E X T E N S I O N THE NORMAN CONQUEST In 1065 the English King, Edward the Confessor, was dying. Since he had no children, three men claimed1 his throne: Harold Godwin, the Earl of Wessex; William, the Duke of Normandy and Harald Hardraada, the King of Norway. When Edward died at the end of 1065, Harold Godwin was crowned king because he had been the real ruler of England for years in the place of the weak king Edward. But Edward, who had grown up in NorWilliam the Conqueror. mandy, was Duke William s cousin and had promised him the throne. The third antagonist was Harald Hardraada, whose ancestors2 had been kings of England before Edward. Now he claimed the throne for himself. So Harald Hardraada attacked King Harold Godwin from the north-east at the end of the summer of 1065, but he died during the battle, though he was a gigantic and strong warrior. The Norwegian army was destroyed in one day. But soon after alarming news arrived from London: Duke William had landed on the south-coast near the town of Hastings. The English king returned to London quickly, gathered a new army and marched to Hastings. A gory3 battle started between the two armies. King Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon king, was killed and Duke William won. Then the Conqueror marched to London and was crowned King of England. 1066 is the most famous date in English history because it was a turning point for English history and the English language. But fighting continued for some years. The rebellious Anglo-Saxons were hard to control, so for about twenty years there was an army of occupation. They had to go from place to place, burning, destroying and killing. Almost all the Anglo-Saxons lost everything they had. Only a few Anglo-Saxon lords, who had accepted William as their king, were able to keep their properties: twenty years after the Norman Conquest there were only two Anglo-Saxon landlords and two Anglo-Saxon bishops. The possessions of about 4,000 Anglo-Saxon landlords were distributed among about 200 Normans as a reward4 after the war. 1. claim: reclamare, pretendere. 2. ancestor: antenato. 3. gory: sanguinoso. 4. reward: ricompensa. 14