The Normans were descendants of Viking settlers who had been granted territory in northern France (Normandy).

The conquest was triggered by a succession crisis in England after the death of the childless King Edward the Confessor.

The main claimants to the throne were Harold Godwinson, an Anglo-Saxon earl; Harald Hardrada, the King of Norway; and William, the Duke of Normandy.

Harold Godwinson was crowned king but immediately faced two invasions.

He first defeated the Norwegian invasion at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in northern England.

Harold then had to force-march his exhausted army south to confront William's Norman invasion.

The decisive Battle of Hastings was fought on October 14, 1066.

The battle ended with a Norman victory and the death of King Harold on the battlefield.

William the Conqueror then marched on London and was crowned King of England on Christmas Day, 1066.

The Norman Conquest led to the replacement of the Anglo-Saxon elite with a French-speaking Norman aristocracy, fundamentally changing English language, culture, and society.