Magna Carta Blog, Part 2: Norman Conquest of England Edition

Roughly 150 years before the the Magna Carta was created, 1066 to be exact, was the year that the country of  England came under control of duke William of Normandy. The events that led to the conquest being successful can be traced back to Harthacnut, the last Danish king of England, who began an interesting reign of England in 1040, where he more or less co ruled with Edward the Confessor. However, several years before he became king of England and was still just king of Denmark, Harthacnut made a deal with king Magnus of Norway that if either of them died childless then they would count as each other's heir. This meant that when Harthacnut died in 1042, King Magnus now figured himself to be king of England, though Edward the Confessor had already claimed the title so Magnus ultimately ended up remaining just the king of Norway. However, Edward being king of England only led to more problems later on since he had spent much of his life in the court of the duke of Normandy. This meant that when Edward the Confessor died childless in 1066 there were now three people who figured themselves king of England, duke William of Normandy, Harold Godwinson (who was the most powerful baron in England) and the son king Magnus, Harald Hardrade. In the fall of 1066 Harald landed his invasion in the northeast of England and proceeded to utterly destroy the armies of the English Earl brothers Edwin and Morcar at the battle of Fulford. Just five days later Harold arrived and utterly destroyed the Norweigan army in a suprise attack at Stamford Bridge, where Harald Hardrade and just about all of his army were killed. Now with a much weakened army Harold began marching south to combat the newly landed Norman troops, led by duke William of Normandy. In the battle of Hastings Harold's forces were defeated by the superior tactics of the Norman troops and Harold himself died in the battle. Though there were still many small rebellions from the Anglo-Saxon nobles, mostly Edwin and Morcar, William had now firmly established himself as the king of England. It was the great and great-great grandchildren of William, now known as the Conqueror, who would end up being key figures in the time of the Magna Carta. Had Harold or Harald won the title of King of England, it is possible that the Magna Carta would have never come into being.