Battle of Hastings
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45 free Battle of Hastings trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
The Battle of Hastings is the one date every English schoolchild knows, and the details are stranger than the headline. Edward the Confessor died childless, Harold Godwinson took the crown, and within nine months he had beaten a Norwegian king at Stamford Bridge, marched 200 miles south, and died on a Sussex ridge as William of Normandy's archers, infantry and cavalry finally broke the shield wall at dusk on 14 October 1066. These 45 questions cover the whole campaign: Rollo's Vikings in Normandy, the Witenagemot, Tostig and Hardrada at Fulford, the landing at Pevensey, Halley's Comet, the fyrd and the housecarls, the kite shields and Danish axes, the feigned flights, the rumour that William was dead, the arrow-in-the-eye story and who first wrote it down, the Malfosse, Edith the Fair identifying the body, Edgar Ætheling, the surrender at Berkhamsted, Christmas Day at Westminster, the Harrying of the North, Battle Abbey and the Bayeux Tapestry. Every answer is cited to a page we checked and comes with a short explanation, so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a pub quiz history round.
30 of 45 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In legend, how did King Harold die at Hastings?
An arrow in the eye
An arrow in the eye is the traditional story, but other accounts have Harold hacked to pieces by William's men.
Q 02Besides 'the Conqueror', which nickname did William of Normandy sometimes go by?
William the Bastard
William the Bastard was the son of Duke Robert I's mistress, yet the duke, with no other sons, made him heir, and William inherited Normandy in 1035.
Q 03Who reputedly struck the first Norman blow at Hastings?
A minstrel
A minstrel, Taillefer, is said to have killed the first Englishman, and later tellings have him charging the English and dying in the attack.
Q 04Whose death in January 1066 set off England's succession crisis?
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor was too ill to attend the consecration of his new Westminster Abbey, and he was buried there the day after he died, the same day Harold was crowned.
Q 05Which of Harold's brothers joined the Norwegian invasion against him?
Tostig
Tostig is said to have turned down Harold's offer of his old earldom back if he would switch sides, and he died fighting for the Norwegian king.
Q 06Which Norwegian king invaded northern England in September 1066?
Harald Hardrada
Harald Hardrada's claim is said to have rested on a pact between Magnus the Good and the English king Harthacnut, though no contemporary record of that pact survives.
Q 07At which battle did the Norwegians defeat a northern English army on 20 September 1066?
Fulford
Fulford cost Earls Edwin and Morcar so many men that their forces played no further part in the campaigns of 1066.
Q 08Where did Harold crush the Norwegian invaders on 25 September 1066?
Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge was held up, legend says, by a lone Norwegian on the bridge, until an Englishman floated beneath it and speared him from below.
Q 09Where did William land his invasion force on 28 September 1066?
Pevensey
A few ships blown off course landed at Romney, where the Normans fought the local fyrd.
Q 10What tactic did the Normans adopt after failing to break the English lines?
Feigned flight
They pretended to flee in panic, then turned on the English who chased them.
Q 11On what day was William crowned King of England?
Christmas Day 1066
Christmas Day 1066 saw William crowned at Westminster Abbey, a choice probably meant to cast him as the late king's rightful successor.
Q 12Which of these farmyard words came into English from Norman French?
Pork
Pork comes from Old French 'porc', and French was spoken in England's courts for centuries after 1066, reshaping the language.
Q 13The Northmen who settled Normandy followed which Viking leader?
Rollo
Rollo's Northmen won Normandy in exchange for peace, then adopted French customs, language and Christianity, becoming the Normans who conquered England.
Q 21What celestial event in April 1066 was linked to the succession crisis?
Halley's Comet
Halley's Comet is said to have been hailed by Eilmer, an old Malmesbury monk who had once tried to fly with wings, as a sign of England's coming ruin.
Q 22What made the Battle of Hastings unusual by medieval standards?
It lasted most of the day
It lasted most of the day, and William's victory was far from certain until Harold fell late in the fighting.
Q 23Why did William's troops raid and burn the land around Hastings after landing?
To draw Harold south to fight
Q 14Which English council elected Harold king?
The Witenagemot
The Witenagemot's choice didn't stop Norman writers branding Harold a perjurer, who had broken an oath sworn on sacred relics to back William's claim.
Q 15Why did Norman propaganda claim it was Stigand who crowned Harold?
His appointment breached church law
His appointment breached church law, so tying the crowning to him let Norman writers paint Harold's kingship as illegal.
Q 16Which landmark was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest?
The Tower of London
The Tower of London was built as a fortress to protect the city, yet it later became one of the world's most famous prisons.
Q 17What were King Harold's paid professional soldiers called?
Housecarls
Housecarls made up much of the force Harold raced to Yorkshire in four days to meet the Norwegian invaders.
Q 18Why did Harold dismiss his militia and fleet on 8 September?
The men needed to harvest their crops
The men needed to harvest their crops, and with provisions running low Harold stood down both the militia and the fleet.
Q 19Before their battle in 1066, what did Harold reportedly offer the invading Norwegian king?
A few feet of English ground
A few feet of English ground, a little more since he was taller than most men, was the reported offer, and the Norwegian king died in the battle that followed.
Q 20What is Pope Alexander II said to have sent William for the invasion?
A banner
A banner, the story goes, as William sought the Pope's backing to show his claim was lawful and that God was on his side.
To draw Harold south to fight, and Harold duly rushed to battle partly to stop the Normans ravaging the countryside.
Q 24What is said to have held up William's Channel crossing for weeks in 1066?
Unfavourable winds
Unfavourable winds are the usual explanation, though William may also have been waiting for the English fleet to disperse, and he crossed just after Harold had gone north.
Q 25What did Harold's mother reportedly offer William in return for her son's body?
Its weight in gold
Its weight in gold was refused, and where Harold's body ended up is still disputed, with legends of burial at sea, on a cliff or in an abbey.
Q 26What shape of shield did Norman horsemen carry?
Kite-shaped
Kite-shaped shields suited riders, since the long tapering tail is thought to have shielded a horseman's leg as well as his body.
Q 27What gave Harold's army its advantage at the start of the Battle of Hastings?
Holding a hilltop
Holding a hilltop let the English beat back repeated, bloody Norman assaults up the slope for hours.
Q 28Which region supplied the fleet that raided south-east England early in 1066, before the Norwegian landing?
Flanders
Flanders supplied the raiders' ships, but Earl Edwin drove them out of eastern England, and their leader withdrew north to Scotland.
Q 29What weapon did most of King Harold's paid professional soldiers use?
A two-handed Danish axe
A two-handed Danish axe could cut off a horse's head with one blow, a deadly answer to mounted Norman knights.
Q 30Late in the Battle of Hastings, what are William's archers said to have been ordered to do?
Shoot high into the air
Shoot high into the air, 12th-century writers say, so arrows fell behind the English front, though earlier accounts never mention the order.