Eustace II, Count of Boulogne
Eustace II,, also known as Eustace aux Grenons, was Count of Boulogne from 1049 to 1087. He fought on the Norman side at the Battle of Hastings, and afterwards received large grants of land forming an honour in England. He is one of the few proven companions of William the Conqueror. It has been suggested that Eustace was the patron of the Bayeux Tapestry.
Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, a possible depiction of Eustace II inscribed in margin above in Latin: E...TIUS, which may be the Latinised form of his name.
Supposed depiction of Eustace at the Battle of Hastings. Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry. Inscription above Duke William at left: HIC EST WILLELMUS DUX ("Here is Duke William") and above the figure to the right of him E...TIUS (apparently a Latinised form of "Eustace")
The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place approximately 7 mi (11 km) northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.
Harold Rex Interfectus Est: "King Harold is killed". Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings and the death of Harold.
On landing at Pevensey, William established a castle within the ruins of the Roman fort. While the outermost walls date from the Roman period, the surviving buildings of the inner bailey post-date William.
Norman knights and archers at the Battle of Hastings, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry
Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting mounted Norman soldiers attacking Anglo-Saxons who are fighting on foot in a shield wall
