1066

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1066.

Scene from the Battle of Hastings as represented in the Bayeux Tapestry.

1066 (MLXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

Events

• Norman conquest of England:
  • January 5 – Edward the Confessor of York dies. The Witenagemot proclaims Harold Godwinson King of England.
  • January 6 – Harold II is crowned King of England, probably in the new Westminster Abbey.
  • January (approx.) – Harold marries Ealdgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar, and widow of Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.
  • March 20 – Halley's Comet reaches perihelion. Its appearance is subsequently recorded in the Bayeux Tapestry.
  • September 18 – Norwegian king Harald Hardrada lands on the beaches of Scarborough and begins his invasion of England.
  • September 20 – Battle of Fulford: Norwegian king Harald Hardrada defeats the northern English earls Edwin and Morcar.
  • September 25 – Battle of Stamford Bridge: Word of the Battle of Fulford reaches King Harold Godwinson, who decides to ride north to meet the invaders. Harold defeats Harald Hardrada and his brother Tostig Godwinson.
  • September 27 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the River Somme, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
  • September 28 – Duke William of Normandy lands in England at Pevensey.
  • October 14 – Battle of Hastings, between King Harold II of England and Duke William of Normandy: Harold is killed by an arrow to the eye (some say he was killed by a band of Norman knights sent to assassinate him). William is victorious.
  • December 25 – Duke William of Normandy is crowned King William I of England in Westminster Abbey.
• December 30 – Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela, and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city.
• The Republic of Genoa, jealous of the recent successes of its former allies, launches a naval assault on the Republic of Pisa.^[1]
• Magnus II Harald's son is crowned King of Norway.
• Upon the death of Stenkil, King of Sweden, two rivals named Eric battle for power in Sweden, both claiming the throne, until the next year.
• Hedeby sacked and burned by West Slavs, after which it is slowly abandoned.
• Tain becomes the first town in Scotland to be chartered as a royal burgh.

Births

• Al-Afdal Shahanshah, vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt (d. 1121)
• Henry, Count of Portugal (d. 1112)
• Irene Doukaina, Byzantine Empress (d. 1138)

Deaths

• January 5 – King Edward the Confessor
• September 25 (killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge):
  • King Harald III of Norway (Harald Hardråde) (b. 1015),
  • Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria, brother of King Harold II
  • Eystein Orre, Norwegian Nobleman and subject of Harold Hardrada, who was betrothed to his daughter before his death.
• September 25 – Maria Haraldsdotter, Norwegian princess
• October 14 (killed at the Battle of Hastings):
  • King Harold II of England
  • Leofwine Godwinson, brother of King Harold II
  • Gyrth Godwinson, brother of King Harold II
• November 10 – John Scotus, bishop of Mecklenburg
• November 14 – Fujiwara no Akihira, scholar and poet

References