The conquest of England in 1066 by William, duke of Normandy, resulted in a reorientation of the country’s cultural, social, economic and political focus away from Scandinavia and towards north-west continental Europe. The invasion was not an isolated event but part of a series of assaults. It was, however, the last to be successful. England enjoyed a highly-productive agricultural economy, especially in the south and east, and it was this wealth which attracted repeated raiding and settlement during the first millennium. Scandinavian attacks against the Anglo-Saxons, themselves the descendants of earlier invaders, began in the ninth century. North-west England was assaulted by Norwegians, who had already established their hegemony across the Orkneys, Shetlands and Hebrides, and founded…

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Citation: Flanders, Steve. "Battle of Hastings; the Norman Conquest". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 November 2005; last revised 15 March 2006. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=101, accessed 24 November 2024.]