After the battle of Hastings was won, William of Normandy expected
the English lords to pay tribute to him. However, this did not happen.
So he decided to rest his army for some time before proceeding to
London.
The Battle of Hastings which took place on October 14, 1066 is
considered to the decisive battle resulting in the Norman conquest of
England. The battle took place at Senlac Hill, about ten kms from
Hastings.
The Norman strategy for the battle relied on the archers attacking
the enemy with arrows, the infantry which would engage the enemy in
combat and a final charge by the cavalry. However, the English army
formed a shield wall to protect themselves, so the arrows had little
effect on them. The Norman infantry then charged up the hill, but were
faced by a barrage of stones, javelins and other weapons. The cavalry
charge also was ineffective, as the horses shied away from the axes,
swords and other weapons.
After an hour of battle, the Norman army suffered heavy casualties.
Seeing this, the undisciplined English army were tempted to pursue the
enemy. They broke their formations and dispersed. As they were no
longer protected by the shield wall, the Norman invaders led by William,
could easily attack and kill the Englishmen. By the time, the English
army realised that it was counter-attacked, it was too late.
The archers in the Norman army launched an attack over the shield
wall, targetting the fighters at the rear of the army. One of the arrows
hit King Harold in the eye and he was killed. With their leader and
many nobles killed, the fyrd or part time soldiers scattered and many
fled the battlefield, resulting in a victory for the Norman army.
The army of Duke William of Normandy had a large number of trained
warriors or mercernaries who fought with him for a share of the spoils
of war.
It had a strength of 8,400 soldiers consisting of 2,200 cavalry, 1,700
archers and 4,500 infantry (men-at-arms). The archers would first attack
the enemy, and would be followed by the infantry and a cavalry charge.
The strength of the English army was 7,500 and consisted entirely of
infantry. Of these , about 2,000 were Housecarls, full time professional
soldiers who were dedicated to the King of England and would fight to
the last man. The rest of the army were 5,500 fyrd, who were part time
soldiers drawn from small landholding nobility.
Normandy was a region in the northern part of France, just across
the English channel. In 911, the Viking, Rollo settled in this region
after an agreement with the king of France. He was expected to protect
the region from further Viking attacks.Normandy was a feudal state,
where the vassals held land in return for military service.
In 1066, the Duchy of Normandy was ruled by Duke William who also
though he had a right to the throne of England . He had been assembling
an army to invade England, which also included contingents from other
parts of France like Britanny and Flanders.
Soon after the battle of Stamford Bridge got over, Duke William and
his army crossed the English channel and landed in England on September
28, 1066 A.D.
On hearing the news of the Norman army landing on the English coast,
Harold Godwinson marched south with his army to battle the Norman
invaders. He halted briefly at London, to gather more people. This was a
strategic mistake as his army was tired and could not match the Norman
invaders at the battle of Hastings.
King Harald of Norway (commonly known as Harald Hardrada) was one of
the many claimants to the throne of England. He believed he had a right
to the throne of England based on a treaty between the King of Norway
and one of earlier Kings of England.
In early September 1066, Harald invaded northern England with a fleet
of 300 ships and about 15000 men. He was assisted by the estranged and
exiled brother of Harold Godwinson, Tostig Godwinson. Initially the
Norwegian invaders were successful and were able to capture the city of
York.
The army of Harold Godwinson was rushed to the north of the country
to battle the invaders. A fierce battle took place at Stamford Bridge on
16th September 1066, and the Norwegian invaders suffered a crushing
defeat. King Harald of Norway was killed in the battle. Out of the 300
ships that had reached England, only 24 could return with the injured
warriors.
Though the English army was victorious in the battle of Stamford
Bridge, it also suffered losses. It was in a battered and weakened state
which adversely affected its capacity to repel the Norman invasion of
England.
The Norman conquest of England took place in 1066. At the beginner of
1066, the Anglo Saxon ruler of England, Edward the Confessor was on his
deathbed. Since he had no children, there was no direct heir to the
throne and he had not publicly designated any heir to succeed him.
After Edward the Confessor died on January 5th,1066, he was succeeded
by Harold Godwinson, whose sister was married to Edward the Confessor.
He claimed that Edward the Confessor had annoited him the successor on
his deathbed in the presence of the queen. Since Harold Godwinson was a
powerful lord in the country, he soon received the approval of the
Witan, the decision making body who could decide who would be king.
This was resented by William of Normandy (a region in Northern France
today). He was distantly related to Edward the Confessor and claimed
that Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne of England on his
death.
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