1.2 Why Did William Win The Batte Of Hastings? Flashcards
Tell me about Harold’s navy
Harold expected an invasion from Normandy and needed a navy so demanded ships and seaman from around Country and succeeded very quickly
Tell me about Harold’s army
Harold had housecarls who were very experienced
Then the fyrd who were less experienced and not well equipped
Harold has no cavalry and no archers
Tell me about the way Harold gave orders
Very effective and by mag he raised a several thousand army - stationed across south coast waiting for Williams invasion
Who was Tostig
Tostig had been removed from position as earl of Northumbria in 1065 and sent into exile in Flanders
- persuaded harald hardrada had a legitimate claim to thrown and take it from Harold
Tell me about the Tostig interlude
In May 1066 Tostig raided towns along the Sussex coast and for a short time occupied the town of sandwich
- but threat of Harold army scared him off up to Lincolnshire and then fled to Scotland to wait for hardrada
With Tostig gone Harold could focus again on the Norman invasion
How did William get support
His reputation as a successful warrior and generous man encourager people
Tell me about William and the support of the pope
He was given a papal banner to carry into battle - shows pope had blessed their invasion and God was on their side
Pope also promised if Normans won they would be given land in England
What did William do about having no army
He called on his lords to bring themselves and their knights from Normandy
What did William doing about having no navy
He asked his vassals to provide some ships - but weren’t enough so he ordered hundreds of ships to be built which took time
How did William plan to secure his position
Wherever they went the Normans built a wooden castle to keep troops safe and control surrounding land
How did William save time on building castles in England
Built pre-fabricated castles to take with them - eg prepared timbers in correct sizes and all bolts need to fit them together
Tell me about September 8 1066
Harold’s army went home
Tell me about when Harold’s army when home
You couldn’t keep an army of 6000 men together forever - three month wait exhausted resources, so on September 8 Harold sent his army home
A few days later William moved entire fleet along the Normandy coast to await good wind to travel
At same time nearly, Tostig and harald hardrada were sailing down with a fleet of 300 ships and up to 8000 soldiers to invade north of England
Tell me about early September and the return of the Vikings
Hardrada joined Tostig and on 20 spetember during battle of fulford - earls Edwin and Morcar were degrade and York soon surrendered to hardrada
Tell me about mid September and when Harold marched north
Harold regs there’s his army and marched 200 miles in under a week north
Caught Tostig and hardrada by surprise on Stamford bridge on 25 September
Fighting lasted a day and Harold won and hardrada and Tostig both died
Within 3 days of winning he received news William had landed in England
