Norman Conquest
Sources end the conquest at different points: the fall of Ely in 1071, which ended open English resistance; the peace with Malcolm III at Abernethy in 1072, after which William was secure on the throne; or the Revolt of the Earls in 1075, where Wikidata ends it.
Sides
Duchy of Normandy, Breton contingent, Flemish contingent, and Contingents from other parts of France
Anglo-Saxon England, English rebels, 1067–1071, Welsh allies of the rebels, among them Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and Rhiwallon, rulers of Gwynedd and Powys, Danish fleet sent by Sweyn II of Denmark (1069–1070), and Kingdom of Scotland under Malcolm III, which sheltered Edgar Ætheling and raided Northumbria in 1070
Countries today: 
Belgium, 
Denmark, 
England, 
France, 
Scotland, and 
Wales
What happened
In January 1066 Edward the Confessor died without children and Harold Godwinson was crowned king of England. William, Duke of Normandy, claimed the throne for himself. Harold first defeated a Norwegian army under Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge on 25 September; three days later William's army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings and other French landed at Pevensey in Sussex. On 14 October it defeated Harold's army near Hastings, and Harold was killed. William was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day. Risings followed for five years. Exeter held out for 18 days in 1068. In 1069 English rebels and a Danish fleet took York, while Eadric the Wild and his Welsh allies attacked Shrewsbury; William's troops then laid waste to much of northern England through the winter. The rebels on the Isle of Ely surrendered in 1071, and in 1072 Malcolm III of Scotland, who had sheltered English exiles and raided Northumbria in 1070, made peace with William at Abernethy. Norman and other French lords took over most English estates and high offices.
Outcome: William of Normandy became king of England in 1066, and open English resistance had ended by 1071–1072; Norman and other French lords replaced most of the English nobility.
Key events
Leaders
- William the Conqueror · Duke of Normandy; crowned king of England on 25 December 1066 · William of Normandy and his allies
- Odo of Bayeux · William's half-brother and bishop of Bayeux; ran England with William fitzOsbern while William was in Normandy in 1067 · William of Normandy and his allies
- William fitzOsbern · Commanded the right wing at Hastings; ran England with Odo in 1067 · William of Normandy and his allies
- Harold Godwinson · King of England from January 1066; killed at Hastings · The English and those who rose with them
- Edgar Ætheling · Great-nephew of Edward the Confessor; chosen king after Hastings, he later joined the northern risings of 1068–1069 · The English and those who rose with them
- Edwin, Earl of Mercia · Rose against William in 1068 and again in 1071, when his own men killed him · The English and those who rose with them
- Morcar · Edwin's brother and former earl of Northumbria; rose with him in 1068 and surrendered at Ely in 1071 · The English and those who rose with them
- Hereward · Led the Fenland rebels on the Isle of Ely, 1070–1071 · The English and those who rose with them
- Eadric the Wild · Shropshire landowner who, with Welsh allies, attacked the Normans at Hereford in 1067 and Shrewsbury in 1069 · The English and those who rose with them
- Bleddyn ap Cynfyn · Ruler of Gwynedd and Powys; raided Herefordshire with Eadric in 1067 and aided Edwin and Morcar in 1068 · The English and those who rose with them
- Sweyn II of Denmark · King of Denmark; sent the fleet that joined the 1069 rising and came to England in person in 1070 · The English and those who rose with them
- Malcolm III of Scotland · King of Scots; sheltered Edgar Ætheling, raided Northumbria in 1070 and made peace with William at Abernethy in 1072 · The English and those who rose with them
Cultures it ended or changed
Meanwhile, elsewhere in
- Maya civilization
Mesoamerica · Oldest hereThe Maya Long Count calendar tracks days in an unbroken count from a mythical starting point in 3114 BCE.
- MuiscaMuysca
South America · - Song dynasty宋
China · Song merchants were using government-printed banknotes centuries before any European government tried it. Marco Polo would later describe Chinese paper money to a Europe that paid in coin.
- Ancient RomeRoma
Europe · Byzantine warships defended Constantinople with 'Greek fire', a burning liquid pumped through bronze siphons; its recipe was a state secret and is still unknown.
- Zapotec civilizationBe'ena'a Mesoamerica ·
- Chimú culture
South America · The Chimú honoured the Moon above the Sun, unlike the Inca who later conquered them.
Sources
- Wikipedia (English). "Norman Conquest."
- Cartwright, Mark. "Norman Conquest of England." World History Encyclopedia.
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, entries for 1066–1072, trans. James Ingram, via the Avalon Project, Yale Law School.
- Cannon, John (ed.). "Norman Conquest." The Oxford Companion to British History, via Encyclopedia.com.
- English Heritage. "History of Battle Abbey and Battlefield."
- Bayeux Museum. "The Battle of Hastings."
- Lloyd, John Edward. "Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (died 1075), prince." Dictionary of Welsh Biography (1959).
- Wikidata. "Norman conquest of England" (Q200485).