Battle of Fulford

September 20, 1066

Harald Hardrada's Norwegian army met the northern English earls Edwin and Morcar outside York and routed them in a boggy field, killing huge numbers. The victory gave the Norsemen York and much of Yorkshire but exhausted Harold's northern levies just as the southern kingdom needed them most desperately. The timing could not have been worse: William of Normandy was already assembling his fleet across the Channel.