Battle of hastings

• William had been planning his invasion from the minute he new Harold had been crowned
• Harold's army had held out for 8 hours at the top of the hill but eventually the shields wall broke - his soldiers ran down the hill, but were no match for William knights on horseback - Harold was killed
• once Harold was killed, the remaining Anglo Saxons ran away
• Harold's dead body was chopped to pieces and the crown was given to William - he declared himself as King of England - William the Conqueror (crowned 25th of December 1066)
• William's Norman Knights

  • armour - chain mail, conical helmet with nose piece
  • skills - years of training
  • Horse - specially bred to be strong enough to carry an armoured knight and trained for battle
  • weapons - lance, javelin, sword
  • Advantages - devastating charge, height
  • Disadvantages - horses were vulnerable to attack, advantage of charge lost uphill
• Harold's Housecarls

  • Skills - shields wall, long handled axe, discipline, endurance
  • armour - chain mail or metal plates sewn on to leather, conical helmet with nose piece
  • weapons - javelin, long axe (1.5 metres), sword
  • the housecarls were trained to wield their axes to decapitate horses
  • shields - round, hide covered wooden shield with central metal boss - used to make shield walls
  • Advantages - discipline of shield wall = good against bows and arrows (hard to break)
  • Disadvantages - once shield wall broke - no protection
• Williams ordinary troops 


  were from all over Europe

  weapons - archers, cross bowmen, javelins, swords --> heavy foot soldiers

  armour - chain mail (heavy foot soldiers), padded jackets and armour (archers)
• Harold's Fyrd


  were hastily put together

  weapons - good weapons, shields and armour (thegns), farmer tools (general fyrd)

  armour - only thegns had it
• Williams horsemanship


  in Normandy, they invested in breeding bigger, stronger horses and training on horseback fighting

  they made saddles, stirrups and lances

  'couching' - lance technique for gripping the lance in such a way that the full power of the charging horse went into the tip of the lance (technique established in 1066)
• William had the better army
• Reasons for Williams win - Williams good leadership

  • he had prepared in Normandy
  • when he landed in England he built a 'pre-fabricated' castle which meant he had a secure place to stay
  • he had a mix of troops which meant he could use a variety of tactics
  • trained his soldiers on horseback
  • flat bottomed boats - so horses could get to England
• Reasons for Williams win - Harold's poor leadership

  • old fashioned tactic - shield wall - when it broke the English were defenceless
  • didn't have knights as he invested in a fleet (ships) to protect from Danish
  • Harold' army was tired - they had just travelled 185 miles in 5 days twice
• Reasons for Williams win - Williams luck

  • he didn't hit the winter storms which would have destroyed his troops