1066 The Battle of Hastings

It's the 14th of October, 1066 and two opposing armies come together on Senlac Hill to argue Harold's right to the English throne or uphold William the Bastard's claim of an old king's dying behest.

For the Normans the ominous sight of Harold's Saxon shield wall straddling Senlac ridge with the dragon banner of Wessex and his own personal banner of the Fighting Man, flying in the stiffening breeze greets them on this bleak October morning.

William relied on basic tactics with archers in the front rank weakening the enemy with arrows, followed by infantry which would engage in close combat, culminating in a cavalry charge that would break through the English forces. However, his tactics did not work as well as planned. William's army attacked the English as soon as they were ready and formed up. Norman archers shot several volleys but many of the arrows hit the shield wall and had very little effect. Believing the English to have been softened up, William ordered his infantry to attack. As the Normans charged up the hill, the English threw down whatever they could find: stones, javelins, and maces. The barrage inflicted heavy casualties among the Norman ranks, causing the lines to break up.

The infantry charge reached the English lines, where ferocious hand-to-hand fighting took place. William had expected the English to falter, but the arrow barrage had little effect and nearly all the English troops still stood, their shield wall intact. As a result William ordered his cavalry to charge far sooner than planned. Faced with a wall of axes, spears and swords, many of the horses shied away despite their careful breeding and training. After an hour of fighting, the Breton division on William's left faltered and broke completely, fleeing down the hill. Suffering heavy casualties and realising they would be quickly outflanked, the Norman and Flemish divisions retreated with the Bretons. Unable to resist the temptation, many of the English broke ranks, including hundreds of fyrdmen and Harold's brothers, Leofwyne and Gyrthe. In the following confused fighting, William's horse was killed from underneath him, and he toppled to the ground. Initially, many of William's soldiers thought that he had been killed, and an even greater rout ensued. It was only after he stood up and threw off his helmet that William was able to rally his fleeing troops.

William and a group of his knights successfully counter-attacked the pursuing English, who were no longer protected by the shield wall, and cut down large numbers of fyrdmen. Many did not recognise the Norman counter-attack until it was too late, but some managed to scramble back up the hill to the safety of the housecarls. Harold's brothers were not so fortunate—their deaths deprived the English of an alternative leader after the death of Harold. The two armies formed up, and a temporary lull fell over the battle. The battle had turned to William's advantage, since the English had lost much of the protection provided by the shield wall. Without the cohesion of a disciplined, strong formation, the individual English were easy targets. William launched his army at the strong English position again and many of the English housecarls were killed.

With such a large number of English fyrdmen now holding the front rank, the disciplined shield wall that the housecarls had maintained began to falter, presenting an opportunity to William. At the start of the battle the hail of arrows fired at the English by William's bowmen was ineffective because of the English shields. Though many on the front ranks still had shields, William ordered his archers to fire over the shield wall so that the arrows landed in the clustered rear ranks of the English army. The archers did this with great success. Legend states that it was at this point that Harold was hit in the eye by an arrow. Many of the English were now weary. William's army attacked again, and managed to make small chinks in the shield wall. They were able to exploit these gaps, and the English army began to fragment. William and a handful of knights broke through the wall, and struck down the English king. Without their leader and with many nobles dead, hundreds of fyrdmen fled the field. The housecarls kept their oath of loyalty to the king, and fought bravely until they were all killed.

William's victory placed a foreign ruler on the throne of England

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• 1066
• battle
• of
• hastings
• King
• harold
• Normans
• saxons

[Vleertouwer]

is this actual footage of the 1066 ?

[connectaircom]

@TJPinoy

The Normans were Vikings who seized a chunk of northern France and gave it their name. If you want to talk about battles between England and France, how about Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt, Batle of the Nile and of course Trafalgar (don't forget we kicked your arses at sea as well as the land) and Waterloo when we finally nailed your little fat bastard for good. Then we help you against the jerries and you surrendered, and that big nosed twat DeGaulle was given safe refuge in Engand;

[inamonianim]

Quick! Let's nudge them a little but with our shields! That'll show them >:D

[DoriDori08]

hmmm not a brutal as i thought lol

[jimmicreesti]

I used to be king...ah fuckit!!

[skaterdude8008le]

Harold was killed because he took an arrow to the eye , get it, no

*crawls back into hole*

[ACDC101232]

@Vleertouwer Are You Serious Bro ? 

[DAVERUKY]

@DecmanReturns edward wouldnt have called william a thief, but i think harold was put in a position where he had to swear as if he didnt i think he would have been killed so he swore but he was very ambitious and would have never given up the crown to william not unless he felt threatened.

[DecmanReturns]

@DAVERUKY I don't think Edward would have called William a thief; he owed everything to the Norman duchy, especially considering he had spent most of his life there in exile. And it was Edward who sent the bishop of London to Normandy to confirm the succession in the 1050s. The Godwine family was highly ambitious, not to mention murderous. They betrayed their king and regularly obstructed the royal prerogative. Harold's father had Edward's brother killed brutally, too. Not nice!

[DAVERUKY]

i used to play skyrim until i took an arrow in the eye, lol

[DAVERUKY]

always felt sorry for harold, having to run north -battle then south and battle must have been very tired, and i believe he swore alliagience to william as he was in williams country and probably felt he had no choice. harold had every right to the crown, william bullied him into his oath............william the thief. typical french arrogant asshole.

[DecmanReturns]

@DAVERUKY It's likely that Harold did swear allegiance to William in about 1063 or so, but Edward *did* promise Harold the throne too, on his deathbed. Both the English and Norman sources acknowledge this. What's not clear is the nature of this promise: maybe Edward was under duress or delusional in his final hours? We'll never know. No less than six people claimed to be owed the throne or believed they had a claim, so it's clear that Edward didn't have any binding plans, or was very cunning.