The Viking presence dwindled until 1066, when the invading Norsemen lost their final battle with the English at Stamford Bridge. The death in the battle of King Harald Hardrada of Norway ended any hope of reviving Cnut's North Sea Empire; it is because of this, rather than the Norman conquest, that 1066 is often taken as the end of the Viking Age. Nineteen days later, the Normans, themselves descended from Norsemen, invaded England and defeated the weakened English army at the Battle of Hastings.
