Battle of Stamford Bridge
The Battle of Stamford Bridge (Old English: Gefeoht æt Stanfordbrycge) took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada and the English king's brother Tostig Godwinson. After a bloody battle, both Hardrada and Tostig, along with most of the Norwegians, were killed. Although Harold Godwinson repelled the Norwegian invaders, his army was defeated by the Normans at Hastings less than three weeks later. The battle has traditionally been presented as symbolising the end of the Viking Age, although major Scandinavian campaigns in Britain and Ireland occurred in the following decades.
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half way up the beach
Great fishing in that area.
“7 feet of earth.” Witty and composed even in the face of death
Harold of England didn’t meet William half way. Having marched his army north and successfully fought a huge battle, he had then to march south again as fast as possible to face William a stones throw inland from the beach at Pevensey...... and he damned nearly pulled that one off too.
@@battlesin3d70 So you admit you got your information wrong? hahaha
Yes, but Harold DIDN’T have to march fast to confront William - he could have taken his time and arrived with a fresher army, then confronted William. William could cause as much trouble as he wanted on the south coast but until he defeated Harold’s army in battle then he would never be able to claim the throne. One of the great mysteries is exactly why Harold raced back so quickly - he left many experienced troops behind and if the worst came to the worst he could even have boxed William in and left him to flounder on the south coast. But he didn’t, he raced back. Panic? Overconfidence? Who knows.
@@greva2904 ....My point is simply that Harold didn’t meet William half way and your point adds some emphasis to this. Harold did race all the way down, without really waiting to build his army enough. Overconfidence is possible, even probable, having dished up the Vikings at Stamford Bridge. Likely, he was angered that an invader was laying waste to part of his kingdom and wanted that stopped. He probably wanted to face his enemy with their backs to the sea with autumn weather hindering their reinforcement or retreat. A combination of these and more besides I expect. Whatever, tomorrow is the 956th anniversary of the death of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.
@@greva2904 William started raiding and burning the south coast which drove Harold to rush back and stop him
@@sovietunion6598 spot on
Amazing job. Explaining possibilities and uncertainties because there is no way to know for sure is great. Unlike other channels who speaks so sure like they've been there and done that(which is horseshit), it makes you much more credible
A medieval battle in the north of England narrated by an American cowboy. Love it!
Who seems to laud praise on the viking courage being overwhelmed by the English numbers as if we’d almost cheated 😂😂. Generally if an invasion force is repelled that force is considered the aggressor. Not so in American history though? Still they didn’t see themselves as aggressors to the indigenous native Americans when they erased them from history. Nice graphics though.
@@haroldhorsefly1368 Hilarious watching a Brit try to accuse other nations of being horrible imperialists. Must have skipped that day in history class where they covered Britain invading 90% of the countries on Earth and subjugating untold millions 😂
@@nukesean whoa there Musky; you’ve gotta president who thinks there’s 54 states in America, with the previous one advising the public to inject themselves with bleach to protect themselves from covid. Are these two great examples of education in the US?
Yippee Ky Yea!
@@nukesean The only prick mentioning imperialism is you.
Love this period of history. So grateful I came across your channel!! Love the accurate use of numbers, helps paint a picture of the battle.
Doesn't seem very accurate some of it is made up / some proper sources ignored
@@Cythan tru
This is just great, you really brought the battle to life, subscribed and looking forward to more!
This channel rocks! Happy I stumbled on it!
I've been in a few battles at Stamford Bridge, somehow I don't think this is about Chelsea FC and the mighty Arsenal. Still the post was very interesting and thought provoking. Thanks for posting.
The berserker of Stamford Bridge. Legend.
G,Day Squire well done again,most enlightening,keep up the good work Sir!!
This was great - keep the videos coming!
Exelente reconstrucción de la batalla, muy ilustrativa y bien hecha.
So glad I stumbled onto this channel. Subbed for sure.
Great channel, what a find. Subscribed for sure.
Absolutely loved it! Great narrating. I hope for many more vids to come :-) New Subscriber! PS. I really enjoyed there was a place called Flanders :-D
happy to found this channel nice video!
This could be my new favorite channel!
Hang in there with these. They are great and well worth the watch. The subs will come.
Seconding this! One of the best docuvideos Ive seen.
After this battle King Harold marched his exhausted army 300 miles down to Hastings on the Sussex coast. It wasn't halfway as you said, he then fought William the Bastard from dawn to dusk and very nearly defeated him too. Its claimed that William knew of the Viking invasion and took the advantage to land unopposed while King Harold Godwinson was fighting them 300 miles north at Stamford bridge.
halfway from London to the coast is what he meant
@@zurgesmiecal From London to the coast at Hastings is 70 miles, which is not even half of 300miles it's not even a third of the distance.
Halfway between Stamford Bridge and Normandy.
A bit like Robin Hood Prince of Thieves where Kevin Costner lands on the south coast, marches past Nottingham then fights Little John at Aysgarth Falls in Yorkshire 100 miles north of Nottingham, up to Hadrian's Wall near Newcastle, another maybe 70 miles north and finally arrives back in Nottingham 170 miles south. I reckon my wife was probably navigating him 😅
Welcome to Yorkshire! This is for Fulford! Excellent content. Looked like a lot of the county does at the moment with turning leaves. Really well done.
Not often I come across my village named in a YT video. There is written accounts of the bones of the soldiers been visible on the surface surrounding Stamford for approximately 150 years after the battle. Crazy to think that so many could have died in a small area, and then the actual location being lost to time. I know these fields, local woodland, how the rivers course has slightly altered over the last 1000 years etc, like the back of my hand. Not once have I found a single slither of what could be called a archaeological find. No farmers have reported plowing up anything. No big digs have ever taken place here. Nothing. A series of dead ends. I've not heard of a single account of anyone unearthing a single artifact from this battle. Sad really.
I have used a metal detector in all the fields surrounding the area marked as the site of the battle and there were no finds that could indicate this as the battle site. The original bridge is to the south of the present day settlement on Low Catton lane, it was Roman in origin (it is the site of the Roman town) it is covered by High Catton hill and it would have made far more sense for the Vikings to camp there with the good views of the surrounding area. My guess is that this will be the site for the battle.
@@justwhenyouthought6119 Do you mean Low Catton Road?
It was interesting (I'm from York) to hear about places you have lived near, worked around etc being discussed with regards to this, more so that traces have been unwilling to come to the surface. I have read news that some detectorists have found an axe and another item but not sure how accurate this is. The other point I guess is that the bridge must have been narrow to allow one man to fight off 40 others.
@@rambledogs2012 Yes, if you go on to aerial archaeology explorer you will quite clearly see the location of the Roman town to the south of the present day Stamford, this will be the location of the original bridge.
@@rambledogs2012 Lots of material found in Escrick where the boats were kept but certainly nothing on or around Battleflats. As I said my presumption is that High Catton hill is where the viking army would have been encamped but the landowner of most of that area does not like metal detectorists.
Really well done, subbed.
So well done thank you.
thanks!
Interesting view. Thanks for expelnation.
Very good, as always
Well done! Best narrator voice yet imo. Good length too, 10-15 minutes is perfect.
Good job...thanks man.
This is really cool idea. I have always wondered what some of the ancient battles would have looked like. Not sure if you do Roman battles but I have always wanted to understand what a Battle like Philippi would look like. 80k+ infantry, 13k cavalry VS 90k infantry, 20k cavalry. A few hundred thousand trained killers in melee combat!
Well presented and narrated. New follower.
Subscribed in ten seconds. A new record
I NEED more of these videos. Loads more.
coming soon
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the video. I forgot 1066 was against the Vikings. I liked and subscribed.
This channel going places
Clicked because of the Title, subscribed for the content. Bruh, that narrator voice is 🔥🔥🔥
great channel
Brilliant!
I lived in Stamford from 81 until 93. The actual bridge is thought to have been about 400 metres upstream of where the bridge now stands, which is logical as the land in either side is flatter on its approach. Secondly the actual site is on the slight hill approaching the hamlet of High Catton about a mile from the centre of Stamford. Great documentary though. It's a lovely place to live, I only left due to working commitments. Great shame the best pub, the Swordsman or the New Inn as it was formerly known has closed, lots of good memories over there.
was the bridge even built back in the years 81 - 93? that would be some impressive engineering and maintenance.
Sorry meant 1981 to 93.
@@stevebagnall1553 damn, so you're a time traveller? going back from the year 1981 to 93 is pretty wild.
The original bridge is downstream at Low Caton Lane, it is the site of the original Roman town
The bridge wouldn't be on the river anymore as it will have moved
glad i found this
Good job, for the next video I propose the battle of Bicoca. New sub here!
Awesome video, do a video on how you make these!?
I recently moved to North Yorkshire and drove past Stamford Bridge just yesterday on my way to the city of York. I'd always assumed that Stamford Bridge was near London as Chelsea F.C 's ground is called that. As I drove past I wondered if they'd ever been an historic event there. Now I know! 👍👍
Apparently Andrew Windsors daughters are Chelsea fans, set of in their chauffeur driven car to have lunch at Stamford Bridge, it was a new driver and told him to go to Stamford Bridge. He was a Yorkshire lad so set off for the one near York. The two were hung over and had nodded off. Three hours later, they pulled into the football field and were awoken. They actually saw the funny side, watched the local lads play, spent a couple of hours in the bar and went home. A good time had by all. Unfortunately I had left when this happened.
Never heard of the battle of Stamford Bridge? Where have you moved from? The moon?
@@typhoon2827 a simple look in Wikipedia will educate you.
@@stevebagnall1553 I asked a simple question, enquiring of the OP where he had moved from to not have heard of the battle. I doubt wiki is going to help me with that.
@TyPhoon - Scotland. I expect that if you asked a normal Englishman if he'd heard of the Battle of Renfrew or the Battle of Largs, he'd probably not have. I wonder if they'd even know Stirling Bridge, Bannockburn or Culloden. I'm also sure that there are many more English battles I've never heard of. ☺☺
These are brilliant videos. Would like to see similar for Nasby, Culloden??
My two favorite kings in the history of the world. I liked the video, but I wish you'd have spared more than a passing comment on the giant at the bridge. That's the best part.
Thanks!
Dangggg this reminds me of the UK show Time Commanders cinematics showing the battles, good times. Great narrator too! Mild observation, put a grainy filter over the flyover shots and see how it looks, i think itll help the atmosphere a ton.
thanks!
I’ve tried for years to find time commanders episodes. There is some on KZhead, but the BBC haven’t ever published them as DVD’s or put them on the Iplayer. Very annoying as they do this with lots of old content they made, just leaving it in their archive
Excellent 3d graphics and landscapes. What did you use?
Awesome!
Nice stuff, Something about the Battle of Fulford would be nice.
Was there a game you made this video in or what software did you make all the number of soldiers in?
Nice to hear clear pronunciation and well spoken English, beginning to think I'm one of the last.
To the lone viking, a tribute! Upon the sturdy Stanford Bridge he stood, A son of the North, carved of ice and wood, In his veins flowed the ancient Nordic blood, Lone, resolute, in the face of the flood. His axe gleamed under the morning sun's crown, A Viking warrior of immortal renown, One man against an army, he would not bow, With valor in his heart, he made a solemn vow. "Here on this bridge, I stake my final stand, No enemy shall pass, none shall tread our land, With Odin's might, I clutch my brother's brand, Against the foreign tide, immovable as sand." Echoed his roar across the steel-grey water, Stirring fear in the heart of the invading slaughter, Like Thor's thunder, his voice filled the air, A hymn of defiance, a warrior's prayer. His axe swung wide, his shield held firm, In his eyes, the Nordic fires did burn, Upon the bridge, the enemy took their turn, Only to meet their end, their fate confirmed. Bodies piled high, his shadow cast, Fierce and fearless, till his very last. His legend woven in the Nordic past, An epic tale, to the icy winds broadcast. Then came the arrow, unseen, unheard, Struck the Viking, swift as a bird, Yet his spirit, undaunted, undeterred, His final battle cry in the distance echoed. The Bridge of Stanford, painted in blood and strife, Witness to his end, but also his immortal life, In that final stand, in death's embrace, Lived the eternal glory of the Viking race. Through fjords and mountains, his legend rings, A tribute to the warrior, the echo sings, A Viking's oath, on raven's wings, In our hearts, the lone guardian forever clings. In the Northern sky, a new star gleamed, The warrior's soul, by Valhalla redeemed. His saga scribed in the Northern lights' beam, In his honor, we remember, and we dream. In the whispers of the wind, his tale is told, A lone Viking, bold and cold, Upon the Stanford Bridge, he forever holds, A symbol of courage, of a spirit uncontrolled. Raise your horns high, let the mead flow, To the lone Viking, a tribute we bestow, Sing his saga, let his memory glow, In our hearts, the seed of bravery sow. Forever, his story in the Nordic soul grows, In the frost-kissed lands where the cold wind blows.
nice
Us English fart in your general Viking direction.
Thank you for the poem ❤
Love the animations is this a new channel? and series? love it!
Thanks!
Please do the battle of Bouvines! Such an epic, dramatic, and decisive battle!
Loved the vídeo, how you animate this?
This was interesting, here on the wirral, the site of the great battle of Brunanburh/Bromborough 937AD ,is still intact, Wirral archeologists are still turning up weapons from the site,they presented Bernard Cornwell with a dagger retrieved from the site...
Amazing job. only 3k subs, what a shame. Hope you grow big. Cheers from Estonia
The best
Other accounts of the lone Viking on the bridge have him being killed when an Englishman went into the river and under the bridge, where he used a long spear between the planks to stab up into the Viking's groin.
Can you do one about General Buford’s Cavalry the day before the Battle of Gettysburg? I’d love to hear your perspective in that slight drawl!
may be later
@@battlesin3d70 Hi ive enjoyed your coverage of the battles of 1066 in England but there is one more battle that took place before Harold Godwinson reached Stamford. When Hardrada's fleet landed it was up to the Northern Earls to defend the land and battle the invaders. Sadly they were defeated and we remember their sacrifice as the Battle of Gate Fulford. It would be great if you added this battle to complete the Three battles of '66
Amazing that the roads and bridge shown on the map exist to this day
Great video. Who's your narrator? Would love to see him credited!
How do you produce the vids?
I've listened to Harald Foss’ song “Ved Stanford Brua” and it was a touching Norwegian song. 😢💔
I was looking for Chelsea and Tottenham but this is good too
This would make a lot more sense if you mentioned the battle of Fulford, two miles south of York that took place a few days before. This explains why the viking army was split up and their armour was in their ships at Riccall. Three battles in a very short space of time , that had the weather been different could have taken place in a different order, with vastly different outcomes.
How would the history of England, indeed the World, have differed had Harold driven off the Normans as he did the Vikings?
At least King Harald's wife made sure he wore a helmet before he went to England.
is that a game or you make the animation by your own? btw it's aweasome video
Hi, Its not a game its Blender 3D
what program do you use?
By any chance, does this Stamford Bridge is located at the current Stamford Bridge Stadium of Chelsea Football Club??
Man this like my favorite history class BUT IN 3D
Plz upload more vdos this is a new experince lov ya .
It would be interesting to magnet-hunt in the river. Assuming the river hasn't changed its course, there might be some startling finds.
"River changed it's course" Slightly different time but I was in Hadrian's wall country and came across a roman bridge in a farmers field.... the river was now some 500 metres away!
Makes you feel bad for Harold Godwinson. To go from victory to defeat so quickly.
Poor intel, lack of pickets and scouts, and a complete unwillingness to prepare for a possible battle. Even AFTER being caught with their pants down, they did not need to stand and fight, they could have headed south at a greater rate of speed than Godwinsons army could have and joined with the rear guard, from that point they could have done any number of things including getting back on their ships and heading south to London knowing full well the army was so far north. Viking kings of all ages picked and chose their field of battle, while dying in battle was always celebrated, it was never the goal of good kings.
holy shit these are cool as hell
You mention the exhausted Vikings having to march from their ships to the battle. How about King Harold having to March from the North to the South of England not to meet the Normans Halfway at all as you mention.
you should do the Battle of Bryn Glas
this is one of the best videos on any battle I've ever seen.⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪
Whoa ! But where the stadium?
I've done military marches with full battle gear up to 24 km and the level of fatigue past the 15km mark can be felt. It took about more than half a day to accomplish the march. Now with full chainmail, shield and sword/axe and helm, running 15 miles to a battle within just mere hours is one hell of a feat. You cannot blame the Northmen for having near zero effect on the battlefield because they were completely and absolutely spent. I have done a 3km run with full battle kit with a heavy pack weighing 30kg in total, and it was incredibly tiring to the point of exhaustion So the feat alone of running 15 miles with armor and weapons needs to be recorded down in history as one of the most strenuous moments in military history. This is even better than the messenger that ran 42km to Athens to report the Greek victory at Marathon as he ran with only his tunic.
'A sky candle flared, that doomed autumn day..'
A young bull and his father are on top of a hill. At the bottom of the hill many cows were grazing. The young bull said, “We could run down there and take any cow we wanted.” The father replied, “No. We should walk down and take them all”
Two cows on a hill, one said Moo, the other said - bastard I was gonna say that.
That’s an old one ! I’m 86 and I heard this when I was a young guy !
@@Wolf1036 You that old?
Yep 9/Oct/ 1936 in the State of Illinois, USA. That state is a mess and I live in Wisconsin in the country surrounded by farms and fields.
@@Wolf1036 never seen an American put the day before the the month…
Honestly you could possibly create a pretty neat game like this
Like what?
Would love a battle of bannock burn, had a 1v1 between Bruce and a knight, would be a great one to do
what game is this ? or is this a game it looks amazing
its animation
@@battlesin3d70 ahh ok ty and great work
Cool video, although I have some reservations about calling Harald Hardrada's forces Vikings. Rather than going as a band of raiders (on a "viking" as it were) they were an organized invading force from a now nearly entirely Christianized nation. We can assume that most of those men, under the command of a Catholic king, were not anticipating "going to Valhalla."
Its difficult to say since its almost 1000 years ago, but I know for sure that the change from norse to christian religion happened slowly over several centuries. The christening of Norway was often forced upon the population and in the beginning many accepted Jesus to just be another norse god. This can be shown by looking at the carvings of gods in stave Churches around Norway. My last point is that culture would likely not change that fast. This battle is seen as the end of the viking age, but the warriorculture still shows with later kings like Magnus Barefoot and Sigurd the crusiader. Ofc i must point out that even though I am very interested in this historical age, I am no historian.
He wasn’t Catholic, he was a nominal Christian. But other than that I agree
@@cloudthekell he was literally a Catholic under Pope Alexander II
@@sanderpander73 Norse Pagan belief was virtually entirely removed by the time of Harald Hardrada’s reign, as Saint Olaf spent most of his time as King of Norway destroying all Pagan remnants within the country.
The history does seem faulty in the video
Love your content brother keep it up. Is it possible for you guys to make napoleonic battles or even late 19th century battles? Would love to see it keep up the good work💪🏻
my dream is to make napoleonic battles
@@battlesin3d70 love how you make these things yourself. U know napoleon total war? Maybe thats a good way to recreate battles in the napoleonic era. I could help u with that i have darthmod added to the vanilla game on my pc which can make these massive battles up to 150.000 man on a pretty realistic battlefield. But i understand if u rather wish to do it with your own programming
@@juplup9104 Thanks, yes I know NTW and I love it, thank you for your offer of assistance but now Im making medieval battles, so may be later...
Even a small bridge still matters.
My mom's family was supposedly related to Harold Hardrada. This was brought down through the years as an oral history that the family members were supposed to make sure and pass on. We have done alot of research into this and it seems that my mom's grandparents on both sides of her family were related to the kings of Norway.
But what about being related to the farmer that fucked his sheep. Equal importance man
@@erebus7306 I don't know if I'm related to you, your name didn't come up, but do you have them named, your sheep I mean? 🐏
Being related to the kings of Norway when you were a poor farmer in Norway 200 years ago maybe gave you a little prestige in the community, today's generation are more interested in knowing if they are related to the Kardashian royal family, lol.
Lots of guesswork here. Harold and William met in Hastings, a coastal town, so certainly not half way.
the visuals, is it from game?
it is animation
one of the little known battles is the battle of Towton durring the war of the roses which has the reputation of the largest lose of english life in england house of york vs house of lancaster yet virually nobody knows of the battle this would make a good video
its a game ?
Imagine having a mg42 back in these times you’ll be invincible
worthy.
for the life in me i can't understand why there has not been a feature film made of this especially with the current love affair with all things viking. come on Ridley Scott
Harold may have thought he could catch William by surprise as he had the Norwegians and rushed to the South coast before mustering his full strength. English Housecarls rode to the battlefield and dismounted to fight in the shield wall. They did not use cavalry as the Normans has learned to with large war horses which were bigger than English horses.
He did wait in London for a week, but that wasn't long enough to muster more men. Historians believe that he was forced to act; William was slaughtering the civilian population of Wessex and burning everything to the ground. If he did not go to battle as soon as possible, then his own Earldom would have been ruined, and his reputation would never have been the same again, his people may not trust him anymore to defend them. It would have been a bitter pill to swallow, but in hindsight he really should have waited a bit longer in London.
Harold did not meet william half way. Harold had to march his army literally all the way to the southern english coast. Hastings is like 5 miles from the coast.
A mere fact of little consequence apparently! In truth had Harold repelled the Vikings and then the Normans after a forced march he would have undoubtedly been considered our greatest warring king, and he was pretty damn close to it. Still, nice graphics!