The Digester

A UEA historian says a Victorian-era misreading of medieval sources created the story that King Harold marched nearly 200 miles to Hastings, and he now argues Harold sailed south with a fleet instead.

Tom Licence of the University of East Anglia re-examined nine Anglo Saxon Chronicle manuscripts and other 11th century sources.
He argues the long overland march from Stamford Bridge is a Victorian misinterpretation and that Harold moved his forces south by ship with a large fleet.
Experts at the British Museum and English Heritage called the research exciting and said it could change how historians view Harold's strategy.
Licence will present the findings at an Oxford conference and says the Bayeux Tapestry does not contradict his case.

Professor says Victorians misread Battle of Hastings

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