Conflict: Viking Invasions
Combatants: English vs. Norwegians
Location: England (UK)
Outcome: Norwegian victory
Two months before the Norman invasion of England, Harald Hardraade sailed a Norwegian army up the Humber River with Tostig, the former Earl of Northumbria and exiled half-brother of English King Harold II, in tow. At Fulford, Harald and Tostig defeated the armies of Mercia and Northumbria. The Norwegians then occupied York.
Points of Interest:
Harold II, not knowing whether the Norsemen or the Normans would invade first, waited in London until he heard news of Fulford.
The losses suffered at Fulford contributed to the even more crucial defeat at Hastings the following month.
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Sources:
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
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