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This is a History extra production.

The year 1066 is the most famous date in English history. When William of Normandy defeated Harold the second

and won himself a crown and the epithet of the conqueror, but there is a lot more to

it than just one bloody battle at Hastings.

You'll find a half century of invasion and political maneuvering before it,

and decades of brutal conquest afterwards.

Medieval historian Mark Morris is an expert on the topic. His books include The Norman Conquest and The Anglo-Saxons.

And in this four-part special series he talks to me David Musgrove

about the full story of the Norman conquest so welcome to 1066 the battle for England.

This is episode one, Vikings, Normans and rebellious Anglo-Saxons, the run-up to 1066.

Mark, I think we should start 50 years before 1066 in 1016,

and that's not just because that's a nice round half century, but rather because that was quite a lively year as well.

Can you take us back to 1016?

Give us a little sense about what was happening in that year.

Yes, well, 1016, as you've suggested, was a tumultuous year because there was an earlier

conquest.

People often say it's a forgotten conquest.

I think it's just overshadowed by the scale of 1066 the normal conquest. 1016 was when King

Canute took over. He would shortly become King of Denmark and he was Danish so we can call it

...