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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...
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1014 - Sweyn Forkbeard died

England
Cnut the great leading an army
Totally unexpected Sweyn Forkbeard became very ill(He was probably suffering from a hereditary heart disease) and on the 3. February he died in his headquarter at Gainsborough. With his neglected wife Gunhild, he had 2 sons. The oldest son, Harald 2 was crowned king of Denmark, Harald 2 had been the ruler of Denmark while Sweyn Forkbeard was in England. The youngest, 17 year old Cnut the great was given the royal scepter and took command of the viking army in England.

When the Anglo-Saxons heard that the feared Sweyn Forkbeard was dead, they called Ethelred the unready home to England from his refuge in Normandy and his son Edmund Ironside now led an army prepared to fight the Danish again. Cnut the great had to leave England fast, but before he sailed back to Denmark, he cut of nose,ears and hands of Sweyn Forkbeards hostages in Sandwich. He swore that he would return to England again. Thorkil the tall broke with king Ethelred the unready and sailed to Denmark where he joined Cnut the great.
Edmund Ironside

London Bridge is falling down
The 1st version of the London Bridge was destroyed in 1014 when the Saxons rowed up the Thames, tied ropes to it, and pulled it down.It helped recapture London for the English king. This event may have been inspiration for the nursery rhyme “London Bridge is falling down”.

Brittany
Viking raids on the coast
Ireland
23 April: A battle between Irish and vikings resulted in that Clontarf monastery was raided, the Irish king Brian Boru gathered an army and won the battle against the vikings, but was killed by the Danish viking leader of Isle of Man, Brodir, after a group of fleeing vikings had discovered the Irish king. Brodir killed dozens of Irishmen. But Clontarf was a bloodbath of vikings so Brodir chickened into the forest. According to Njal’s Saga, he accidentally ran into King Brian Boru, who was waiting to hear the outcome of the battle.First Killing Brian Boru’s guards, and then Brodir personally killed the king.
The Saga tells that Brian Boru’s brother Wulf the Quarrelsome later tracked Brodir down, nailed his intestines to a tree, and forced him to walk around it until they were all pulled out.Sigurd the stout, Earl of Orkney also died during battle.
After the battle
Norway
Holmgang declared illegal.
Orkney
Sumarlidi Sigurdsson and his brothers Brusi and Einar Wry-Mouth ruled Orkney following the death of their father, Sigurd the stout, Hlodvisson who died at the Battle of Clontarf.
Spain
Viking raids in Spain.

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Location: Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21, UK

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