Yorkshire Battles

by Edward Lamplough

Earl Tosti spared no pains to raise up enemies against his brother during the period of his enforced banishment, and succeeded in inducing the famous Norwegian monarch, Harold Hardrada, to make a descent upon the island. Too impatient to await the appearance of his ally, Earl Tosti was the first to raise sword in the land, coming from beyond sea with a fleet of daring adventurers, Flemings, and others. Landing in the Isle of Wight, he enforced contributions of food and money, and proceeded to ravage the coast as far as Sandwich. Harold had, however, provided so largely for the protection of his Kingdom by the formation of a large fleet, and of formidable land forces, that Tosti was compelled to beat a speedy retreat, and directed his course to the North, taking “some of the boatmen with him, some willingly and some unwillingly.” Entering the Humber, he devastated the Lindsey shore with fire and sword; but being beset by the troops of Morkar and Edwin, he was deserted by the greater part of his fleet, and was obliged to precipitately retire into Scotland with the twelve gallies that remained to him. King Malcolm III. hospitably entertained the fugitive prince at his court, but all the solicitations of Tosti failed to induce him to invade the territories of King Harold. Tosti succeeded in attaching a number of adventurers to his cause, or rather a number of pirates followed his fortunes in the hope of obtaining plunder, and with the certainty of being allowed to slaughter the inhabitants of the coasts, and to ravage the land.

Where the North Sea foams around the Orkneys, Tosti was to meet the Norwegian monarch; and the Orkneyinga Saga thus narrates his arrival and departure:—“At this time, when the brothers, Paul and Erlendr, had taken up the rule in Orkney, there arrived at the east side of the island from Norway Harold Sigurdson with a large army. He came first to Shetland. Went from thence to Orkney. There he left Queen Ellisif, and their daughters, Maria and Ingigerdi. From Orkney he had much help. Both the jarls joined the expedition of the king. The king thence went south to England, and landed where it is called Klifland, and came to Skardaborg.”

Tosti and his gallies joined the Norwegians, and in the expressive phraseology of the time:—“Tosti submitted to him and became his man.” Northumbria was the seat of war, the Saxon fleet and Harold’s army of defence being located in the South, for the arrival of the armament of the Duke of Normandy was daily expected, and Tosti and his ally had therefore every prospect of obtaining a strong hold of the North, the population of which was largely of Danish origin.

From the first the proceedings of the invaders were not calculated to win over the Northumbrians to their cause. As the great fleet of 500 sail bore for the Humber, numerous troops were landed to ravage the coast; and a fierce swoop was made upon Scarborough, which was burnt to the ground. Sailing up the Humber, the invaders continued their evil work, and the sky was lurid with flame and dark with smoke, and slaughtered peasants were strewn on the soil which they had ploughed and sown in the earlier days of the year, when they looked forward to the harvest of the scythe and sickle, nor dreamt that Autumn would bring upon them the sharp chastisement of the sword.

York was the prize for which the invaders offered, and, sailing up the Ouse, they moored their fleet at the village of Riccall, ten miles from the city, upon which they at once directed their march. Jarls Edwin and Morkar made strenuous efforts to arrest the invaders, but the northern forces were insufficient to meet so numerous and powerful an army as that of Hardrada. Nevertheless, the brothers assembled such troops as they could collect, and took up a position at Fulford to cover the city. Hardrada occupied a defensive position, with the river on his right flank, and a morass on his left. Edwin and Morkar showed no lack of spirit in the combat which ensued, and promptly charged the Norwegian lines, which they penetrated, making a very great slaughter; but being too weak in numbers to reap the full advantage of their valour, they were unable to rout the ranks which they had thrown into disorder; and the Norwegians clung to their ground, and maintained a hand-to-hand conflict until the arrival of large reinforcements from the fleet enabled them to push back the Northumbrian ranks, and to charge them in turn. This was decisive of the battle: the Northumbrians had exhausted their strength in the first conflict, and could not stem the tide of fresh warriors that bore down upon them, with their ringing war-song, and with flashing spears and axes. The disordered ranks of the Northumbrians were speedily broken, and the army dissolved in a wild rout of savage fugitives, oft turning stubbornly at bay, and exacting a heavy price for their lives. Many of the Northumbrians were forced into the river, or took to the water in their endeavours to escape the vengeance of the unsparing Norwegians, so that more men of the Saxon army perished in the Ouse than fell by the sword on the field of Fulford. “And this fight was on the vigil of St. Matthew the apostle, and it was Wednesday.”

Morkar and Edwin retired into York with the remnant of fugitives that rallied around them; but their numbers were insufficient for the defence of the city, and they retreated thence, when Harold and Tosti entered in triumph at the head of a division of their army, and received the submission of the citizens, who furnished them with provisions, and placed hostages in their hands; “and they agreed upon a full peace, so that they should all go with him south, and this land subdue.”

The Norwegians had retired from the city, and taken up a position at Stamford Bridge, part of the army remaining at Riccall for the protection of the fleet, while the commanders appear to have been engaged in projects for organising an army to march south; but the enemy was approaching by forced marches; and on the 26th of September, 1066, the decisive battle of Stamford Bridge was fought

No sooner was Harold apprised of the invasion of Northumbria, than he placed himself at the head of his army, advanced his ensigns; and pressed forward with such celerity that, on the 23rd of September, his army occupied Tadcaster. On the following day he entered York; the Norwegians, who had been left in occupation, retiring before him. The battle commenced at sunrise on the 25th; and the forces of Harold and Tosti appear to have been taken by surprise, for a large number of Norwegians were with the fleet at Riccall. Under any circumstances, however, Hardrada was certain to provide for the safety of his fleet; and the fact that he afterwards drew large reinforcements from it does not of itself imply that he was taken by surprise, unless, indeed he had under-estimated the forces of Harold, and had prepared for battle accordingly.

The armies were sufficiently powerful for so important an occasion, each consisting of some 60,000 men; those of Hardrada being adventurers and soldiers by profession; whilst the warlike element was sufficiently developed in Harold’s army, many of the troops being veterans, and all accustomed to wield arms, for there had not been time to collect hasty levies, such as some of those that fought at Hastings three weeks later.

Before the battle commenced, Harold Godwinson dispatched a troop of twenty horse to negotiate with the enemy, no doubt in the hope of winning over his brother Tosti, against whom his mind revolted from engaging in war. Tosti manifested a marked disposition to accede to his brother’s wishes on being informed that he should be reinstated in his territories and honours; but, on his demanding what price would be paid to secure his ally, Harold Sigurdson, he was met by the significant reply:—“Six feet of earth; or, as he is a giant, he shall have seven.”