The Norman Conquest THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS AND THE FALL OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND MARC MORRIS PEGASUS BOOKS NEW YORK LONDON To Peter: my prince Contents Acknowledgements England Map Normandy Map England Family Tree Europe Family Tree A Note on Names Illustrations Introduction 1 The Man Who Would Be King 2 A Wave of Danes 3 The Bastard 4 Best Laid Plans 5 Holy Warriors 6 The Godwinesons 7 Hostages to Fortune 8 Northern Uproar 9 The Gathering Storm 10 The Thunderbolt 11 Invasion 12 The Spoils of Victory 13 Insurrection 14 Aftershocks 15 Aliens and Natives 16 Ravening Wolves 17 The Edges of Empire 18 Domesday 19 Death and Judgement 20 The Green Tree Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgements My thanks to all the academics and experts who patiently responded to emails or otherwise lent advice and support: Martin Allen, Jeremy Ashbee, Laura Ashe, David Bates, John Blair, David Carpenter, David Crouch, Richard Eales, Robin Fleming, Mark Hagger, Richard Huscroft, Charles Insley, Robert Liddiard, John Maddicott, Melanie Marshall, Richard Mortimer, Mark Philpott, Andrew Spencer, Matthew Strickland, Henry Summerson and Elizabeth Tyler. I am especially grateful to Stephen Baxter for taking the time to answer my questions about Domesday, and to John Gillingham, who very kindly read the entire book in draft and saved me from many errors. At Hutchinson, my thanks to Phil Brown, Caroline Gascoigne, Paulette Hearn and Tony Whittome, as well as to Cecilia Mackay for her painstaking picture research, David Milner for his conscientious copy-edit and Lynn Curtis for her careful proof-reading. Thanks as always to Julian Alexander, my agent at LAW, and to friends and family for their support. Most of all, thanks, love and gratitude to Catherine, Peter and William.