Battle of Hastings

Queen Emma and her sons, miniature in 'Encomium Emmae reginae', mid 11th century, British Library (Photo by Getty Images)

Are women at the heart of the action in the Norman Conquest?

Harold Godwinson is proclaimed king of England in the Bayeux Tapestry. It may have been commissioned by a Norman but this magnificent artwork repeatedly acknowledges the English leader’s piety and courage. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Editor's pick 11 fascinating articles on the Normans you can read right now

British author Bernard Cornwell, author of 'The Last Kingdom'

Bernard Cornwell on writing historical fiction and his blockbuster series The Last Kingdom: your questions answered

A depiction of the Norman army, from the Bayeux Tapestry

Everything you wanted to know about the 1066 Norman invasion and the battle of Hastings – but were afraid to ask

William the Conqueror (1027–87), king of England from 1066 when he beat Harold II at the battle of Hastings. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

9 surprising facts about William the Conqueror and the Norman conquest

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Norman invasion of 1066. The tapestry was most likely embroidered by women in Norman England in a workshop setting using four embroidery stitches – stem stitch; split stitch; chain stitch; and laid work, sometimes called ‘Bayeux Stitch’, says Dr Alexandra Lester-Makin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The making of the Bayeux Tapestry: who made it, how long did it take, and how has it survived?

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the death of King Harold II during the battle of Hastings in 1066. (Photo by Getty Images)

Where did the battle of Hastings actually take place? 8 facts about the 1066 battle

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting a naked man with an erection reaching out towards a naked woman, who is covering both her face and her pudenda with her hands. (© Bayeux Museum)

The Bayeux Tapestry with knobs on: what do the tapestry’s 93 penises tell us?

A wooden cross marks the spot, just over 20 miles west of Newcastle, where Oswald apparently raised his own cross before ambushing Cadwallon. If the Anglo-Saxon warlord's attack had failed, writes Edoardo Albert, England might now be a lot smaller. (Photo by Getty Images)

Hell in Heavenfield: the Anglo-Saxon battle “as important as Hastings”

A detail from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the death of Harold Godwinson at the battle of Hastings, 1066. Victory at Hastings did not make Duke William of Normandy king of England – at least, not immediately. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Q&A What happened after the Battle of Hastings?

William the Conqueror and his escorts on horseback, detail from the Bayeux Tapestry. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Did William the Conqueror ever go to Hastings?

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts scenes of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. To characterise the English response in 1066 as

Did English leaders “deliberately acquiesce” to foreign rule in 1066?

William the Conqueror

Reassessing William the Conqueror

Detail from the Bayeux tapestry, which depicts the Norman conquest of England in 1066. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)

10 medieval dates you need to know

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Norman conquest of England in 1066. (Photo by DEA/M. SEEMULLER via Getty Images)

The Bayeux Tapestry now and in the future