AthelingWilliam is crowned at Westminster
Ealdred of York crowns the Conqueror on Christmas Day while his guards set fire to the houses outside.
What the record says
The coronation followed the English rite, with the crowd asked in English and French whether they accepted the king. The shouting alarmed the Norman guard, who mistook acclamation for riot and fired the surrounding houses.
Certainty
| Fact | Value | Certainty |
|---|---|---|
| Date | 25 December 1066 | Exact |
| How sure we are | High | Of this record as a whole |
People
Related events
- Edgar submits at Berkhamsted
William crosses the Thames at Wallingford and the English leaders come out to meet him.
- London chooses Edgar
With Harold dead, Archbishop Ealdred and the citizens of London name the boy of the old house as king.
- William sails for Normandy
The new king spends most of 1067 across the Channel, leaving Odo and fitzOsbern to govern.
- Hastings
William defeats Harold's army on the ridge north of Hastings. Harold is killed.
- William lands at Pevensey
The Norman fleet crosses while Harold is in the north, and the army comes ashore unopposed.
Sources
Where this is recorded
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Avalon Project)
- William of Poitiers, Gesta Guillelmi, ed. R. H. C. Davis and Marjorie Chibnall, Oxford Medieval Texts, 1998
- The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, trans. Thomas Forester
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