Another infamous royal death is that of King Harold Godwinson, who died on October 14, 1066, at the Battle of Hastings as William the Conqueror's Normans seized the English throne. Amatus of Montecassino's account of the battle, written 30 years after, was the first to claim that Harold was killed as the result of an arrow flying straight into his eye and piercing his brain. However, Guy, Bishop of Amiens, contends Amatus' account - claiming Harold was in fact surrounded and killed by four Norman knights, who brutally dismembered his body. Somewhat confusingly the Bayeux Tapestry depicts both scenes and, although the one in which a man gripping an arrow stuck in his eye has the inscription "Harold Rex Interfectus Est" ("Harold the King is killed"), some historians believe other parts of the artwork have been altered over time so no-one cannot be certain this is his method of dying. Either way, it still makes for a great legend...
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
