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Victorians Got Battle of Hastings Wrong, Professor Says
Professor Tom Licence reveals King Harold used a coordinated land-sea strategy in 1066, overturning a 150-year-old myth of a forced 200-mile march to Hastings.
- Challenging accepted lore, Licence's research shows, the ships returned to London and remained operational throughout the year, contradicting the 200-mile march narrative.
- Victorian historians, notably Edward Augustus Freeman, misinterpreted the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle line about returning ships, and for more than two centuries historians repeated this, embedding the 200-mile march myth.
- Licence examined nine manuscripts and said: 'I noticed multiple contemporary writers referring to Harold's fleet, while modern historians were dismissing those references or trying to explain them away.' He argues a 200‑mile march is unrealistic, citing Civil War forces covering around 100 miles in five days.
- On Tuesday March 24, the British Museum responded that the research may encourage visitors to see the Bayeux Tapestry later this year. Licence is due to present at the University of Oxford during The Maritime and Political World of 1066 conference.
- The study revives evidence for a naval clash, with the Domesday Book and Annales Altahenses hinting at an English sea engagement that could reshape teaching of 1066 in classrooms and museums.
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King Harold's 200-mile march to the Battle of Hastings was a 'myth', historian says
Rather than enduring a legendary 200-mile (320-kilometre) overland march to confront the invading William the Conqueror at the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066, King Harold Godwinson's forces likely launched a "sophisticated land-sea operation" that ultimately failed to stop the Norman conquest of England, a British historian has found.
·France
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Nearly 1,000 years ago, England's last Anglo-Saxon monarch bowed to the Norman army. A British historian beats in breach the explanation of this advanced defeat so far.
·Paris, France
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources17
Leaning Left3Leaning Right2Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution62% Center
Bias Distribution
- 62% of the sources are Center
62% Center
L 23%
C 62%
15%
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