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‘I see you brandishing the downfall of my country’: Halley’s Comet in 1066.
In the early months of 1066, and almost certainly before the 25th of March, Halley’s Comet was seen circling the Earth as a part of its regular orbit. The last time it had been observed, by most estimates, was in September of 989, nearly 77 years earlier. At the time of its spotting, England had recently lost its much-beloved King, Edward the Confessor, and seen the crown fall into the hands of Harold Godwinson, a member of the powerful Wessex family and holder of the Earldom of Wessex. Yet, in the space of less than a year, Harold would be dead, along with most of his family, the English aristocracy — those that were still alive — plunged into insecurity and chaos, and the English people made prisoners under a ‘Norman Yoke’. The sighting of the comet, seen by many as a bad omen, in addition to the prophetic visions of Edward on his deathbed, and the inevitable culmination of international tension decades in the making was to foreshadow one of England’s most notable and turbulent periods, feared by many to be the end of their way of life.
To fully understand the impact of the Norman Conquest, it’s worth taking a look back at the situation in England…
