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THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS - Coggle Diagram
THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS
Key events in the Battle of Hastings
William's scouts spotted Harolds advancing army - harold failed to achieve a surprise attack.
Harold's army was able to position itself along a ridge at the top of a hill. That meant that William had to attack up hill.
The battle lasted for eight hours - a very long time for a medieval battle. this was perhaps becuase the two sides were quite evenly match. there were different phases to the battle.
William's archers were first to attack, but the archers had to stay out of English javelin range and the English shield wall knew how to catch arrows on their shields.
Willaim's foot soldiers and knights were beaten back by the shield wall intially. The English housecarls did great damage to horses with men and their two-handed axes.
At one point the Norman Army was panicking that William had been killed. William tipped back his helmet to show that he was still alive.
A feinged retreat (or a real one) meant English fyrdsmen left the shield wall to chase after the retreating Normans. The english were then surrounded and cut down.
The shield wall was gradually thinned out. Norman knights then charged through it and caused great damage. Norman archers also becuase more effective as the shield wall had failed.
Harold and his brothers, Gyrth and Leofwine, and thier housecarls made final stands at the top of the hill, fighting to the dealth. Harold and his brothers died.
The rest of the English army then ran for it. The Bayeux Tapestry ends with the words in latin. and the English turned and fled.
Norman foot soldiers vs English fyrds
Williams foot soliders were a mixture of Normans and mercenaries from across Europe. There were lightly armoured archers and crossbowmen and heavily armoured food soliders. Foot soldiers may have not trained with knights, making coordinated attacks difficult.
While thegns had good weapons, many of Harolds general fyrd would have had farm tools and long kinces. There were few archers. General fydsmen were not well trained.
Norman Knights vs English Housecarls
Norman Knights advantages:
Highly trained
Heavily-armoured mounted knights could launch devastating charges using thier height to beat down foes.
Disadvantages.
Horses were vulnerable for attack
advantages of a cavalry charge were lost if horses had to run uphil.
English housecarls advantages.
A disciplined shield wall that was very hard to break.
Housecarls knew how to fight together and thier axes were highly effective
Disadvantages.
Once the shield wall began to break, housecarls were vulnerable to cavalry and archer attacks.
Timeline
1066
27 Sep - William's fleet sets sail
28 Sep - The Normans land at Pevensey
2 Oct - Harold leaves York
6 Oct - Harold reaches London
12 Oct - Harold leaves London
14 Oct - The Battle of Hastings