Battle of Stamford Bridge | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Viking invasions of England and the Norman Conquest | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of England |
| ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
|
| ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
5,000[1] | 6,000–8,000+ dead or missing[2][3] | ||||||
The Battle of Stamford Bridge (Old English: Gefeoht æt Stanfordbrycge) took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada and the English king's brother Tostig Godwinson. After a bloody battle, both Hardrada and Tostig, along with most of the Norwegians, were killed. Although Harold Godwinson repelled the Norwegian invaders, his army was defeated by the Normans at Hastings less than three weeks later. The battle has traditionally been presented as symbolising the end of the Viking Age, although major Scandinavian campaigns in Britain and Ireland occurred in the following decades, such as those of King Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark in 1069–1070 and King Magnus Barefoot of Norway in 1098 and 1102–1103.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, p. 199
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).