Freigned Defeat

In the book “A Glorious Defeat, Mexico and its War with the United States” written by Timothy J. Henderson. Henderson, a professor of History at Auburn University, Montgomery, Alabama, analyses the political and social history of Mexico before and during the Mexican American War of 1846-1848. After the battel with Spain in 1821, the Mexican Government was a disaster, although they manage to be victorious for their independence. The main problem with the Mexican government and its social class was their racial system, for example the higher class will never share power with the lower classes. A small number of Mexicans were educated and most of them were from the upper class, and the lower class were considered to be troublemakers who needed

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.

William’s father went on a pilgrimage in 1034 to release his sins. While returning home from his journey, he died suddenly. Having no other heir, William took his place as Duke of Normandy.

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.

William the conqueror in the battle of hastings. September 27 is when things started going William’s way, the wind shifted and started moving them right into England. Directly after reaching shore William decided to make his move and as stated in the document "William I." “William rallied the fleeing horsemen, however, and they turned and slaughtered the foot soldiers chasing them. On two subsequent occasions, William’s horsemen feigned retreat, which fooled Harold’s soldiers, who were then killed by their opponents. Harold’s brothers were also killed early in the battle. Toward nightfall the king himself fell, struck in the eye by an arrow according to Norman accounts, and the English gave up.” (par.1) this quote shows that William knew what he was doing and did the right thing and also that he wasn’t scared. William was about to become a ruler of another country.

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

One reason why William won the Battle of Hastings was because of his preparation and readiness for the battle. His army were provided with cavalry that were trained to kick, bite and head-butt. This is shown in the Bayeux Tapestry and source 3 where there are soldiers seen fighting on horses. I know that William’s half-brother organised the creation of the tapestry so the information on it is likely to be accurate. This meant William won the Battle of Hastings because he had an extra weapon that the English didn’t have therefore could surprise them, attack and leave more damage.

During the second battle Henry reacted very different then he did at the first battle, he ditched the battle while it

In this book, Timothy J. Henderson examines the origins, outcomes, and modern-day consequences of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). A Glorious Defeat is organized around two central questions: why did Mexico go to war with the United States in 1846 and why did the war go so badly for Mexico? Henderson does provide the answers to these questions, based on the reader having some knowledge of the expansionist history that the US partook in with its southern neighbors, but who are “far less certain why Mexico went to war with the United States” (xviii).

Henry II (1133 - 1189) was the grandson of Henry I, but only became king after having invaded England in 1153 and forcing his second cousin, King Stephen to make him heir. He was only able to invade due to his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, as it made him Lord of Aquitaine and gave him more power and influence in France. His succession to the throne in 1154 made him commander of an empire which stretched from northern Scotland to south-western Europe. He made various significant changes to the empire during his rule. He controlled the power of the Church and set in place various legal reforms which became the basis for the legal system still used today. He was known for being ruthless and having a very bad temper, which were some of the

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

William arrived at Torbay, on November 5th 1688 ready to fight for the throne. He was a brave man, for James II’s army was double the size of William’s army. Although it didn’t matter because James II’s army was deserting to the other side, James II army had abandoned him. When William of Orange was welcomed into London, James II fled to France in disguise. Parliament claimed that by abandoning his country, the king had abdicated and the throne was now left vacant. On February 6th 1689 Mary and William became King and Queen of England.

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.

The conflict was in the end resolved at the battle of Hastings in 1066. As Harald Goodwinson’s army first faced Harald Hardrada’s Viking attack in September of 1066 in the battle of Stamford Bridge. Harald Goodwinson’s army managed to defeat the Vikings in an exhausting battle, however, only three days later William’s army reached Hastings and Goodwinson and his army had to rush to the sight to face their new foe. Goodwinson’s army was indeed reduced and tired after the trials at Stamford Bridge, nevertheless, what followed was the longest battle in the history of medieval Britain (Kramer.33), and the result was a new king of England, the Duke of Normandy, King William the Conqueror.