THE MAKING OF THE KING 1066 by Lloyd, Alan

Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1966, New York, US first edition, hard bound in dust jacket, , 6 x 9, illus. 243 pages, illustrations, notes, bibliog, index. VG/VG condition, ------------------------------------------The year 1066 is traditionally the most memorable in the history of the British Isles. In THE MAKING OF THE KING: 1066 Alan Lloyd brings to life the stories of three outstandingly ambitious men whose careers finally clashed in that famous year which climaxed in the Battle of Hastings.Harold Godwinson of England was the heir of Edward the Confessor's richest and wiliest subject. When Edward died in January 1066, Harold, by his family power, by his successful generalship against the Welsh, and by his shrewd diplomacy, especially in dealing with his unhelpful brother Trostig, held the first place in the realm.No one in England contested his accession to the throne. But two foreigners did. Harald Hardrada of Norway, a brilliant Viking adventurer, whose career had ranged over Russia, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean, led an invasion through Northumbria. After a celebrated forced march from London to Yorkshire, Harold of England defeated the Northmen at Stamford Bridge. Almost simultaneously, William of Normandy, who had struggled from the insecure leadership of a minor duchy to become a formidable power on the Continent, sailed from France with the armada that had been waiting for a fair wind much of the summer. Harold rushed a tired army south. On October 14, the English were bloodily vanquished and Harold was killed on the hill of Senlac near Hastings. By the end of the year, William of Normandy was William the Conqueror of England.Alan Lloyd shows the environment that produced these men in Anglo-Saxon England, Scandinavia, and feudal Normandy -the everyday realities surrounding the greater and more familiar events. Evidence has been brought from a wide range of subjects-food, drink and agriculture, arms, costume and ship construction, superstition, legend and local history-to make a fascinating background to the main narrative, which, fresh, lively, and informed, tells of the rocketing careers of the men of 1066 and of the momentous happenings of the year itself.