1066

Page 6 of 7

• 1. Claims to the throne
• 2. Harold becomes king
• 3. Stamford Bridge
• 4. Pevensey landings
• 5. The Battle of Hastings
• 6. King William
• 7. Find out more
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King William

The contest for England was not yet over, however. William kept his army in Hastings for about a week, then he marched through south-eastern England, via Dover and Canterbury, to London Bridge.

Finding this too heavily defended, he continued along the southern bank of the Thames to Wallingford, sending a detachment to take Winchester on the way. Wallingford was the easternmost ford of the Thames, and was defended by an ancient Anglo-Saxon burh (a fortified town) under the command of the king's thegn Wigot of Wallingford.

By now it was December, and the long campaign had sapped the English will to resist. Dover and Southwark had been razed to the ground, and William now had control of Canterbury, the religious centre of England, and Winchester, the ceremonial seat of the English kings.

At Wallingford, the first English submissions occurred. Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury led a delegation of important English bishops and thegns, who surrendered to William, and Wigot opened the gates of Wallingford to him. By Christmas, the earls Edwin, Morcar and Waltheof, along with Archbishop Ealdred of York, had also surrendered, having ensured that their positions would be secure under the new régime.

'...with the new king trembling from head to foot.'

William was crowned by Archbishop Ealdred on Christmas Day, in Edward's new abbey cathedral at Westminster. This is significant, because the new king chose to be crowned in the same location as King Harold, deliberately stressing the continuity between himself and Edward's old régime. He also ensured that he was not crowned by Stigand, whose legitimacy was questioned by the Pope.

During the ceremony, the assembled magnates (both Norman and English) shouted their acclamation of the new king; but their shouts startled the guards outside the cathedral who, fearing an English uprising, promptly set fire to the neighbouring city of London. Orderic Vitalis paints a vivid picture of the terrified congregation fleeing from the smoke-filled church whilst the remaining Bishops hastily completed the ceremony, with the new king trembling from head to foot. It was an interesting start to a completely new era.

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Published: 2001-05-01