1066, the Norman conquest of England

England...'was a farming country, land was its absorbing interest; and originally plots of land had been owned outright by the men who settled and cleared them, and inherited by their children. But such independent farmers had no defense against the Viking raids, or resources to tide them over disasters like cattle sickness, a series of bad harvests, fire or storm. In the course of time, almost every man in the country had attached himself …

…the Battle of Hastings and he and his army was defeated.         William really thought God was helping him get England but I believe it was all luck. It also helped that the English were scared of being punished by God because of what Harold did so they didn't try to stop William from taking the throne.         I believe that England could have been Harold's if William never got the excommunication from the Pope for Harold.