Long-lost letter reveals bitter struggle between two rival popes

In 1066, the Battle of Hastings saw William the Conqueror (and Duke of Normandy), defeat England’s King Harold II. The famous Norman invasion of England came with the blessing of Pope Alexander II—but why? According to a medieval historian at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in England, Pope Alexander had his own bone to pick with King Harold. The Battle of Hastings was, simply put, a fight for the English throne. When King Edward the Confessor died on January 5, 1066, he cho