WHY DID WILLIAM WIN THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS?
The Battle of Hastings took place in 1066 because Edward the Confessor died leaving no heir to the throne. Almost immediately Harold Godwinson seized the throne and declared himself king but he had two opponents, Harald Hadrada and William of Normandy. William eventually won the battle and was crowned King of England, this piece of writing explains why.
One major reason why William won the Battle of Hastings is that Harold’s army was not prepared to fight William as they had been in the east fighting Harald Hadrada. They were immediately forced to move south towards the coast and fight William, even though Harold’s army was now severely smaller then before the battle of Stamford Bridge, as many of his men had deserted him.
William also had good tactics and when Harold’s shield wall was too strong for William’s cavalry to break through, so his men pretended to retreat, causing the Saxons to run after them, including some men in the shield wall, which meant that the shield wall was now broken.
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Beforehand however, Harold Godwinson was prepared in the south for William’s invasion but the wind’s positioning in Normandy meant that William could not set sail yet and unluckily for Harold, Harald Hadrada decided to attack at this very moment which meant that Harold had to march his army north-east to fight Harald, whilst at the same time William had arrived in England and was preparing his men for battle, feeding them and letting them have some rest, whilst Harold’s were fighting and his numbers decreasing. Eventually Harald Hadrada was killed and Harold Godwinson won the battle, but news soon came through that William had invaded in the south and Harold had to march his men then after just fighting a big battle and, for this reason, many of Harold’s men deserted
On the 14th of October 1066, Duke William of Normandy defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. His win could be summed up by the fact that William was a better leader. Other factors that contributed to William’s victory include: William was better prepared, the English army was severely weakened as Harold had just fought off an invasion in the North of England, and Harold made a fatal mistake of prematurely entering the Battle of Hastings.
they were organized and knew what to do when the time came to set sail
Henry Tudor left France on August 1 with 2,000 men and gathered more men as he travelled through Wales; by the time of battle on the 22nd of August he had a 5,000 strong army (Hickman, 2009). Richard III had an army of 10,000 men. Henry had sent messengers to Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanley requesting assistance, they both agreed to desert Richard III during the battle. When both Stanleys swapped sides, this turned the numbers in favour of Henry's army. The battle only lasted approximately 2 hours ending with Richard’s death and Henry Tudor, despite being 13th in line for the crown at the time, was crowned King Henry VII.
Harold went north to meet the invaders at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, where he won a victory over the Viking army. The winds William had been waiting for turned favorable and he set sail with his massive army. News of his landing at Pevensey was told to Harold, who responded by hurrying south to meet him, giving his exhausted army no rest. If Harold had rested and reorganized his army, the outcome of the battle and English history could have been very different.
A reason why Harold Godwin lost the Battle of Hastings is because his army was less prepared, since some of Harold’s foot soldiers were left behind, and some died at Stamford Bridge. Because of this, Harold would have had less people in his army, and some of his best soldiers would have died as well. This would have been quite a disadvantage, as even more of his soldiers died later on, during the journey south. Secondly, another reason why the Saxons lost was that the Saxons were already exhausted from their quite recent battle, at Stamford Bridge, and they also had to go on a long journey to meet William of Normandy’s army. Due to this, as well as the Saxons would have finding it harder to fight, they would have been much more vulnerable.
Harold Godwinson was born in the 1022s to a powerful Anglo-Saxon family in Wessex, United Kingdom. Throughout his life, he achieved many great things, including being the last Anglo-Saxon to be crowned King of England and being the Earl of Wessex. He was at the top of the social structure from the 6th of January 1066 until his death fighting the Norman Invaders on the 14th of October at the Battle of Hastings. The Battle of the Hastings was a major event during this time period and marked the beginning of the Norman Conquest of England.
Arguably the most important factor in the exertion of power over the English was the ability by the Normans to act militarily. The warlike attitude of the Normans, combined with the religious aspects that will be discussed later, provided them with a ready and capable army with which to support William’s claim to the throne. The early years of William’s rule, after the 1066 defeat of Harold, emerged as a sort of military occupation within England by the Normans. These years were crucial in the Norman advance within England. When William came to England he arrived with a large support of military men and much of these supporting military men remained in England because of their military duties. This army aided William not only in the initial battle against Harold, but later as well, through their
William ordered his foot soldiers to fake retreat. This is found in Source 5 because it shows William and Harold’s movements. My opinion is that doing this is very intelligent because doing this tricks the opposing team. This meant that William won the Battle of Hastings because it this meant that the English got confused so they followed the Normans down the hill, therefore breaking the shield wall. When they were at the bottom of the hill, the Normans killed the Bretons quickly so without William making this decision, it would’ve been less likely that the Saxons would’ve won the Battle of
The Battle of Agincourt is known as one of the greatest because of the circumstances surrounding it. Arguably, it is among the most distinguished battle wins of the English because nobody expected them to defeat the French. The reason was that the French army had four times more troops than it did, and everyone expected it to lose because of this. However, there are a number of factors that were at play that surpassed the numbers the French had and necessitated the English win. Such factors had to do with the strategies that were employed by the English, the conditions at the battlefield, and, most importantly, the leadership in place.
This point links into the treaty of Abernethy. In the same year Malcolm met William at abernethy and signed a treaty which shown that he recognised William as his superior. According to purser, in “good faith”, Malcolm kicked Edgar out of his court which would have made further rebellions in the north very difficult.
The Battle of Agincourt happened because of The Treaty of Bretigny. The Treaty of Bretigny came about because of Henry V’s great-grandfather King Edward III. King Edward III mother was the
In the famous Battle of Hastings both Harold and his brother were killed; therefore, William the crowned himself king. His conquest of power did not stop there. William marched into several other countries including Scotland and France with intentions to win authority. He continued conquering lands surrounding England and distributed a portion to Norman followers. This was when William developed the feudal system, which gave Barons authority under the King’s rule.
Of William I’s (1066-1087) sons, William the II (1087-1100) was a better king than his younger brother Henry I (1100-1135). William I’s was the first Norman king to rule England. He split his heritance between his three living sons. Robert received the rule of Normandy, William II received England and Henry I received five thousand pounds. In early medieval England a good king was a heroic soldier and a strong leader who was fair but enforced the law. It was also important that they were Christian and unsinful. William II “The Rufus”-because of his red face or temper, was true to himself and what he believed in while Henry I “Beauclerc”-because of his high level of education, was a brutal and selfish king, not only to his people, but also
He fought the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066. However, he only battled at two different place, those places were Hastings and Stamford Bridge. On September, William, Duke of Normandy, begins to move his army across the English Channel to England, he took horses with his army as well. Therefore, William was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey.
There is a critical difference between the two countries that seems to have heavily contributed to the reason William won, and Harold lost. Although his troops were fighting on their home soil, they simply were not as warlike and aggressive as the Normans, and were doomed to failure.