The Battle of Hastings was fought between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson. Following the death of Edward the Confessor, William claimed the throne had been promised to him. The battle ended in a decisive Norman victory and the death of King Harold, reportedly by an arrow to the eye. This event marked the beginning of the Norman Conquest of England, which fundamentally altered the English language, introduced the feudal system, and shifted England's political focus from Scandinavia toward Continental Europe. The events are famously depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, a 70-meter-long embroidered cloth.