When the Bayeux Tapestry comes to the British Museum next year it’ll be easier for many of us to see for ourselves the moment that changed English history for ever: Harold Godwinson shot in the eye at the Battle of Hastings. But, says Paul Bernardi, that may not be what happened on 14 October, 1066. […]
The fight for our battlefields
“Have you forgotten yet?” (Aftermath, Siegfried Sassoon) Even before the guns fell silent across the Western Front a century ago, staff at the Michelin Touring Office in London were busy preparing guidebooks for motorists intending to go see the trenches for themselves (see images above and below). By the early 1920s battlefield tourism had become big […]
The Norman Conquest in Numbers
James Aitcheson shares some little-known facts about the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest. This month marks the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings: the beginning of the Norman Conquest of England, and perhaps the single most famous event in all of British history. The battle, which took place on 14 October 1066, saw King […]
After Hastings
This year marks the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, one of the most famous events in British history. On 14 October 1066, English and Norman armies each numbering in the thousands clashed at the site now occupied by Battle Abbey in East Sussex, in a fierce struggle for the English crown that ended […]