According to Sellers and Yeatman the only memorable date in English history is 1066. In 1066 there was a major change in English history which would have significant consequences for these islands and further afield even to this day.
The plot
1066 marks the beginning of the Norman conquest of England. The Normans come from Normandy and are the descendants of the Vikings, who under Rollo, besieged Paris. The name Normandy is derived from the identity of the Vikings who were Northmen, nor being Old Norse for north as in Norway today. On the 5th January 1066 Edward the Confessor died leaving no clear heir to the English throne. This gap was filled by three key claimants to the throne. The first is the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada, the second is the Earl of Wessex Harold and the third is William Duke of Normandy.
Enter the main players
1066 became a year of conflict between three competing powers. Harold claimed the throne and was crowned. Then had to keep it. His first challenge was Harald who invaded Northern England from Scandinavia bringing with him Harolds traitor brother Tostig. Harold met Harald and Tostig at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. A famous engagement where the Anglo-Saxons caught the Danes unprepared. There is a legend that a single Dane held the bridge to allow the Danes to prepare for battle and was only defeated by a clever Anglo-Saxon spearing him from below. Needless to say we do know that both Harald and Tostig died in the battle and of the three hundred ships needed to transport the army from Scandinavia only twenty four were needed for the return journey.
The successful Anglo-Saxons then had to march back down south because news arrived that the Normans had made the journey across the channel, had landed and were now marching on London. Medieval armies are not big and as well as not being a large force Williams army was not homogenous or well motivated beyond the search for loot. The campaign had not started off well for William. The ships did not have a good wind and he kept his men on the ships rather than let his Italian mercenaries enjoy the attractions of the port. They sang hymns instead. His war aim was to get to London and be crowned, all Harold had to do was stop him getting to London before his mercenary army disintegrated. Harold decided to stop William at a battlefield near Hastings. All he had to do was keep his army at the top of the hill and prevent them from being drawn down onto the plain by the Normans where they would be defeated. He successfully achieved this with the help of his brothers until all three of them were slain in the battle and the Anglo-Saxon army attacked the Normans on the plain and were defeated.
The final act
William was crowned king on Christmas day. Although he spent very little time in England his reforms accelerated the trend towards feudalism, he replaced the English nobility with Normans and introduced the French language to England the influence of which can still be seen today.