‎Edward the Confessor Dies Flashcards
Who were the claimants to the English throne in 1066?
The King of Norway (Harold Hardrada)
William of Normandy
Harold Godwin
Prince Edgar ( Edgar the Atheling)
What were the strenghts of:
Harold Hardrada (King of Norway)
For: Claimed to be the Canute. Since Canute had ruled England as well as Norway and Denmark he thought he should do
Harold Godwin’s brother (Tostig) supported him and would supply and anrm and ships to help dethrone Harold
What were the strenghts of:
William of Normany
For: He claimed Edward the Confessor has promised him the throne.
Harold had been shipwrecks in 1064 and William claimed as a result Harold has sworn back to him as king
William was an experienced commander and had good equipment.
He had shown himself to be a strong leader against the rebels in France.
Edward named him as successor when he visited Edward’s court in 1051
What were the strenghts of:
Harold Godwin
For: He was the brother-in-law of Edward the Confessor.
Good strong fighting leader
He was born and lived in England and was popular with most of the English
He had been elected king by the Witan (made up of bishops, nobles and advisors)
He claimed Edward had appointed him as successor when he died.
He had only sworn to support William’s claim to the throne as he was virtually William’s prisoner.
In 1063 he had crushed rebellions when Edward was ill.
What were the strenghts of:
Prince Edgar
He was the 14 year old great-grandson of Ethelred the Unready (former King of England).
He was also the grand nephew of Edward the Confessor so he was a blood relative.
What are the weaknesses of:
Prince Edgar
He was only a boy so couldn’t fight the others.
He was brought up in Hungary so he didn’t have many supports in England.
What were the weaknesses of:
Harold Godwin
William of Normandy claimed that Harold had promised William to be the next king (sworn on holy relics)
What were the weaknesses of:
William of Normandy
Harold was already king.
An invasion of England would need an army and ships and could be risky.
He would have little support in England.
What were the weaknesses of:
Harald Hardrada
He was in Norway
He didn’t have much support in England
He wanted more land and power.
The people afraid of him as they knew if he invaded it would renew the old wars between the Danes and English.
When did Edward the Confessor die?
January 1066
When was the Battle of Hastings?
14th October 1066
Why did William win?
Leadership - showed strong leadershpi by sending men to gather intelligence
Leadership - he rallied his troops to fight on by showing them he was still alive as they retreated.
Leadership/Determination - he showed strong leadership by leading a 2nd attack
Determination - Wore the holy relics that Harold had sworn on
Determination - the Normans were eager and brave and were the first to attack.
Determination - at the end of the day they realised the saxons were exhausted and chased them until the end.
Religious - he believed God had strengthened his body and soul
Tactics - they played a trick pretending to run away meaning the Saxon broke their shield wasll by pursuing the Normans who then turned around and attacked
Tactics - they played the same trick and 2nd time with equal success.
Military - they had two weapons that the Saxons didn’t - archers and heavy armoured cavalry
Why did Harold lose?
Over-confident - since they had won the Battle of Standford
Stupidy - they fell for the same trick twice.
Exhaustion - they were tired due to the Battle of Standford and their long marches.
Weak Leadership - making his army fight two tough battles close together.
No Leader - they gave up when Harold died.
Miltary - the army didn’t have as many resources as William’s
Where did Harald Hardrada fight Harold Godwin
Battle of Stamford Bridge
(25th Sept 1066)
How many ships and vikings did the King of Noway bring to fight Harold Godwin at Stanford Bridge and how many returned
300 ships - 8000 vikings
Only 24 ships returned.
Facts about Harrying of the North
1069, the new King of Denmark (Sweyn) sent 300 ships to North of England.
Danes returned to their ships and played Cat amd Mouse with William before returning home
1070 - William took revenge on those who supported the Danes.
Burnt crops/destroyed villages/probably caused a famine that killed thousands
Soilders
Normans - infantry/cavalary/archers
Saxons - infantry/few archers
What did Normand Knights and Saxon Housecarls wear?
Chainmail/conical helmets with nosepiece/kite shaped shields
What weapons did they have?
Clubs/maces/swords/spears - 7-8 feet long
English had Danish battle axes
Norman Archers: short arches/1.2m long/250m range
Norman Cavalary - Horseback/heavily armoured, usually with a lance and a sword
