Stamford Bridge- The battle that ended an era. Part Two

Part Two: The 3 Main Protagonists

In the first part of this series, we talked about the background to this famous 1066 battle. In this episode, King Harold has recieved word of Hardrada's landing in Yorkshire in mid September, King Harold assembles his men and begins the march northwards. We see the events leading up to the battle through the eyes of each main player.  

How the King manages to gather a large enough force in such a short time has been speculated by many historians, but it seems that he most likely starts out with the core of his army, his body guard and perhaps his brother Gyrth and his huscarles, sending messengers to call out the southern fyrds  to meet him along the road. As they travel, riding on horseback along the old Roman road,  Ermine Street, they raise the fyrd of each shire they travel through, picking them up at arranged meeting points. These are the men of Herts, Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire It's hard to say how many of them would have been mounted but in looking at the heriot of a thegn, it involved between 2-4 horses depending on their status. Thegns may have brought  a servant or two with them and that is why perhaps they had to provide 3 or 4 horses.   

 

At some point along the way, Harold learns of the Gate Fulford disaster by an exhausted messenger who has ridden without stopping to meet the King on his journey north so he might urge him to march more earnestly. Harold wonders momentarily why the young brothers, Earls Edwin and Morcar have not waited for him to arrive, but he probably didnt ponder for long, for their was a job to do and he knows the Earls had their reasons, good or bad. So he ploughs on with his men, determined to reach Yorkshire in time to surprise Hardrada and his own brother Tostig, to deal with them before they can strenghthen their hold in Yorkshire.  He marshalls his forces at Tadcaster, we are told, also being joined there by some of the survivors of Fulford who would have informed him of the whereabouts of the Norsemen.  At dawn, on Monday 25th September, Harold and his army crosses the River Wharfe and reaches York via the  Ebor Way within a few hours. York welcomes him, perhaps surprised that he had come so quickly. He stops for ashort while to refresh his army and hears about the deals that have been done with the Norse. He sympathises with the people of York and their young leaders Morcar and Edwin, who are most likely still teenagers at this stage. They had to come to terms with the Norse or their city would have been over run, knowing that if they can convince Hardrada of complete compliance, they would withdraw from the city and hopefully this would stall them long enough for Harold to get there with his army. Of course they might have been hedging their bets but Harold most likely doesn't want to get into that right now. The young Earls are his new brother-in-laws and he likes to think they are loyal.

 So he studies at a map of the area, the lie of the land and its geographical significance and plans his next move with his generals, Gyrth and Marleswein the Shire-reeve. They set out again on the last leg of their journey. Stamford Bridge.  As the men march toward their next destination, none of them, least of all Harold would have known that they were about to participate in one of the most decisive battles of the era. The Viking Age was about to go down pretty definitively.




Roman road near Manchester

 

 

 

Harald Hardrada is a man with, as his name suggests, a tough reputation. He is a man whose whole attitude to life seems to  be little about planning and thought, and more about getting whatever he wants at any cost. He learned as a younger man than in 1066, that to get what he desires,  he needs to have power and to have power, he needs gold. And to get gold he needs followers to help him get it. And to get followers, he needs to have the gift of the gab and personal strength. Eventually, he manages to acquire all those things, mostly because he has the last two qualities in the first place.

 

 Born in Ringerike in the Upplands of Norway, he was the son of a petty chieftain, Sigurd. He becomes King of Norway from 1046 until his death in 1066 and after unsuccessfully claiming Denmark, he turns his attentions to England after a proposition from the exiled Tostig Godwinson.  Harald's birth year is probably somewhere between 1014-16 so he is aged around 50 at this time. Harald's claim is pretty weak, but he doesn't really care. Always on the lookout for more power, he doesn't  need an excuse to claim anything for himself. He is used to violence and has led a colourful and brutal life. He spent some of his youth in the Varangian Guard. His reputation goes before him and he relies on it to intimidate his opponents. He certainly isn't coming to England on a jolly day trip. After his glorious victory over Edwin and Morcar's forces at Fulford, he and his comrade in arms, Tostig Godwinson, withdraw to the assigned meeting place by the Bridge at Stamford, where they are due to collect the hostages promised them in the treaty.

 

 

Tostig Godwinson had been Earl of Northumbria for around 10 years. It is quite surprising that he lasted that long, for he had been unpopular throughout. He is the third born son of Godwin and his Danish wife Gytha. Interestingly he is related to William of Normandy through marriage. His wife Judith is  half sister to the Duke's wife, Matilda's father. Tostig's rule of Northumbria is with a heavy hand and this, coupled by the fact that he is a southerner and a Godwin,  makes him unpopular with the Northumbrian ruling families. The Godwins have always been seen as a threat to the balance of power in the 11thc as there are so many of them. When Alfgar of Mercia is sidelined to give Northumbria to Tostig, the rest of the noblemen see a takeover happening, with two more brothers waiting for offices.

 

Finally things come to a head after some internal political disasters, the Northerners want him out and so they rebel, killing a large number of his officials. Then they march down south to protest their case with the King. Harold persuades Edward, whom it is said is against Tostig's dethronement, to avoid a civil war and give into the North's demands to have Morcar, brother of Edwin of Mercia as their Earl.

 

 Betrayed by his own brother, Tostig flees abroad in exile. He finally winds up with Hardrada on this date, 25th September 1066, on a warm sunny midday, basking a  field of sunshine with the Norwegian forces, minus their armour and lightly armed. Relaxing and recooperating after their hard won victory, dining on the provisions given to them by the people of York as required and probably getting drunk on the finest supplies of mead, they were waiting for the hostages to arrive. The Norwegians are camped on both east and west sides of the river and their laughter and merry making could be heard in the little settlement of Stamford as they enjoy their day of leisure. Suddenly a scout rides into camp and tells Hardrada that he has seen a cloud of dust coming southwards along the road from York. They believe it must be the hostages and their escort coming as promised.

 

As they wait, the cloud gets closer and they begin to glimpse the 'glittering of weapons that sparkle like a field of broken ice'. At first Harald suspects that some of the northern fyrd have come to join them but when they see the Golden man standard flowing in the breeze whipped up by the storm of marching feet, they know what it is that is upon them. Tostig cannot believe his brother has got here so quick. He groans in dismay. Hardrada throws him an accusing look that says you told me it would take him weeks to get here not days! but he brushes him aside for there is no time to argue with the English idiot. He has only some of his force here the rest are back with the fleet at Riccall....and their maille. He needs to get his men that are camped on the otherside of the river back across to the safer eastern side before the English armny get there. He calls for his strongest riders to hasten back  to Riccall for his boatmen to come to reinforce their numbers.

 

So here he is, the famous Hardrada, wearing only a blue tunic, a helmet and with only his weapon to protect him. Without maille, the men would be vulnerable. But he was Hardrada and Odin and Thor would not let him down. I am Hardrada the Invincible and victory will be mine!

 

 

Next see what happens in the battle of Stamford Bridge.

 

 References

Walker I.W. (2004) The Last Anglo-Saxon King (Pb ed) Sutton Publishing Ltd, Great Britain.
Swanton M (200) The Anglo-Saxon Chronichles (rev. ed) Phoenix Press, London. Marren P (2004)
Marren P (2004) 1066 The Battles of York, Stamford Bridge & Hastings Pen and Sword books Ltd, Yorkshire.

 

 

 

 

Stamford Bridge - The battle that ended an era. Part One

Following on from the Battle of Gate Fulford on the 20th September, Harald Hardrada's victory just outside of York saw him and 'as great a force as seemed necessary' (AS chronicle C) march into the city and the people surrendered to him, most likely to prevent a full scale sacking of the city. Whether or not the defeated brothers Edwin and Morcar were part of this process, it is not known but they had certainly survived the battle and may have holed themselves up inside the walls, perhaps wounded, with their remaining men,  ready to negotiate peace with the Norwegian king. Harald Hardrada's saga believed that Morcar had been killed, but Morcar lived through the battle but may have been severely wounded and that was why they thought he had been killed in battle. It is quite possible that the brothers were injured so as not to be able to attend the Battle of Hastings.

The exiled brother of King Harold Godwinson,Tostig, was also amongst the victors at Gate Fulford. He had arrived with Harald to fight for his old Earldom, Northumbria and would have known many of the men of Yorkshire personally. He would have been able to vouch that the hostages offered were  sons of leading men.  These hostages were to be handed over at Stamford Bridge, 8 miles or so north of York which was roughly halfway between York and where Hardrada had left his fleet at Riccall. According to the chronicler Florence, 150 hostages were given on both sides and part of the treaty with the men of York included the supply of provisions. Additionally, they were to march south with him and join his attempt at the conquest of all England.

King Harold Godwinson heard the news of Harald Hardrada's landing probably soon after or before Hardrada and the northern Earls gave battle at Gate Fulford. Hardrada's maneuvers around the coast probably gave Edwin and Morcar time to gather their armies and send messengers south to Harold. The young earls, sons of the deceased recalcitrant Alfgar of Mercia, could have holed themselves up in the city of York and waited for Harold to come with re-inforcements, however for whatever reason, they decided they had sufficient men to meet them outside the the walls at Gate Fulford.The AS Chronicle C states that Gate Fulford battle happened on Wednesday the 20th of September. Harold had been in the south with his southern fyrd watching for William to come and had disbanded his men on the 8th when there seemed no sign of the Duke appearing from Normandy at any time soon. As soon as he heard of the landing, he marched up north with his army and the local levies were called out as he passed through the shires on his way up the old Roman road of Watling Street. This was not the first time he had performed a lightning raid on an enemy. The first was in Wales sometime in December '62 or January '63 when he stormed into Wales with a mounted force and destroyed Rhuddlan, Gruffydd's fortress. Fortunately for Gruffydd he was warned at the last minute with time to escape by sea,leaving the rest of his fleet to be burned by Harold's men. This was a man determined to deal with a problem once and for all. And that is exactly what he does

This was to be the battle that would see the end of any significant Scandinavian attempt at conquest. Read about the battle itself in the next Part of this post.

References
Walker I.W. (2004) The Last Anglo-Saxon King  (Pb ed) Sutton Publishing Ltd, Great Britain.
Swanton M  (200) The Anglo-Saxon Chronichles (rev. ed) Phoenix Press, London. Marren P (2004)
Marren P (2004) 1066 The Battles of York, Stamford Bridge & Hastings Pen and Sword books Ltd, Yorkshire.

Tostig, Alfgar and the Earl of Northumbria

 

by Sons of the Wolf on Thursday, 03 March 2011 at 22:16

 The Scandinavian Earl Siward, held the post of Northumbria throughout much of Cnut's reign, the whole of Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut's up until the early years of Edward the Confessor's reign. There is much recorded of him in legend but in reality, one would have to believe that there was little difference in the character of the man of the sagas and the man of reality. When he died in 1055, he must have been a great age and although he had converted to christianity, the story goes that his dying wish was that he be given a traditional Viking ceremony. his body sailing out to sea on a burning boat with his sword placed in his hand. He was actually buried at St Olaf's church in york. Possibly the death of his son Osbjorn and his wife's nephew at the battle of Dunsinane may have spurred an already old man to his grave. I like to think that perhaps his wife, in tribute, might have sent one of his boats, alight and furnished with his gear, out into the sea for him, whilst his body lay buried in the Christian manner. He left one surviving son, Waltheof, who was a child of only about 5 or 6 years old at the time, born of his young wife Aelfflaed, obviously not his first liason. Due to Waltheof's young age, the vacancy of earl was now open. Who should think themselves up for the job?

Contender No 1 was Tostig Godwinson, younger brother of Earl Harold of Wessex. Tostig was, like his brother Harold, a seasoned warrior and had married Judith of flanders, half sister to Baldwin V who was father of William of Normandy's wife Matilda. It would be easy to imagine that he may have harboured a childhood jealousy against his older more popular brother Harold, which may explain his later resentment toward Harold as grown ups, that would lead to their tragic confrontation in 1066 at Stamford Bridge. He seems to have been portrayed as more serious of character than his elder brother who was described as affable, gracious to all men and possessed charm and wit. Nonetheless, he appears to have been the favourite of both the King and Queen. Edith certainly was fond of him and because of this, he most likely got the post instead of Alfgar. For Edith, who had not that long ago been cast aside and sent away to a nunnery in shame, it would have been more expedient to have both her brothers in strong postions, so that never again would she ever be treated in such a degrading manner.


Contender No 2 was Alfgar Earl of East Anglia, son of Earl Leofric of Mercia. The old Earl was a sort of Mercian version of Siward. By the time he died in 1057, he was quite aged. He was married to Lady Godgifu/Godgyva of  legendary fame, notorious for her supposed naked ride through the streets of Coventry. Leofric and Godgifu's wayward son Alfgar was a bit of a rebel and by all accounts had trouble controlling his temper which seemed to have got him officially exiled at least twice for uttering treasonable words. It was in 1055 at a council to cast votes for the new Earl of Northumbria that he was first in trouble.  No source tells us exactly what he had done wrong  but the AS ms C&D states that he was 'outlawed without any fault of his' . In the ms E, Alfgar was said to have been 'traitor to the king and all the people of the land. And he admitted this before all the men that were gathered there, although the words shout out against his will.'  One can imagine him blurting out some terrible insult against the king and then realising that he had put his foot in his mouth somewhat to his detriment and rather publicly. What ever it was, and one can only imagine, it led to him being exiled. Most likely, when he heard that Tostig was to recieve the earldom, he did not take  kindly to it and in a fit of pique lost his temper and spoke out against it. You can imagine the intesity of his feelings, after all,  the Godwin brothers appeared to be the king's current favourites and were already in charge of a large portion of the kingdom's earldoms, not to mention the role that Harold Godwinson now played as Dux Anglorum. With Tostig now entrenched in the North, the balance was now definitely tipped in their favour.