What Happened – A Blow-by-Blow basic account of the events of 1066
1. William assembled his army on
the Norman coast through a
massive logistical effort, gathering
mercenaries and volunteers from
across northern Europe. Some
historians argue that he had to
wait for the wind to blow in the
right direction to set sail; others
argue that William waited on
purpose to make things difficult
for Harold.
2. Tostig raided along the English
coast, causing a headache for the
English until Edwin and Morcar
caught his forces and defeated
them in battle. Tostig sailed with
his few remaining forces to
Scotland.
3. By September 8th Harold
Godwinson had to let most of his
army (the fyrd) return to the
fields as the harvest was due. He
no longer had the resources to
keep them and they were legally
bound to provide only twomonths service. This could be why
William stayed in Normandy,
knowing the fyrd only had a short
term of service, or it might have
been luck.
4. Harold Godwinson began to
hastily recall his army and in a
feat of brilliant military endurance
he force-marched them to try to
catch the Viking raiders before
they had chance to establish
themselves in northern England.
5. Hardrada and 300 longships
sailed for England, landing in
Yorkshire and heading for the
traditional seat of Viking power:
York. The northern brother earls,
Edwin and Morcar went to deal
with this threat and met the
Vikings at the Battle of Fulford on
the outskirts of York. The Vikings
won and took York but the battle
weakened their army.
6. Hardrada and his men must
have thought they were safe as
they marched away from York,
having taken sworn oaths of
loyalty and left a small Viking
contingent in York. They did not
even have their armour on, which
they had left in the ships, as they
lazed in the sun near a small
village called Stamford Bridge.
7. Harold Godwinson and the
English army surprised the Vikings
at Stamford Bridge on 25th
September but even so, it is not
easy to fight an army that is at the
other side of a small bridge. The
fighting took most of the day and
legend has it that one large Viking
blocked the bridge for a great deal
of time. In the end Tostig and
Hardrada were killed, the Vikings
slaughtered and Godwinson was
the victor.
10. Godwinson took 8 days to
march from Stamford Bridge to
London, arriving on the 6th
October, where he considered
what to do next. He decided to
attack as soon as possible without
waiting for further
reinforcements, possibly through
worry at the possibility of more
Norman reinforcements landing,
possibly through over-confidence,
or because he could not stand to
see his land ravaged.
8. William and the Norman
invasion landed in England on 28th
September, finding the coast
unguarded. William needed to
draw Godwinson to a decisive
battle as soon as possible, his
supplies would not last forever
and the longer he stayed in
England the more danger they
would be in as Godwinson might
find it possible to call more men
to the defence. To draw the
English to battle he ordered the
Normans to cause terror amongst
the local population, burning,
looting and stealing.
11. Godwinson’s – surely exhausted
army – reached the south coast on the
night of 13th October and took up
position on a high ridge. The battle of
Hastings began on 14th, lasting all day
and it was an extremely close-run
battle. William’s army found it hard to
defeat the English who were in a strong
position atop the hill, and their
formidable shield wall was a tough nut
to crack. Eventually Godwinson was
killed, his army defeated and the
Normans had won.
9. Godwinson did not have long to
savour his victory and knew that
he must march south in case the
Normans landed. During the
march south, just three days after
his victory at Stamford Bridge,
Godwinson heard news that
William had landed on the south
coast.
12. William could not be sure that
he was now automatically king,
he would probably have
anticipated the possibility of more
battles, but all of the Godwinson
brothers had fought at and died at
Hastings so there was nobody for
the English to rally around.
William marched on London, had
himself crowned on Christmas day
at Westminster Abbey and set
about establishing Norman
control over England.
Why did William emerge victorious in 1066?
William’s Bold Leadership
Harold’s Mistakes
- Immediately sought and gained Papal approval for the invasion after
the death of Edward bringing him support from other areas such as
Bologne, Breton and Flanders.
- Covered up the loss of men at sea as fleet moved along coast
- Ordered troops to ravage area around Pevensey Bay to draw Harold
to battle
- William prevented the flight of sections of his army at a crucial point
during the battle by removing his helmet
- William may have deliberately kept his invasion force for weeks on
the French coast, knowing that it would stretch the English fyrd’s
period of service which was just 2 months. Only a bold leader could
have kept his force together for so long and remain inactive.
- The feigned retreat.
- Attempting the same tactic twice and in doing so force
marching his army almost the length of the country twice in
less than 3 weeks
- Harold ignored the advice of his brother Gyrth when he arrived
in London and marched as quickly as he could on Hastings.
- When the Bretons first broke and fled, leading to the Norman
feigned retreat, Harold could have ordered a general advance
which might have carried the battle.
- Either by accident or design, Harold’s trip to Normandy in 1064
was a mistake that led to William being able to portray Harold
as an oath-breaker, thus making it easier to gain the significant
papal banner.
Luck
The Composition of the Armies
- Harold faced invasion from two powerful nations at opposite
ends of the country at the same time.
- The term of service for the fyrd lasted only 2 months and
Harold had to let the fyrd return to collect the harvest in
September. The Vikings invaded in September and the
Normans in October.
- The Northumbrian uprising against Tostig left Harold in a
difficult position and ended with Tostig inciting Hardrada to
invade.
- A storm badly damaged the well-organised English fleet,
preventing the English from attacking the Norman invasion in
the channel.
- The archers were used to deadly affect later in the battle and
an arrow may well have killed Harold.
- Arrows weakened the shield wall during the battle.
- The Norman cavalry was used to great effect, particularly with
the feigned retreat. As soon as Englishmen came off the hill
they were easily picked off by the Norman cavalry.
- The fyrd were not professional soldiers and proved a weak link
in Harold’s army by charging from the protection of the shield
wall. It must have been difficult if not impossible for Harold to
command thousands of unprofessional soldiers when battle
began, not least because of the noise, he needed to be able to
rely on them to make the correct decisions.