The_Battle_of_Hastings_1066

The Battle of Hastings 1066 Events leading up to battle: The battle of Hastings began in January 1066 when Edward the Confessor had died. Before his death on his death bed, he had offered the English crown to Harold Godwinson. Harold was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Meanwhile, in Norway, William of Normandy was setting out on claiming the English crown for himself. This was because, despite his pre-eminent position, he required the active co-operation of his nobles for the great venture he was planning this venture was to invade England and become the English king. However, William couldn’t simply demand from his nobles, he had to try and convince them of his case. Therefore, he needed to show all that followed him that his claim to the English throne had a lawful reason and he had God on his side. So, eventually when he decided on invasion, he had to ensure his followers that he had strong support. He even went to the trouble of sending an envoy to the pope, asking for his blessing. After William had planned the invasion, he did not move immediately. He cleverly only began plans for an invasion after Tostig had arrived whom looked for support against Harold by projecting an invasion of Northumbria. This was what William had been waiting for, with Harold occupied in the North, William now could invade the south. In July 1066, William's invasion fleet moved north to Dives, but still it did not cross the Channel. The sources say that the leader was waiting for fair weather, but he may equally have been awaiting news that Tostig had made his move. Either way, it was a perfect strategy. On 20 September 1066, Harald Hardrada and Tostig sailed up the Ouse, with more than 10,000 men in 200 longships, to launch their long-awaited invasion of Northumbria. Harold reacted by scraping together a scratch force of his own, made up largely of his own ‘thegns’. He raced north, calling up all the shire levies he could muster on the way. In four days he marched 180 miles - to surprise Hardrada and Tostig, east of York, at Stamford Bridge, on 25 September. Before the battle had begun, Harold had came forward towards Tostig and offered him his earldom back if he would change sides, but Tostig threw the offer back in the kings face. The Norwegians held a strong position, defending the bridge on the north-eastern shore of the River Derwent. In conclusion, the battle was a success to Harold as the bridge had fell and both Hardrada and Tostig had fell in a last desperate stand. However, the battle was extremely costly towards Harold as now his army was tired and he had lost allot of men. He had also lost the forces to both the Earl of Northumbria and the Earl of Mercia. Two days after the battle of Stamford Bridge, after William had apparently waited for “the winds to blow in the right direction”, he began to set sail with his fleet, which consisted of 700 classic Norman longships. Williams’s strong forces had made land at Pevensey. After his arrival his force set straight to work by building an embankment built across the harbours mouth, which was created to protect the ships from harsh weathers. Also they managed to build a motte and bailey style castle in Pevensey (Pevensey Castle), which was constructed at the top of the hill. Then the Normans began to destroy and burn the surrounding area of Pevensey, in order to force Harold to head south and defend his people. After acknowledging Williams arrival in England, Harold did not hesitate. From York, he immediately rushed his army down south, stopping on the way at Waltham Abbey to pray for English victory. By 12 October, he was back in London and gathering what forces he could to face William. By the 14th, he was on the way to Hastings. William received news of Harold’s movement, from a prominent vassal of Odo of Bayeux (who was a half-brother of William) and began to march out to face the English king and his army. Battle: The Battle of Hastings took place at a site now known simply as Battle on 14 October 1066. Harold’s army estimated to be around 7000, which consisted of the elite housecarls, the thegns (the king’s well-armed bodyguards, Saxon landlords, mercenaries and the mass of less well-armed peasant farmers. The Bayeux Tapestry shows that they all fought on foot, as this was the traditional Anglo-Saxon style warfare. The housecarls wore a chain-mail coat, a conical helmet and their weapon was a two-handed axe that could easily cut a man in half with just one blow. However, on the other side of the scale, the peasant’s weapons were anything they could find: Scythes, hooks, daggers, spears and stones. The well-armed housecarls and thegns were spread all along the outside, with their shields they formed the famous shield wall, or “wall hedge”, which was locked so tightly together that the dead couldn’t fall. William had brought horses with him. This was the essential difference between the two armies, and represented not only a new type of warfare, but also a new type of society. Williams’s army which was approximately 15,000, were archers (positioned on the front line), infantry (second line) and cavalry (at the back line). At nine o’clock, William began his attack, sending in the infantry to soften up the English defence. This did very little damage, as the English defence was rock-solid. The Norman archers fired upon the shield wall, but still the defensive line held firm. Then William sent in the feared cavalry. But still the line held firm. The fierce offensive and defensive fighting continued for several hours until the battle reached a crises point. Williams’s army on the left wing, began to pull back because a cry went up as news of the duke himself had been killed. Panic amongst the Norman army began to spread, but William was in fact very much still alive and took off his helmet and shouted at the nearest men “I’m alive!” On the other side, the English front line had heard of the news and believed that the battle was won, and many left the hilltop. Harold was unable to contain and control his army watched as hundreds ran down the hill towards the retreating cavalry and were slaughtered as the Normans were recovering and rallied, seeing that William was still alive. This type of tactic was called the “feigned retreat” and was picked up and used by William at least three times that day as it seemed to be an effective method of gradually wearing the shield-wall down. Throughout the afternoon now, William continued to use the feign retreat again and again, until at last towards dusk, the Norman knights had regrouped for the last time against the remaining English on the hill top. English peasants began to retreat and desert, leaving only Harold, his brother Gyrth and a small elite group of housecarls. Harold ordered his archers to fire high and legend has it that Harold was hit directly in the eye. The cavalry had ridden down the English and the battle was won. Many people argue that the English had lost the battle because they were outnumbered (7000 against 15,000 Normans). Also people argue that the English had lost due to them being footsore and weary as they had just fought a battle three weeks ago, whereas the Normans were fresh and battle hardened. The Aftermath: The contest for England was not yet over for William. After the battle, William kept his army in Hastings for another week, and didn’t remove the thousands that lay dead on the saturated, bloody battlefield, and instead left them rotting. Archbishop Stigand immediately put Edgar Atheling, Edward the confessor’s great nephew, forward as the new king of England. However, by then William was already undergoing a brutal march through Kent, Berkshire and Winchester in October, a week after he had one the battle at Hasting by November he had isolated London and the remaining figures of Harold’s regime: Edgar Atheling had surrendered to William, and as a result was crowned the new king of England on Christmas day 1066. This was now the end of the Anglo-Saxon era.