William's Position

• Strengths

  William acted quickly to seize Winchester

  That gave him control of the royal treasury and without it Edgar could not reward his followers but William could
• Strengths

  Destroyed everything in the path of his army

  Done with fire and swords proved to be a brutally effective strategy for William that did not require large troop numbers

  People rushed to submit to William rather than face destruction
• Strength

  Although his army was weakened by battle and illness, William was an extremely effective leader

  Followers continued to prove loyal by obeying him despite all of the dangers
• Weakness

  William and his troops were deep in enemy territory with no secure place to retreat to
• Weakness

  London was strongly fortified and William would have lost a lot of men if he attacked directly
• Weakness

  William's claim to the throne was irrelevant if the Witan had already chose a new king, backed by the Church
• Weakness

  William's troops may have been reinforced from Normandy but the numbers were tiny (possibly 5000) compared to the fyrd imposed from the earls.

  Many Normans had recently been ill