Battle of Fulford

The Battle of Fulford took place in 1066, and was the first major engagement of the invasion by Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, in his attempt to gain the throne of England.

It took place just outside the city of York, and involved Hardrada's invasion force defeating and massacring an English force under the Earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria (both of whom, however, escaped alive).

It was in the aftermath of this victory, and that the Norse forces were resting at Stamford Bridge when Harold Godwinson, King of England, arrived to meet them after a spectacular march of only four days. It is likely that the norsemen let their guard down, believing that English King could not reach them so quickly from two hundred miles away, where he had been watching for an invasion by William of Normandy.