William of Normandy was also known as William the Conqueror. William entered the battle with an army of 15, soldiers. King Harold had an army of 5,, and most of the men were farmers, not soldiers. Hastings is on the south east coast of England, in the county of Sussex. The Normans got to Hastings by boat: they sailed about ships across the English Channel.
King Edward the Confessor dies. Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. January William of Normandy and his forces land at Pevensey on the Sussex coast. The Battle of Hastings takes place.
King Harold of England is killed and William of Normandy is victorious. William of Normandy the Conqueror is crowned King of England. Start your child on a tailored learning programme Weekly resources sent direct to your inbox Keep your child's learning on track. Trial it for FREE today. Many of the people who lived in England at the time of the battle were known as Anglo-Saxons.
The battle was fought on a hill! The English army started the battle at the top of the hill and the Normans started at the bottom. The English were totally outnumbered. They stood in a long line, putting their shields in front of them in defence this was known as a shield wall. The Normans made a winning move when they pretended to retreat. Some Saxons followed them allowing the remaining Norman soldiers to attack the weak points left in the shield wall.
King Harold was killed by the Norman soldiers. Once they had lost their King, many of the English ran away. William of Normandy was apparently knocked off his horse at some point during the battle! Starting at dawn and finishing at dusk, the bloody battle lasted for over nine hours. William apparently promised he would build an abbey if he won the battle and he did exactly that following his victory.
He placed the high altar on the spot where King Harold fell. The town of Battle and its abbey have taken their name from one of the most famous battles in English history.
The Normans were from Normandy, now a part of modern France. Hardrada refused, but compromised to the extent of sending couriers back to Riccall, telling Eystein Orri to come with all speed. The ensuing battle had four main phases. In the first, the English massacred all the Norwegians on the west bank of the Derwent who did not manage to flee back across the bridge.
They themselves were then held up for a long time by heroic Viking defence of the bridge itself. A giant axe-wielding berserker is said to have killed 40 Englishmen and was finally dispatched only when an intrepid Anglo-Saxon commando floated under the bridge on a barrel and thrust a pike upwards through the slats of the bridge.
Once on the other side of the bridge, the Anglo-Saxons concentrated on the defensive circle formed by Hardrada on the small hill of High Catton. Furious hand-to-hand combat ensued, sword against sword, axe against axe. But without shields and armour, the Norsemen stood little chance and were cut down in their hundreds.
In this second phase of the battle, Hardrada was killed with an arrow through his windpipe. More bloody combat was the result. The English scythed down the enemy in hundreds, driving many to drown in the Derwent, but the victory was costly. Finally, no one was left of the valiant 5, But the English were left in command of the battlefield for only a few minutes before the final phase of the battle. Suddenly Eystein Orri and his men were upon them, having marched 18 miles on the double in full armour in blistering heat.
Exhausted though they were, the Vikings gave a good account of themselves. Their initial charge came close to breaking the English, but gradually numbers told. Eystein Orri and all his captains died; some of the rank and file managed to slink away. Harold had won a great victory but had taken grievous losses himself. The Norwegians, crippled for a generation by this disaster, agreed a truce on condition that they left England at once. While Harold was away in the north, duke William and the Normans landed unopposed at Pevensey on 28 September.
Harold reached London on 6 October, having taken eight days to retrace the miles from York. He immediately opted for the soonest possible battle with William — his most calamitous decision of the entire year. Pride and arrogance made him ignore the sage advice of his brother Gyrth, the wisest of the Anglo-Saxons. Gyrth argued that Harold should avoid confrontation until all his reinforcements had come in, including the force he had left behind with Edwin and Morcar, and then confront William with an invincible host.
William was gambling on a quick victory and lacked the resources to overcome a united Anglo-Saxon England if its full power was properly deployed. Harold was adamant that he was going to seek an early battle, even though the heavy casualties in the northern campaign meant that he was short of housecarls — his crack troops and the only truly reliable fighters.
Even worse, Harold insisted that Gyrth, his other brother Leofwine and the great and good of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy accompany him on the march to Kent. This meant that if Harold lost the battle, England would be without credible leaders. Here, historian Marc Morris shares 9 lesser-known facts about William the Conqueror and the Norman conquest. The two armies confronted each other on the morning of 14 October. Harold set up his standard on Senlac Hill modern Battle , seven miles north-west of Hastings.
His tactics were to await the Norman onslaught and repel successive attacks on his shieldwall until he sensed the pulse of enemy attacks weaken, when he would order a general advance down the hill.
The battle began at 9am and lasted until dusk at 5. Both armies were about 7, strong, with the Normans probably having a slight numerical edge. He also lacked a cavalry arm, restricting his tactical possibilities. William used a conventional battle order, with Normans in the centre, Bretons and men from western France on the left and recruits from France, Picardy, Flanders and Boulogne on the right. Episodes Episode Index. Z List of Medieval People. Life in Medieval Times.
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