The unpopular military tax was abolished by Edward the Confessor. It had been collected for many years to provide funds for defending the country from raiders.

Late in 1050, Eadsige, the archbishop of Canterbury died. The monks of Canterbury favoured Aelric, one of their fellow monks to become the next archbishop and Earl Godwin was approached to help push his appointment through. But King Edward appointed his favourite councellor Robert of Jumieges to the post instead.

An incident occurred when Eustace II Count of Boulogne visited Edward the Confessor, his brother-in-law. The incident occurred in Dover where a fight broke out between the Norman visitors and the locals resulting in the deaths of several people. The area of Dover was under the control of the Godwin family and Edward the Confessor, who blamed the people of Dover for the fight, told Earl Godwin to deal with them. Godwin refused to obey Edward's order and in response Edward raised an army and forced the Godwin family into exile.

With the Godwins in exile, Edward the Confessor invited William, Duke of Normandy to England. It is at this point that it is thought Edward promised the English thone to William in the event of his death.

Queen Emma died at Winchester. ¹

Godwin, Earl of Wessex, his son Harold and a large fleet sailed up the Thames to London forcing Edward to reinstate them into their previous positions of power.

Stigand, the Bishop of Winchester, mediated in the conflicts between the Godwins and Edward the Confessor. The Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert of Jumieges, fled the country with other bishops who had been appointed by Edward. Stigand assumed the title of Archbishop of Canterbury. Robert of Jumieges appealed to Pope Leo IX and Stigand was excommunicated.

Harold Godwinson invited the exiled Edward the Exile back to England in the hope that he could claim the English throne from Edward the Confessor.

In spite of objections from Pope Leo, William married Matilda hs cousin, the daughter of Baldwin V, Earl of Flanders and Adela of France.

Godwin, Earl of Wessex, died and Harold Godwinson inherited his title.

Extremely strong winds destroyed churches and buildings. ¹

Battle fought between Henry, the King of France, and William, the Duke of Normandy. Henry wanted to take control of the Normandy area which was preventing the French access to the English Channel. The Normans defeated the French. ¹

Although the split between the East and West Churches can not easily be put down to one event, the conflict caused in 1054 between Pope Loe IX and the patriarch of Constantinople is often thought, rightly or wrongly, as the key moment. Pope Leo IX sent a delegation to Constantinople to discuss differences which resulted in the excommunication of the patriarch by the delegation and in return the excommunication of the delegation by the patriarch. ¹

The siege of Domfront, a stong stone castle in Angevin, ended when the garrison surrendered. The garrison feared the same punishment dealt out to defenders of Alençon by Duke William who showed them no mercy.

The supernova that occurred in this year formed the Crab Nebula and the event was recorded by astronomers in China. The explosion was so great that the supernova would have been visible during the daytime. Due to the huge distances involved, the explosion would have happened thousands of years earlier but the light from the event only reached Earth in 1054.

The tribe of Tatars known also as the Seljuk Turks invaded parts of Persia and captured the city of Baghdad starting a Suljuk empire.

King Edward gave Tostig the important position of Earl of Northumbria and the difficult job of bringing the northern state under control. ¹

A force of Welsh and Irish men led by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, a Welsh prince attacked and burnt the building.

Aelfgar, earl of Mercia was outlawed by the witan. In revenge he built a force and allied himself with Welsh Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. After defeating the King's nephew, Radulf, they attacked Hereford and raided the church killing several canons and taking everything of value leaving the building on fire. The rebels also attacked Leominster. ¹

Death of Athelstan, bishop of Hereford; succeeded by Leofgar, who tried to take reprisals against Gruffydd, the Welsh Prince. ¹

Henry IV became the King of Germany at the age of six when his father, King Henry III died. As Henry was too young to rule, his regency was led at first by his mother Agnes. ¹

In reponse to the attack on Hereford Catherdal, Leofgar the bishop of Hereford took an army into Wales to deal with the Welsh prince. In battle Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed the bishop and others near Glasbury on Wye. Earl Godwin raised an army in response but the two side eventually came to peaceful terms and Aelfgar was later restored to his position. ¹

Edward the Exile died in mysterious circumstances. Edward was the rightful heir the throne of England and Harold, Earl of Wessex benefited from Edward's death.

Another battle fought between Henry, the King of France, and William, the Duke of Normandy. Again the Normans defeated the French King's army. ¹

Macbeth was killed by Malcolm III, also known as Malcolm Canmore, who later became the King of Scotland. Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach who was crowned at Scone.

Under the direction of Wulfstan, the future Bishop of Worcester, construction work began at Gloucester Cathedral. The new building was burnt down and rebuilt later by Abbot Serlo. ¹

Malcolm had killed Macbeth at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire. Macbeth's stepson Lulach was crowned king and reigned for four months until he too was killed at Strathbogie. Malcolm became King of the Scots and was crowned at Scone. ¹

Gerard, the bishop of Florence was elected to the position of Pope early in 1059. The previous Pope Benedict X, now regarded as an antipope, was forced to flee Rome.

Henry I King of France died. His son, Philippe, became King although he was only eight years old. France was administered by Baldwin one of Philippe's uncles.

The Normans under the the leadership of Robert Guiscard and his brother Robert were fighting in southern Italy to claim lands from the Byzantines. At the treaty of Melfi in 1059 Robert had been granted the lands of Sicily, Apulia and Calabria by the Pope in return for their support. In 1060 they were in control of southern Italy and in 1061 had captured parts of Sicily including Messina. But they could not capture the whole of the island. ¹

Death of Pope Nicholas II

Wulfstan, a monk at Worcester Cathedral from 1040, was recommended for the position of bishop by visiting papal legates.

Harold led an attack on the stronghold of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn at Rhuddlan in north Wales. The attack was a success but the Welsh Prince managed to escape. ¹

Harold invaded south Wales while Tostig of Northumbria attacked the north.

The Welsh Prince, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, was killed by his own men. (Need to find out why) ¹

Some years earlier William had supported the exiled Count Herbert of Maine when Geoffrey Martel invaded the province and captured its main town Le Mans. As part of the pact William and Herbert agreed that if Herbert died without an heir the province could be claimed by William. William's eldest son Robert Curthose was betrothed to Herbert's daughter (Margaret?) but she died before they could be married. When Herbert died William claimed Maine in the name of his son and invaded. Robert was made Count of Maine when the province was captured. ¹

With the support of William of Normandy, Lanfranc was put forward as a candidate for the abbacy of the William's Abbey of St. Etienne. He was appointed to the position. At Bec, Anselm was appointed to the position of prior,

Sancho was the eldest son of Ramiro I and became the ruler of Aragon after his father's death. Sancho ruled until 1094.

A mysterious meeting is reported to have taken place in Normandy between William the Conqueror and Harold in 1064 or 1065. In the meeting it was claimed that Harold agreed that William should become King of England when Edward the Confessor died. From what is known of Harold it seems unlikely that he would agree to something like this. We know that he went against this agreement when he assumed the role as King after Edward's death. The Bayeaux Tapestry shows Harold travelling to, or being shipwreked on the land of Guy, count of Ponthieu. Harold was captured by Guy and held at his castle at Beaurain until William the Conqueror arranged for his release. The tapestry possibly shows Harold swearing an oath while his hands rest on what appear to be sacred relics. After this his returned to England.

After almost twenty years of conflict, the rulers of Norway and Denmark, Harald Hardrada and Sweyn Estrithson made peace. This allowed Harald to turn his attentions to England where he believed he had a right to the throne. In 1038 Magnus of Norway and Harthacnut of Denmark had signed a treaty that specified if either died without an heir his kingdom must pass to the other. When Harthacnut died childless in 1042 Magnus claimed both Denmark and England as his own. It was this claim that Harald was basing his own claim upon.

Edward the Confessor took lands from Pershore Abbey and allocated them to his new Abbey church at Westminster. ¹

A rebellion against Tostig, Earl of Northumbria leads to Tostig fleeing to Flanders and Morcar becoming the new Earl.

Work on the Abbey at Westminster was either complete or very nearly so at its dedication. Edward the Confessor who had devoted himself to creation was to die less than two weeks later.

Fulk Rechin was at war with his brother Geoffrey. They were fighting over the lands of Anjou and Touraine which had been left to them by their uncle Geoffrey Martel, the count of Anjou. Fulk captured Geoffrey the Bearded and captured Anjou later taking the title of count. ¹

A motte and bailey castle was built by Robert Count of Mortain in Somerset.

Edward the Confessor died at Westminster. The death of Edward was an important event in the chain of events that led up to the invasion by William the Conqueror from Normandy.

After the death of King Edward Harold Godwinson was chosen as king but his reign was not to last very long.

A comet appeared in the skies and is shown on the Bayeux Tapestry. It is thought to be the same comet that was named after Edmund Halley who accurately predicted its return in 1758.

After being expelled from Northumbria Tostig spent time in Flanders. Here he raised an army and fleet and attempted to invade the south of England. The English armies around the Isle of Wight were too strong so Tostig was forced to look for another place to attack. His fleet sailed up the east coast of England to Lincolnshire. ¹

William the Conqueror and Matilda attended the dedication of Matilda's church, the Holy Trinity at Caen. To show their devotion they gave their daughter Cecilia to the church to be raised as a nun. ¹

William the Conqueror made preparations to invade England. His invasion fleet gathered in the estuary of the River Dives and other ports in Normandy. ¹

King Harold gathered an army and waited on the south coast of England to defend the country against William's invasion.

William the Conqueror's invasion fleet arrived at St-Valery-Sur-Somme further up the Normandy coast. William had either decided to move the fleet to the inlet or the fleet was forced to take shelter there after being hit by a storm. William's fleet remained there waiting for winds blowing in the right direction to take them to England.

Harold Hardrada's forces invaded England and started ravaging the countryside as they made their way to York. English forces led by Earl Edwin and Earl Morcar battled with Harold Hardrada at Gate Fulford, but the English were severely beaten. Following this defeat King Harold was forced to march his army away from the south coast where they were preparing to defend against William the Conqueror's invasion to deal with the invasion in the north.

King Harold defeated the invasion threat from Harold Hardrada, King of Norway and his own brother Tostig, both of whom were killed. This stretched his forces to the limit as they quickly had to march south to defend against William the Conqueror's invasion from Normandy.

Just after dawn the main part of William's fleet landed on the English coast at Pevensey while some split from the main group and came ashore at Romney.

William the Conqueror moved his army to Hastings. The village of Hastings in 1066 was on a peninsula of land with marsh and water on two sides. The area was a natural defensive site with a hill to the north that could be used as a lookout point. William possibly built extra defences at Hastings while he prepared to move towards London.

King Harold was resting his army in York when he learnt that William had landed on the south coast.

King Harold had to march south from Stamford Bridge to counter the threat of invasion from William the Conqueror.

King Harold left London with an army and headed for the south coast.

King Harold and his army reached Caldbec Hill near the road from London to Hastings. Here they prepared for the battle to come. ¹

William the Conqueror and King Harold met in battle at Hastings. Although Harold had the superior position on the battlefield his tactics failed and he was killed. This left England open for William to continue with his invasion plans. ¹

After his victory at the battle of Hastings William moved along the south coast to Dover where extra fortifications were built in the existing castle at the top of the cliffs. From there he moved on to Canterbury. After the death of King Harold the archbishops of York and Canterbury, Ealdred and Stigand supported the plan to put Edgar the Atheling on the English throne but William moved too quickly for this to be done and Edgar was too young and inexperienced to take on the role. Canterbury submitted to William and he moved on to London. Instead of entering London from the south he moved around the west of the city crossing the Thames at Wallingford. Finally archbishop Stigand and the other Anglo-Saxon leaders submitted to William and after turning south at Little Berkhamsted William the Conqueror entered London.

The Jews had risen to great power in Granada. Unhappy with this, the Muslims stormed the palace and massacred the vizier and possibly 4,000 of his followers.

On Christmas Day, William the Conqueror was crowned as King of England in Westminster Abbey. ¹

Odo,the Bishop or Bayeux, became William the Conqueror's deputy in England and was assisted by William Fitz Osbern until Osbern's death in 1071. Odo also became the Earl of Kent and his wealth and land became considerable.

Construction of Chepstow Castle is begun.

A motte and bailey castle is built at Norwich. ¹

A castle at Wallingford was built in this year. It would have been a motte and bailey type castle. ¹

Construction of a wooden castle was begun at Winchester.

William the Conqueror granted Arundel Castle to Roger de Montgomery. ¹

William returned to Normandy taking as guests Edgar the Aetheling (the grandson of Edmund Ironside), Stigand (Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earls of Mercia and Northumbria and the brothers Edwin and Morcar. ¹

A fire broke out in the city of l271:Canterbury which spread to the monastery. The buildings and main Saxon church were badly damaged. Stigand was the archbishop at the time but would shortly be deposed by Lanfranc who would start the reconstruction work.

William the Conqueror ordered the building of Warwick Castle.

Many of the northern English lords escaped to Scotland and to the court of Malcolm III when it was clear that William the Conqueror had control of the country.

Edgar the Aetheling took refuge with Malcolm III in Scotland along with his sister Margaret. Malcolm and Margaret were married in the same year.

William and the Normans started construction of the castle at Nottingham. This would have been a wooden building. It was built on the high ground above the town using the steep slope down to the river Leen as a defence. ¹

William the Conqueror ordered that all church bells should be sounded at eight o'clock each night as a signal for everyone to put out fires and candles and retire to bed. The term appears to come from the French couvre feu meaning cover the fire. ¹

William the Conqueror ordered that building work on a castle at Lincoln was to be started.

The Normans built a motte and bailey castle on the north side of the River Cam. ¹

Although William had defeated Harold at Hastings, Harold's mother Gytha and her forces still had not submitted to William's rule. They refused to pay the taxes that William demanded and held out at Exeter until their defences were broken. William had to take heavy casualties in the confrontation. William was still collecting the land tax known as Danegeld. After the city fell, William had a castle constructed to keep control of the population there. ¹

Following the rebellion in the West William orders the construction of a castle at Exeter. ¹

William brought his wife Matilda of Flander to England to crown her Queen of England. Matilda's coronation took place at Westminster Abbey and the ceremony was performed by the archbishop of York. ¹

Henry, the future king of England, was born at Selby in Yorkshire. ¹

An attack by a Danish invasion fleet led by Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark was fought off by a garrison stationed at a castle at Sandwich. Sandwich was an important port on the south coast. The location has now been found and the site is being investigated. ¹

Land from the nearby Cathedral was used to build a new Norman motte and bailey castle on the bank of the River Severn.

Magnus II, King of Norway died. He had become King of Norway in 1066. ¹

An army sent by Sweyn of Denmark landed in the north and captured York. Local rebels joined the Danes and attacked the two castles within the city. A fire lit by the Normans in an attempt to prevent the Danes attacking the castles got out of control and a large part of the city was destroyed including the cathedral. The confusion aided the Danes in capturing the castles and killing most of the Normans in the city.

Wiilliam laid waste to the northern lands of England to bring the area for ever under his control. The destruction was so severe that towns were left without inhabitants and so much of the crops and animals were burnt and destroyed that thousands of Northumbrians died of hunger. William also ordered that the land be poisoned so that crops would not grow again for years to come. This has become known as the Harrying of the North.

William the Conqueror placed Lanfranc in the position of Archbishop of Canterbury a move designed to strengthen his hold on the English throne. Thomas of Bayeux, a pupil of William's brother Odo, was put in the position of Archbishop of York after the death of Ealred who died on September 11th, 1069. Archbishop Stigand was imprisoned in Winchester.

William the Conqueror continued his castle building programme at both Chester and Stafford. ¹

Using the prehistoric hill fort's defensive position to good use, the Normans built a new castle on the Old Sarum site. William the Conqueror paid off his soldiers here in this year.

Malcolm, the Scottish king attacked towns in the north of England.

William Fitz Osbern built the hall at Chepstow Castle. ¹

The Abbey of Dunfermline was founded by Malcolm III, King of the Scots and his wife Margaret.

As part of a revolt against the new Norman invaders, Hereward the Wake sacked the abbey at Peterborough.

Canterbury Cathedral was rebuilt at this time by Archbishop Lanfranc. The Cathedral was based on the design of his abbey in Caen.

The Byzantine army was destroyed at Manzikert by the Turks. Romanus IV Diogenes, emperor of Byzantium, was defeated by the Sultan Alp-Arslan of Persia and imprisoned. Michael VII Ducas became the new emperor. ¹

The Seljuk Turks conquer Syria, Jerusalem and parts of Palestine. ¹

William orders a castle to be built at Ely. ¹

The rebels Hereward the Wake and Morcar on the Isle of Ely were attacked and defeated by William the Conqueror.

After Eadwin, the Earl of Mercia, was killed in the revolt against William his castle and lands at Dudley were given to William's Norman followers. ¹

The Abbot of Abingdon was imprisoned at Wallingford Castle. ¹

The construction of Richmond Castle began around this time by Alan Rufus, the cousin of the Duke of Brittany.

A Norman army attacked the northern Welsh town of Bangor and destroyed the Cathedral there. ¹

Robert D'Oilly was given the task of building a castle at Oxford by William the Conqueror at the important Thames river crossing. A motte and bailey castle would have been the type of castle built at this time. ¹

William orders the castle as Durham to be built. ¹

Serlo, William the Conqueror's chaplain, revived the floundering monastery at Gloucester and started major rebuilding work. Serlo died in 1104.

The first cathedral at Old Sarum was built between 1075 and 1092. Its builder was Bishop Osmund, who was supposed to be William the Conqueror's nephew. From 1072 until 1078, Osmund was William's Chancellor and in 1078 Osmund was given the title of Bishop of Salisbury.

In response to the earlier Scottish raid into northern England, King William took an army into Scotland. At the Treaty of Abernethy between William the Conqueror and Malcolm III of Scotland, Malcolm agreed to pay homage to William and gave his eldest son as hostage.

Lanfranc held a Church council at Winchester where the reorganisation of Bishops and Bishoprics was confirmed. Canterbury was also confirmed as the head of the English Church rather than York.

It is possible that William the Conqueror was planning to attack King Malcolm to prevent him protecting Edgar the Aetheling and to stop him advancing into the north of England. The treaty 'Peace of Abernethy' brought a solution to the situation where Malcolm agreed to become William's vassal and to expel Edgar. ¹

Edgar the Aetheling joined forces with King Malcolm in Scotland and King Philippe I of France in an attempt to take the English throne. A storm in the North Sea brought the endevour to an end and Edgar surrendered to William the Conqueror.

At Rhuddlan, by 1073, a motte and bailey castle had been built on the site of the earlier Welsh fort. This was done by Robert of Rhuddlan, a deputy of the Earl of Chester.  ¹

King William crossed the Channel to Normandy where he put down a revolt in Maine. ¹

Remigius the Norman monk and almoner from Fecamp Abbey began work on the first Cathedral church at Lincoln. The bishop's see had been moved from Dorchester-on-Thames.

The absence of William in Normandy encouraged a rebellion led by Roger, earl of Hereford, and Ralf de Guader, earl of Norfolk and Earl Walfeof against the Norman King. The rebellion was halted at Worcester by Bishop Wulfstan and Walter de Lacy whose army prevented the rebels crossing the River Severn. When William retuned to England, the leaders of the rebellion were imprisoned except Earl Walfeof who was executed. After the rebellion, King William deprived several of the earls of their titles and did not re-appoint them.

After the destruction of the North by King William, a monk called Aldwin rebuilt sections of the damaged monastery at Jarrow including the upper part of the central tower and brought back monks.

Upon the death of Sweyn the King of Denmark a war of succession followed between his eldest sons. Harold became king and reigned until 1081.

Chichester was made a bishopric in this year when the bishop moved there from Selsey.

Construction of Windsor Castle started by William the Conqueror.

At the Council of London Archbishop Lanfranc instigated the movement of many English Bishoprics to more important locations. One of these was the Bishopric of Sherborne and Wilton which moved to Old Sarum.

Roger Fitz Osbern joined an unsuccessful uprising against the king and lost. The castle then passed to the crown. ¹

William the Conqueror had to contend with several rebellions making up the Norman Conquest, the last of which was a rebellion by three earls over a marriage. William forbade the marriage of Emma, the daughter of William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford to Ralph, Earl of East Anglia (Norfolk). Ignoring William's refusal Ralph and Emma secretly married. Along with Roger Earl of Hereford, Emma's brother, Ralph plotted to rebel against William. Involved in the plot was Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, an Anglo-Saxon earl. Soon after the rebellion started Waltheof had second thoughts and confessed. The rebellion collapsed and Waltheof was arrested.