Skip Nav

Why did William win the battle of Hastings - Assignment Example

the battle of hastings homework help

❶Not many wanted to know even that much, not many were expected to remember.

Duke William's uphill struggle

Renee Zellweger FREE naked photos shoot!
On this page
battle of hastings essay help

Very interesting page which explains a very famous bit of British history in just the right amount of detail. William had two horses cut down from under him during the battle. That bit about the young earls Eadwin and Morkere promising men to fight alongside Harold on Caldbec Hill is a new one to me.

They had arrived in London and fought alongside the aetheling Eadgar when William tried to storm across London Bridge some time later. Earl Waltheof, who in making excuses about going back to find his own men from the Bedfordshire area, saved his own bacon. William was defeated at London Bridge and retreated back into Kent with his survivors. The Witan included the earls - Eadwin, Morkere and Waltheof - and senior clerics. Earl Gospatric of northern Northumbria being still at Bamburgh was not with them.

I suppose there are variations on the course of the battle. These were locally recruited fyrdmen with their thegns, lacking in the discipline imposed by their counterparts at Staenfordes Brycg Stamford Bridge about a fortnight to twenty days earlier on September 25th.

The South Saxons had been doing the former and thus their fighting skills had suffered. The men who fought alongside Harold in East Yorkshire had been collected on the way north through the eastern shires and southern Deira, and left the main force on its way back to London by the beginning-early October. Harold wanted to press on against William despite advice to the contrary - the only brother he would have listened to was Tostig, and he died side-by-side with Harald Sigurdsson - on the grounds that he was defending his own people his grandfather thegn Wulfnoth was a local landlord in the Sussex area.

Even as Harold was slain by Count Eustace, Walter Giffard and Hugh of Pointhieu - who disembowelled him with his lance, Giffard cut off his manhood - there were men coming down from the meeting point, but on learning Harold was dead fell back into the Weald. An accident of circumstances defeated Harold, but his own judgement also let him down. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners.


For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: Harold chooses the high ground When King Harold of England faced Duke William of Normandy on the 14th October , they both used different tactics to try to win the Battle of Hastings.

The end is nigh! This was so helpful! Thanks so much for giving so much detail. Thank you so much this has helped me for my humanities assignment. At Exeter, William undermined the city walls. At Ely, he tried building pontoons across the Fens but they sank or broke. Castles were his favourite tactic - ok, strategy. Where did you get this figure?? The rest you have a fair idea of. However I would like to know a bit more on the history of why this battle happened as I had to go to a different site if you could help it would be wonderful Thank you.

Seems some of my sources are up the Swannee, zoetropo. Thank you for your comment and interesting information zoetropo. It is unfortunate that is only touched upon in schools nowadays.






This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. Contact Us Toll-free for US customers: Please enter a valid email address or phone number. Thank you for your interest in our services! We will contact you within 10 minutes. What will the call be about? Want to order with you guys Questions regarding authorization and payment About my order General questions about WriteMyPapers. Your order ID or. Your customer ID or.

Anything you want us to know before the call? Close Give me a call. Thank you for your request! 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. Harold drew up his army in three wedges on Senlac Ridge, overlooking the battlefield. With him he had little more than 5, footsore and weary men, ranged against a Norman force of up to 15, infantry, archers and cavalry. Facing such odds, Harold had no choice but to fight a defensive battle.

He was forced to rely on the much-vaunted English shield-wall, behind which his men could stand and let the Norman attacks break themselves. The tactic was a great success. Again and again, the Norman knights hurled themselves against the English shields, but as the Bayeux tapestry shows, they were unable to make any headway. Then, on the Norman left, the Bretons under Count Alan began to give way. Orderic Vitalis takes up the story:. But the Duke, seeing a great part of the opposing army springing forwards to pursue his men, met them as they fled, threatening and striking them with his spear.

The whole incident is portrayed on the Bayeux tapestry. It was the turning point of the battle. Now the English wall had broken, and the Normans were able to lever open the cracks. Exhaustion and weight of numbers also took their toll. Gyrth and Leofwine, the two remaining brothers of Harold are depicted being cut down on the tapestry, and Harold was soon to follow. We see him on the Bayeux tapestry taking an arrow in the eye and then being ridden down by a Norman cavalryman, one of four who managed to break through the English line and trample Harold into the ground.

Though the English still fought on bravely after their king had fallen, their cause was lost, and eventually they fled into the night. Tradition has it that William gave thanks to God for his victory and ordered that all in his army should do penance for the souls that they had killed that day.

He himself paid for the foundation of Battle Abbey on the spot where Harold fell. The body of Harold was eventually recovered after a long search, but its face was so badly disfigured that they had to bring it to his concubine, Edith Swan-neck, to identify by the intimate marks upon his body.

William kept his army in Hastings for about a week, then he marched through south-eastern England, via Dover and Canterbury, to London Bridge. Finding this too heavily defended, he continued along the southern bank of the Thames to Wallingford, sending a detachment to take Winchester on the way.

By now it was December, and the long campaign had sapped the English will to resist. Dover and Southwark had been razed to the ground, and William now had control of Canterbury, the religious centre of England, and Winchester, the ceremonial seat of the English kings. At Wallingford, the first English submissions occurred. Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury led a delegation of important English bishops and thegns, who surrendered to William, and Wigot opened the gates of Wallingford to him.

He also ensured that he was not crowned by Stigand, whose legitimacy was questioned by the Pope. During the ceremony, the assembled magnates both Norman and English shouted their acclamation of the new king; but their shouts startled the guards outside the cathedral who, fearing an English uprising, promptly set fire to the neighbouring city of London.

Get Full Essay

Main Topics

Privacy Policy

Battle of Hastings. Battle of Hastings took place on 14 th October It was a battle between the English Army led by Anglo-Saxon King Harold II and the Norman-French Army led by Duke William II of the Normandy. This battle was fought during the conquest of Norman of England.

Privacy FAQs


About Our Ads

William had more cavalry who wore chain mail armour and fought with spears and bow and arrows. This was an advantage to William because Harold had a few house carts and the rest were all farmers who he picked up on the way to the battle of Hastings, also Harold's men had to fight with spears and battle axes. The Battle of Hastings In October 14th the battle of hastings was fought between an English army under the leadership of Anglo Saxon king Harold and the Norman French army of the duke of Normandy,blacunbmdbylq.gang the Norman conquest of England, it took about eleven kilometer northwest of hasting, close to the present day Noman took home victory.

Cookie Info

Find free term papers, free essays online and other academic papers for colleges/universities on this battle of Hastings was held 10km away from Hastings itself and was fought at Senlac . In this essay I will be saying why William the Duke of Normandy won the battle of Hastings. I will be including these points: Williams’s good leadership, luck, preparation and tactics. One very important point as to why William won the battle of Hastings, was because William was a skilful, brave and determined leader who kept his army disciplined and under control.