TODAY IN HISTORY
October 14, 1066: Duke William of Normandy’s army defeats the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson and his army at the Battle of Hastings. William claimed that he’d been promised the kingdom of England by Edward the Confessor (who’d died in January), but Godwinson was elected king by the Anglo-Saxon nobility. The Normans invaded and the two armies met outside of the town of Hastings. Accounts of the battle vary, but the general story seems to be that after repelling initial Norman attacks, the Saxons made the mistake of pursuing their retreating foe. At that point William rallied his men and turned the tide of the battle. The Norman victory (and more to the point Godwinson’s death in battle) enabled their takeover of England and made Duke William of Normandy into English King William I, “the Conqueror.”
October 14, 1322: A Scottish army under Robert the Bruce defeats the English army of King Edward II at the Battle of Old Byland. This was the largest Scottish victory in battle with English forces since Bannockburn in 1314 and helped to secure Scottish independence.
MIDDLE EAST
LEBANON
European Union foreign ministers agreed earlier this week on the formation of a new “civilian-military mission” that is supposed to help train and support the Lebanese army ahead of the United Nations peacekeeping mission’s (UNIFIL) termination. This mission isn’t intended to replace UNIFIL, which will close up shop at the end of this year, in that it will be much smaller and will not deploy personnel into southern Lebanon. It will instead aim to improve the Lebanese army’s capabilities with respect to border security and related operations.
