Battle of Fulford

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The Battle of Fulford took place at the village of Fulford, near York in England on 20 September 1066, when King Harald III of Norway Hardrada and Tostig Godwinson, his English ally, fought and defeated the Northern Earls Edwin and Morcar. Tostig was Harold Godwinson's banished brother. He had allied with King Harald of Norway and possibly Duke William of Normandy but history has left us no record of what role Tostig saw for himself if the invasions were successful. Tostig was opposed by Earl Morcar who had displaced him as Earl of Northumbria.^[1]

When the Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor died in 1066 without an heir, Earl Harold Godwinson was selected to be the new king by the powerful people of the land (Witenagemot) who had gathered at Thorney where Edward's West Minster was dedicated days before he died.

In early September 1066, Hardrada set sail from Norway with 300 ships. As he approached the English coast, his fleet was joined by Tostig's ships and they sailed together along the River Ouse towards the city of York.

The first sign of real trouble for Harold came from his brother, Tostig. In May 1066, Tostig's ships raided the south coast of England before sailing north to Scotland. In Scotland, Tostig made a pact with Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, whereby he agreed to support Hardrada in his invasion of England.

Edwin had brought some soldiers to the east to prepare for an invasion by the Norwegians. The battle started with the English spreading their forces out at Germany Beck to secure their flanks. On the right flank was the River Ouse, and on the left flank was the Fordland, a swampy area. The disadvantage to the position was that it gave Harald higher ground which was perfect for seeing the battle from a distance. Another disadvantage was that if one flank gave way, the other one would be in trouble. If the Anglo-Saxon army had to retreat, it would not be able to because of the marshlands. They would have to hold off the Norwegians as long as possible.^[1]

Harald's army approached from three routes to the south. Harald lined his army up to oppose the Anglo-Saxons, but he knew it would take hours for all of his troops to arrive. His least experienced troops were sent to the right and his best troops on the riverbank.

The English struck first, advancing on the Norwegian army before it could fully deploy. Morcar's troops pushed Harald's back into the marshlands, making progress against the weaker section of the Norwegian line. However, this initial success proved insufficient for victory to the English army, as the Norwegians brought their better troops to bear upon them, still fresh against the weakened Anglo-Saxons.

Harald brought more of his troops from the right flank to attack the centre, and sent more men to the river. The men were outnumbered, but they kept pushing and shoving the defenders back. The Anglo-Saxons were forced to give ground. Edwin's soldiers who were defending the bank now were cut off from the rest of the army by the marsh, so they headed back to the city to make a final stand. Within another hour, the men on the beck were forced off by the Norwegians. Other invading Norwegians, who were still arriving, found a way to get around the thick fighting and opened a third front against the Anglo-Saxons. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the defenders were defeated. Edwin and Morcar however, managed to survive the fight.

The remaining men in Fulford surrendered under the promise that the victors would not loot their city. The treaty was kept, as King Harald turned his attention towards York.

The Battle of Fulford did not yield a huge gain or loss to either side, but fits into the important chain of events of the English autumn of 1066. The English losses were not decisive and the Norwegians retained a sizeable army, prepared for an attack on York. The Battle of Stamford Bridge ended these designs, with the defeat of Harald's army, and it is unlikely (though not totally implausible, given the vague data), that the losses at Fulford were a significant contributing factor to this later defeat.

However, had the Norwegian invasion been defeated at Fulford Gate, King Harold Godwinson would have not been forced into undertaking the taxing marches or suffered the losses at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, altering significantly the condition and strength of his army at the Battle of Hastings. If the Battle of Fulford had gone the other way (admittedly an improbable outcome for the outnumbered English army), 1066 could have been a very different year for the Anglo Saxon people of Britain.^{[original research?]}

• Matthew Bennett: Campaigns of the Norman Conquest. Taylor & Francis 2003, ISBN 9781579583767, p. 35 (restricted online copy, p. 35, at Google Books)

• Drama Documentary about the Battle of Fulford
• Details from the Battlefields Trust
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