After defeating Hardrada in the north of England, Harold had to head down to the south to meet William’s army. He called for reinforcements to meet him at a very famous landmark called ‘the old hoar tree’. Little did he know that William’s invading army were camped nearby and could see Harold’s army as it assembled. The surprise attack was therefore no surprise at all.
It’s widely believed that Harold died as a result of getting an arrow in his eye during the Battle of Hastings. It makes a good story but it might not be true. The Bayeux Tapestry shows a knight pulling an arrow from his eye socket beside another who is being killed by swordsmen. The caption reads ‘Harold is killed’. It’s hard to say which knight is Harold. Some historians believe that Harold died as a result of being hacked to pieces by four of William’s knights
Edith Swan-neck or Edith the Fair became his wife after a handfasting ceremony. Although this was the traditional danish way of marriage it was not recognised by the English church. He also married Eadgyth of Mercia, the widow of a welsh nobleman. This may have been a good move politically since it secured allegiances across the border.
There is a legend around Harold’s death. Some say Edith wrongly identiifed his body and that Harold managed to escape the battlefield. From that day he is said to have spent the remaining years of his life as a unknown hermit.
William the Conqueror built Battle Abbey on the spot where Harold died four years after his death in 1070.
Spare a thought for Harold’s mother, Gytha. She lost four sons in 1066. It was she who embroidered Harold’s battle standard to take into battle with him. Upon his death, she offered Willilam the Conqueror her son’s weight in gold if she could have his body to bury in a christian ceremony. William refused, claiming that Harold should be buried along the coast he tried to defend.
Harold was only King of England for nine months. Despite reigning for such a short time, his reputation as a strong, fierce and popular king endures.