1066
Nine hundred fifty years ago today, the English lost the Battle of Hastings to the Norman invaders. King Harold II died in the battle, and the claim of William the Bastard of Normandy to the throne of England was sealed.
The Bayeux Tapestry: King Harold’s death.
Legend above: Harold rex interfectus est, “King Harold is killed”
Just yesterday was the feast of Saint Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England of the old line. His successor was his own brother-in-law, the aforementioned Harold.
Saint Edward has a mixed reputation amongst historians – he was prone to fits of rage and spent much of his time hunting. Still, he was regarded as saintly even shortly after his death, so there must have been something to it. His cultus grew throughout the later eleventh and early twelfth century, even with England under Norman military and cultural domination. He was canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1161, less than a century after his death.