On 14 October 1066, the Battle of Hastings was fought between the Normans under William the Conqueror against the Anglo-Saxons under Harold II during the Norman Conquest of England.
Why did it happen?
On 5 January 1066, the English king, Edward the Confessor, died, and Harold Godwinson was named his successor. Crowned Harold II, his coronation sparked two other claimants to vie for the English throne: Harald Hardrada of Norway and Duke William of Normandy. On 25 September, Harold II defeated Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Three days later, on 28 September, Duke William landed at Pevensey, southern England, with a force of 7,000 men, intending to take the English throne by force. Upon hearing this, King Harold advanced south while dispatching the shires to send levies to bolster his forces. On 14 October 1066, Harold formed his army up on Senlac ridge and awaited William’s attack.
Who was involved?
The Norman army at Hastings numbered 4,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 1,000 archers. The Norman army was more varied than the Anglo-Saxon army. William arranged his forces with archers in the vanguard, infantry in the second line and cavalry to the rear. William commanded the centre, with Alan and Eustace commanding the left and right wings. The Norman plan was to soften the Anglo-Saxon shield wall with arrow fire before the infantry engaged and weakened the Anglo-Saxon line while the cavalry drove the disordered enemy from the field. The Anglo-Saxon army at Hastings numbered 9,000 infantry. The forces under Harold II were arrayed in a defensive shield wall formation on Senlac Hill. Harold was protected in the centre by his bodyguard, the housecarls, equipped with Danish axes. The Anglo-Saxon plan was to occupy a defensive position and allow the Normans to exhaust themselves through fruitless frontal assaults on their position.
What happened?
At 9am, the Norman right wing attacked the Anglo-Saxon forces on Senlac Hill but failed to penetrate their shield wall. When a part of the Norman army began to flee after a rumour spread that William had been killed in the fighting, William took off his helmet to rally his men and show them that he was still alive. He then led a cavalry charge against the Anglo-Saxon shield wall, which was repulsed. As the Norman left wing feigned retreat, the Anglo-Saxon right wing broke formation to pursue the Normans. The Norman centre then attacked the Anglo-Saxon force in the flank, which inflicted many casualties. Seeing the success of the feigned retreat on his left wing, William executed another one on his right wing, which caused the Anglo-Saxon left wing to break formation and pursue before the Norman cavalry turned around and inflicted severe casualties. At that point, William ordered his archers to fire arrows down into the Anglo-Saxon line. One arrow struck King Harold II in the eye and killed him. The Anglo-Saxon line then gave way, and the Normans captured Senlac Hill. The Normans suffered 2,000 casualties during the battle, while the Anglo-Saxons lost 4,000 killed.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Hastings was a decisive Norman victory. William would be coronated King William I of England on 25 December 1066. However, it would take many more years for the Normans to fully put down resistance to their rule. Indeed, in 1069, a series of campaigns known as the “Harrying of the North” was conducted, marked by contemporary chronicles as savage and causing widespread destruction and famine. Nonetheless, William’s victory at Hastings was one of the most decisive battles in history because it linked England to mainland Europe. The modern-day English language originated in the Norman Conquest when Anglo-Saxon English was mixed with Norman French. As stated by Geoffrey Regan, “William turned a wealthy but loosely governed state into a unified and powerful realm, built around feudalism and a hereditary monarchy” (Regan, 2002, p.49).
Bibliography
Grant, R.G. 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. London, Cassell Illustrated, 2011.
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Gravett, Christopher. Hastings 1066: The fall of Saxon England. Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 2000.
Montgomery, Bernard. A History of Warfare. London, Collins, 1968.
Regan, Geoffrey. Battles That Changed History: Fifty Decisive Battles Spanning Over 2,500 Years of Warfare. London, Andre Deutsch, 2002.