The Battle of Hastings: 14 October 1066
Featured in And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor
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The Battle of Hastings, fought on the 14th of October 1066, stands as one of the most significant events in British history. This clash between the Anglo-Saxon forces of King Harold II and the Norman army led by Duke William of Normandy not only decided the fate of the English crown but also marked the beginning of profound social, political, and cultural changes in England.
The death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066 left England without a clear heir, plunging the kingdom into turmoil. Harold Godwinson, a powerful nobleman, was crowned king, but his claim was immediately contested by Duke William of Normandy and Harald Hardrada of Norway. While Harold successfully repelled Hardrada’s invasion at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on the 25th of September, his forces were left exhausted and depleted.
Meanwhile, William prepared his invasion force, assembling a formidable army of knights, infantry, and archers. On the 28th of September, he landed at Pevensey on the Sussex coast, establishing a beachhead and constructing fortifications at Hastings. Harold, upon learning of William’s arrival, marched his army southwards at great speed, covering nearly 200 miles in just two weeks.
The two armies met on Senlac Hill, near the present-day town of Battle in East Sussex. Harold’s army, composed primarily of housecarls (professional soldiers) and the fyrd (levied troops), took a strong defensive position atop the hill, forming a shield wall that proved initially effective against Norman attacks.
William’s army, included a well-disciplined force of cavalry, archers, and infantry but he also made up the numbers with mercenaries, criminals and general riff-raff. They launched repeated assaults throughout the day but struggled to break through the Anglo-Saxon shield wall. At one point, rumours of William’s death caused panic among his troops. William, however, rallied his men by revealing himself and renewing their determination.
A key turning point came when the Normans employed a feigned retreat, tricking sections of Harold’s army into breaking the shield wall line to pursue the retreating Normans. This tactic proved devastating, as it allowed the Normans to counterattack and weaken the Anglo-Saxon position.
As the day wore on both sides fought nearly to a standstill. The Norman horses were so exhausted they were unable to get up the hill to attack the Saxons. Even after the wall was broken the Saxons grouped together and fought almost to the death. It was thought many of them, perhaps sensing the end of their world as they’d known it, preferred to die on the battlefield. According to tradition, Harold was killed late in the battle, struck in the eye by an arrow and then overwhelmed by Norman knights. With their king dead and their lines broken, the Anglo-Saxons were decisively defeated.
William’s victory at Hastings paved the way for his coronation as King of England on Christmas Day 1066. The Norman Conquest brought significant changes, including the introduction of feudalism, the replacement of the Anglo-Saxon elite with Norman rulers, and profound shifts in language, architecture, and governance.
The battle also left a lasting legacy in the form of the Bayeux Tapestry, a remarkable embroidered chronicle of the events leading up to and including the battle. Today, the site of the battle is preserved as a historic landmark, drawing visitors who seek to understand this pivotal moment in British history.
Discover how Max and the team from the St Mary’s Institute of Historical Reasearch fared when they visited The Battle of Hasting in And The Rest Is History by Jodi Taylor.
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