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1066 - French horsepower broke England

Peter Nicolai Arbo England 5th January 1066 , The English king Edward the confessor and then earl Harold Godwinson was proclaimed king at Westminster Abbey the day after the 6th. Edward the confessor  had promised both Harold and William "Bastard" of Normandy the seat of the throne before he died. Both men were distant relatives to the childless Edward the confessor. When William heard of it he quickly raised an army. Harald Hardrada also claimed the English throne and he was faster than William the bastard and on 8th September,1066  240-300 Viking ships landed on the beaches of Scarborough and began an attempt to gain the English throne. 20th September,1066  Battle of Fulford : Harald Hardrada defeated the English earls Edwin and Walther. 2 days later Harald Hardrada attacked and conquered York. 24th September,1066 Harold Godwinson arrived after marching from London. 25th September,1066 Battle of Stamford bridge Battle of Stamford bridge Harald...

891 - Siegfred and Gudefred died in battle

France
On the 2nd of May a viking army laid a siege at Saint-Omer ,but the viking did not have any success and later in the spring joined the forces at Noyon. On June the 25th vikings made Arnulf of Karnten suffer a defeat near the river Geule, near Maastricht.
Belgium
In the autumn the vikings made a camp near Leuven near the Dijle river.
On the 1st of September Arnulf of Karnten won a bloody battle, both Sigfred and Gudefred was killed. And chronicles told that the bodies of dead vikings blocked the run of the river.
Helge succeeded Sigfred as Danish king

Arnulf then built a castle on a small island in the Dijle River and according to a legend the Leuven flag red-white-red colors depict the bloodstained shores of the river Dijle after the Battle of Leuven.

Franks did not manage to drive the vikings out, they stayed at the Dyle river area. A defeat and two dead leaders, did not scare them or crush the morale. But after this defeat, the Vikings never became as powerful as in the previous years.

References :Annales Fuldenses and Anglo-Saxon Chronicle


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