King harald hardrada biography samples
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Following on from my 10 Facts About Women and Magna Carta, I thought I would revisit the Norman Conquest and started thinking about I funnen most interesting when writing about and the years either side. And here&#;s what I discovered:
1. Not all primary sources are contemporary.
Let me explain. Of course, all sources written in the 11th century are primary sources, but you do find people quoting sources as primary sources – only to discover that they were written or even years after the events.
One such legend, appearing two centuries after the events, suggested that Emma of Normandy’s relationship with her good friend, Bishop Stigand, was far more than that of her advisor and that he was, in fact, her lover – although the legend did get its bishops mixed up and named Ælfwine, rather than Stigand, as Emma’s lover. The story continues that Emma chose to prove her innocence in a rättegång by ordeal, and that she walked barefoot over white-hot ploughshares. Even though the
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Harald Hardrada of Norway
Rich in combat experience and wealth he returned to Scandinavia n where he was quick to play his part in the local entanglements. Here, the Norwegian-Danish king Magnus the Good (Magnus I of Norway) fought the Danish pretender Svein Estridsson. Initially, Harald and Svein joined forces, but when Magnus offered Harald co-kingship, he betrayed Svein.
Shortly afterwards, in , Magnus died. Possibly from the injuries he received when pursuing Svein after a battle on Zealand, where he according to legend fell of his horse. Magnus willed Harald to have Norway and Svein Denmark.
Harald was not content with this, however, and in the following years he and Svein often crossed swords - both on land and at sea. Harald plundered and burned Haithabu in for example, as well as plundering and ravaging many other Danish places during the years. The Skuldelev-blockade of Roskilde Fjord, whose first phase is dated to about , is often interpreted as an attempt to secure R
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King Harald Sigurdsson of Norway, called Hardrada, the Hard Ruler, was a Viking hero straight out of fantasy: an outcast prince who won a fortune, romanced empresses, married a queen, and carved a kingdom for himself with his own blade. He launched the last great Norse invasion of England and died like a Viking: laughing, sword in hand. Fantasy heroes, however, are just fiction. Harald Hardrada achieved all that, and more.
Little is known of him before the year , when as a year-old warrior he fought for his elder half-brother King Olaf II at the Battle of Stiklestad. Few battles bear such portent. Sticklestad was fought in part under a total eclipse of the sun, a night fight in the middle of the day, ominous for Christians and pagans alike. Olaf was slain and Harald barely escaped.
The Battle of Stiklestad in
Outlawed, exiled, he set out to travel the medieval world. As a mercenary in Russia he rose to command and even aspired to marry the princess Elizaveta, but as a landl