What Role Did The Power Play In The Battle Of Hastings

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.

Another example of weapons in Beowulf references to arms and armor, very accurate to the Anglo-Saxons’ traditional shields and weapons. “Then Hrothgar's thane leaped onto his horse and, brandishing a spear, galloped down to the shore; there, he asked at once: 'Warriors! Who are you, in your coats of mail, who have steered your tall ship over the sea-lanes to these shores? .... Never have warriors, carrying their shields, come to this country in a more open manner. Nor were you assured of my leader's approval, my kinsmen's consent. I've never set eyes on a more noble man, a warrior in armour, than one among your band; he's no mere retainer, so ennobled by his weapons.’... The boar crest, brightly gleaming, stood over their helmets: superbly tempered, plated with glowing gold, it guarded the lives of those grim warriors. ... Their byrnies were gleaming, the strong links of shining chain-mail chinked together. When the sea-stained travelers had reached the hall itself in their fearsome armour, they placed their broad shields (worked so skillfully) against Heorot's wall. Then they sat on a bench; the brave men's armour sang. The seafarer's gear stood all together, a grey tipped forest of ash spears; that armed troop was well equipped with weapons. .... in common we all share sword, helmet, byrnie, the trappings of war.” (Levick, 1)

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.

The spear was the most common weapon of choice and could be used as a missile or used in hand-to-hand combat. The sword was not a common weapon used at all because it was very expensive to produce. The sword was usually given to a great warrior who has demonstrated courageous acts in battle. All warriors had a shield that was made of wood and usually lined together by metal. A seaxe was a single bladed knife that was carried on the belt on the warrior and was used more as a tool than an actual weapon (Beowulf 112-113).

Henry VII took the throne after a battle against the former king Richard III whose forces outnumbered Henrys by two to one. Henry VII had a couple of big problems, one of them was that there were people that had a stronger claim to the throne than he did, his only claim was that god let him win the battle, therefore the nobility didn’t respect him at the beginning of his reign. Another of the problems he faced was the fact that he feared a lot

William was already good and experienced at ruling so thus should be no problem for him. William was already the ruler of Normandy and was doing a great job so being ruler of England wouldn’t be a

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.

english rulers William and Mary started a war with France also known as King William’s War. This war

When William the Conqueror’s attention got brought towards Harold he kept Harold as a guest, although some people think he kept Harold as a prisoner. At some point, while Harold was kept there William took the opportunity to make Harold take an oath that he would marry William’s daughter. This made sure that William the conqueror would at some point become the king of England through the bloodline. Once he took the oath Harold was finally allowed to return to England. Before Harold left Normandy he swore another oath.

Harold fought the Battle of Hastings as a disinterested observer.There is no indication that he made any command decisions or led his soldiers in any way after making the initial deployments on 14 October 1066.In the weeks previous,he had marched his men over 500 miles,defeated a Viking invasion and displayed dynamic leadership that was not present at Hastings.It is likely that his excommunication robbed him of his will to act.In legitimizing William’s attempts to build an army,and simply by destroying Harold’s ability to to lead,Pope

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.