The Battle of Hastings William’s fleet set sail 27th September 1066 Harold leaves York 2nd October 1066 Harold leaves London 12th October 1066 28th September 1066 The Normans land at Pevensey 6th October 1066 Harold reaches London 14th October 1066 The Battle of Hastings happened Task: What can you learn from this timeline about why Harold Godwinson lost the Battle of Hastings? William’s scouts spotted Harold’s advancing army – Harold failed to achieve a surprise attack Harold’s army was able to position itself along the ridge at the top of a hill. That meant that William had to attack up hill. The battle lasted 8 hours, a very long time for a medieval battle. This was because the two sides were evenly matched. There were different phases of the battle William’s archers were the first to attack, but the archers had to stay out of the English javelin range and the English shield wall knew how to catch the arrows on their shields. William’s foot soldiers and knights were beaten back by the shield wall initially. The English housecarls did great damage to horses and men with their two-handed axes. At one point the Norman army was panicking that William had been killed. William tipped back his helmet back to show he was still alive. A feigned retreat meant that the English fyrdsmen left the shield wall to chase after retreating Normans. The English were then surrounded and cut down. A shield wall gradually thinned out. Norman knights then charged through it and caused great damage. Norman archers also became more effective as the shield wall failed. Harold and his brothers, Gyrth and Leofwine, and their housecarls, made final stands at the top of the hill, fighting to the death. Harold and his brothers died. The rest of the English army then ran for it. The Bayeux tapestry end with the words (in Latin) ‘and the English turned and fled’
Battle advantages Harold Harold was fighting on home ground: Wessex The house carls were experienced, disciplined and skilled warriors The English had the best position on the battlefield: on a ridge at the top of the hill William William’s troops were trained in tactics that the English had never experienced before, including the feigned retreat His troops had to fight to survive: they would not be able to retreat or escape William had obtained the pope’s blessing for his invasion and he and his men believed that God was on their side Battle disadvantages Harold The men of the general fyrd were inexperienced and lacked discipline The core of his army were tired from fighting at Stamford Bridge and marching south. They may also have been demoralised by having to fight yet another battle. A lack of archers – it is possible that English archers were among the fyrd troops who arrived in London after Harold had already rushed off to Hastings William Having to fight uphill made knights and archers less effective Although his knights had trained for years in their battle tactics, many of his foot soldiers were mercenaries who had not trained to fight in combination with knights Knights had trained to change against other knights: charging a shield wall was probably something entirely new Task: Explain the importance of the ‘feigned retreat’ as an explanation for William’s victory at the Battle of the Hastings (12 mark)
List the three earls involved in the 1075 revolt. List what happened to each earl after the 1075 revolt. What were the three new Marcher Earldoms called? Who defeated the 1075 Revolt of the Earls on behalf of William? Why did William allow many English lords to keep their lands and titles at first? Give the two rives where the Harrying of the North stretched to and from. Score out of 11= ______/11 Go back through the areas you struggled with and revise these sections further. KT3 – Norman England, 1066-88 The Norman Feudal System When William became King, he established himself as the owner of all England’s land. His key allies became his tenants-in-chief, who received huge grants of land direct from the king in return for their military service. They then granted land out to their followers in turn, creating the feudal hierarchy with the king at the top, with huge power to command and control the system. Task: Read through the information and match the statement to the correct role. The king ‘I give some of my land to my knights. I might give them one or more villages so that he has enough to pay for his weapons, armour and horse. In return, they agree to do military service and make up the men I need to provide to the king for 40 days of knight service’ Tenants-in-chief ‘I am an ordinary farmer, and there are more of us in society than any other group. We are not free to travel and have to stay and work for our local lord. In return for us being allowed to live here, we work on our lords land for between 2-3 days which is called the labour service.’ Knights ‘I own all of the land in England, but give land to some of my most loyal supporters. They don’t own this land themselves, they just look after it for me. In return they agree to bring men to fight for me for 40 days’ Villeins (Peasants) ‘I’m too busy fighting so I give most of my land to the local people, so they can grow their own food. I even get them to grow my own food for me because I am a proud soldier. In return they work 2 or 3 days a week for me and can have