book, completed in 1086, recorded landholdings across England to assess taxes and consolidate Norman control.
  5. The conquest introduced Norman French as the language of the ruling class, fundamentally transforming the English language and feudal system.

Source

This Norman Conquest timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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