Harald Hardrada invades England and dies at Stamford Bridge
The last great Viking king of Norway is killed weeks before the Norman Conquest
Quick facts
- Battle
- Stamford Bridge, near York
- Date
- 25 September 1066
- Killed
- Harald Hardrada and Tostig Godwinson
- Followed by
- Battle of Hastings, 14 October 1066
What happened
In September 1066, King Harald Hardrada of Norway invaded northern England with support from Tostig, the exiled brother of the English king Harold Godwinson. Hardrada and Tostig defeated two English earls at the Battle of Fulford Gate on 20 September, but Harold Godwinson marched his army north with speed and met the Norwegian force at Stamford Bridge, near York, on 25 September. Harold's army won decisively, killing both Hardrada and Tostig on the field. Weeks later Harold marched his exhausted army south to face a second invasion, this one led by William, Duke of Normandy, and was killed at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, opening England to Norman rule.
Why it matters
Hardrada's death at Stamford Bridge is the conventional close of the Viking Age, ending nearly three centuries of Scandinavian military intervention in England, though the battle's own significance was quickly overshadowed by Hastings just three weeks later. The two battles together, Stamford Bridge and Hastings, replaced Anglo-Saxon and Viking rule in England with Norman rule within a single month, a rule traceable back to Rollo's Viking-founded Normandy a century and a half earlier.
How we know
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records both battles with dates three weeks apart; Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, written more than a century and a half later in Iceland, gives a fuller narrative of Hardrada's campaign but as a later saga source is treated with more caution on specific details.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Battle of Stamford Bridge · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Battle of Stamford Bridge · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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