October 14, 1066
1066-10-14 15:00 UTC
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Harold falls at Hastings
A day-long battle on Senlac Hill ends with the death of Harold Godwinson and the Norman conquest of England.Source ↗
What happened in this minute
The battle began around nine in the morning and lasted most of the day, unusually long for medieval combat. The English shield wall held until parts of it broke to pursue retreating Normans, and the line never re-formed.
Harold died in the late afternoon. Within months William had been crowned at Westminster, and within twenty years a new landholding class, a new administrative language and the Domesday survey had replaced Anglo-Saxon England.
The late-afternoon timestamp here reflects the accounts placing Harold's death near dusk; the exact minute is not recorded.
Questions and answers
- How long did the Battle of Hastings last?
- Roughly from nine in the morning until dusk on 14 October 1066, unusually long for a medieval battle.
- Did Harold die from an arrow to the eye?
- The Bayeux Tapestry is ambiguous and chroniclers disagree. What is certain is that he was killed late in the day and the English line collapsed afterwards.
- Is the time on this page exact?
- No. It marks the late-afternoon phase of the battle in UTC; medieval sources record no clock times.