The Enigma of Hastings

Fascination with the mystery of how and why William the Conqueror came to seize England has grown ever since 1066. However, the picture built up upon scanty original evidence by nine centuries of historians, novelists and romantics is a distorted one, often influenced by prejudice and propaganda. In this engrossing and revolutionary interpretation of the events preceding Hastings and the battle itself, Edwin Tetlow discounts all questionable evidence and casts fresh light on the incidents and personalities involved. Many questions arise. Was Harold himself a throne-grabber? Did he and his father Godwin murder to clear Harold's path to the throne? Why did most of his fellow Englishmen fail to back him at Hastings? What part did the womenfolk of the Norman and English aristocracy play in the drama? Was Harold's predecessor, Edward the Confessor, impotent and/or a homosexual? Did William suffer a major disaster at sea after he set out from the Normandy coast on his great gamble? Was one of Harold's brothers in league with William and did he ensure Harold's defeat by his treachery in the spring and summer of 1066? After half a century of research, the author faces these and many other questions, and answers most of them. His account includes much new material based on firsthand investigation at Hastings, Stamford Bridge, Tadcaster, Oxford, London, Normandy and Roskilde (Denmark). He has researched into little-known records and gives probably the first full analysis of the background to and course of the grossly-neglected Battle of Gate Fulford and Stamford Bridge.