Who was the English king defeated at the Battle of Hastings?

Harold Godwinson was the English king defeated at the Battle of Hastings. Crowned Harold II in January 1066, he ruled England for less than a year before William, Duke of Normandy, defeated his army in Sussex.

Harold inherited a dangerous succession crisis after Edward the Confessor died without a surviving child. He had to defend his claim against both William's invasion from Normandy and a separate Norwegian invasion led by Harald Hardrada. Harold defeated Hardrada at Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066, then marched south to meet William.

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October. Harold's exhausted forces held a strong position behind a shield wall, but the Normans gradually weakened the English line with archery, cavalry attacks, and feigned retreats. Harold was killed during the fighting, though the exact manner of his death remains debated.

His defeat ended Anglo-Saxon rule in England. William succeeded him and became known as William the Conqueror.