The Second Battle of Middeherst occurred in 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, when the Norman army of William FitzOsbern engaged and destroyed an Anglo-Saxon fyrd led by Ealdorman Eoforwine of Kent in present-day West Sussex.
Eoforwine, along with Ealdorman Aelfwald of Essex, had embarked upon a multi-pronged Anglo-Saxon counterattack against the Normans in South East England in response to a series of Norman successes. While Aelfwald managed to capture Stutfall (Lympne) in Kent before being killed in battle with William the Conqueror, Eoforwine advanced through Essex and Kent before capturing Laewe (Lewes), Staeningum (Steyning), and Middeherst (Midhurst). William the Conqueror gave chase, recapturing each of the lost towns one-by-one as William FitzOsbern marched north from Portchester with his own army to confront the Kentishmen. The two armies met at Middeherst, the site of FitzOsbern's earlier victory against an English army. In the ensuing battle, the Norman army was able to outflank the Saxons, with their cavalry playing a decisive role in smashing the Saxons and massacring them as they fled. The Kentish army was almost annihilated, while the Normans suffered comparatively light losses. The Kentish threat was destroyed, and William the Conqueror and FitzOsbern proceeded to embark on a leapfrog drive to the west, conquering town after town while also fending off Anglo-Saxon counterattacks and revolts.