What day of the week was the Battle of Hastings fought?

The Battle of Hastings was fought on a Saturday, 14 October 1066.

The battle began around 9 a.m. near Senlac Hill, roughly seven miles northwest of Hastings, in what is now East Sussex. William, Duke of Normandy, led an invading army against Harold Godwinson, the newly crowned English king. Fighting continued until dusk, making it an unusually long and exhausting medieval engagement.

The date is important because it came only weeks after Harold’s victory over the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Harold’s army then marched rapidly south to confront William, whose forces had landed at Pevensey on 28 September. The English king’s death during the battle caused the collapse of much of his army and opened the way for the Norman Conquest.

A common mix-up is the battlefield’s name: the fighting occurred near the present town of Battle, not in the modern town centre of Hastings. William was crowned king at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day later that year.