battle of hastings

• what were the key events of the battle of hastings

  • williams scouts spotter harolds army- harold failed his suprise attack
  • harolds army positioned themselves up hill which made it harder for william
  • williams archers were first to attack
  • williams foot soldiers and knights were beaten by the shield wall
  • norman army thought william had been killed so he tipped back his helmet to show he was alive
  • harold and his brothers gyrth and leofwine and their housecarls made final stands to the top of the hill and fought to death
  • harold and his brothers died
• how long did the battle of hastings last?

  8 hours
• what did the feigned retreat do?

  the english fyrdsmen left the shield wall to chase after normans which led to the english being surrounded and cut down
• whos army was the norman army

  williams
• whos army was the english army

  harolds
• when did harold leave york

  2 october
• when did harold reach london

  6 october
• when was the battle of hastings

  14 october 1066
• what were the adavantages of the norman knights?

  • highly trained
  • heavily armoured
• what were the disadvantages of the norman knights

  • cavalry were vulnerable to attack
• what were the advantages of the english housecarls

  • sheild wall was hard to break
  • their axes were highly affective
• what were the disadvantages of the english housecarls?

  • if shield wall broke they were vulnerable to cavalry and archer attacks
• what is a housecarl

  trained soldiers
• who were williams foot soldiers made up of?

  mixture of normans and mercenaries from across europe
• what is a disadvantage of the norman foot soldiers

  they didnt train with knights which made coordinated attacks difficult
• what weapons did the english fyrd have

  • farm tools
  • long knives