On 28 September 1066 William of Normandy landed near Hastings and prepared to meet the Anglo-Saxon army of King Harold Godwinson. On 10 October 1066 the two armies met; and after six hours of fighting the Anglo-Saxon army was crushed and their king slain. The Normans set up castles to control the native population, and four-fifths of all England's land changed ownership. However, despite initial Norman success, it was fully two centuries before the Anglo-Norman kings managed to penetrate the wild interiors of Wales and Scotland, and many more centuries before the countries of Scotland, Wales and England were united under one crown.
