STORY-TRÅD·nyheter

King Harold may have lost England by backing the wrong pope

A forgotten fragment of a lost papal letter is offering a surprising new explanation for the Norman Conquest. England may have backed the wrong pope during a bitter religious power struggle, giving Pope Alexander II a political reason to support William the Conqueror’s invasion. The discovery suggests Harold’s downfall in 1066 was shaped by intrigue in Rome as well as bloodshed at Hastings.