History Flashcards
Who was harold godwinson
Harold Godwinson was from Wessex, in England. He was a wealthy nobleman, and it is claimed that Edward the Confessor named Godwinson as his successor on his deathbed. Harold Godwinson’s sister, Edith, was married to Edward, making Harold the king’s brother-in-law. Wessex was the largest kingdom in England and his claim would have been well supported by a large proportion of the English population.
Who was william of normandy
William was a Duke who controlled Normandy, a large region in northern France. William was a distant relative of Edward the Confessor and claimed Edward had promised him the throne in 1051.
William also said that Harold Godwinson had sworn an oath that he would help William take the throne after Edward, in return for helping Godwinson when he had been stranded in Normandy in 1064
Who was harrald hadradda
Harald Hardrada was a Viking and king of Norway. He was also a distant relative of King Cnut, who had previously been a king of England when the Vikings had invaded. Harald Hardrada also had the support of Tostig, who was Harold Godwinson’s brother.
The two brothers had fallen out. Tostig had been the ruler of Northumbria since 1055, but people rebelled against his rule. The rebels said Tostig had been a selfish and strict leader. Harold Godwinson had advised Edward the Confessor that he should support the rebels, rather than his own brother! Edward agreed, and Tostig was replaced as Earl of Northumbria.
There were a number of ancestors of previous Viking invaders still living in the north of England, and they were supportive of Harald Hardrada’s claim to the throne
Who fought in the battle of hasttings
William of normandy and Harald Godwinson
What was harold Godwinson army like
- made up of the fyrd
-made up house carls
FIGHTING EXPIRIENCE - the fyrds were part time soldiers
-fyrds were called to fight when they had to - fyrds had little training, well not well armed, used farming tools for weapons
-house carls wrre well trained
SIZE
-harrold had 7,000 and 8,000 soldiers
What was williams army like
William had:
- soldiers
-calvary
-archers
-foot soldiers
FIGHTING expirence
-william had more fighting expirenced overall
-Army was 7000 and 8000
What were the positions in the battle of the battle of hastings?
Harolds army was at the top of senlac hill
What was williams first tatic
William ordered his army to charge up the hill. It was to steep to climb and haralds army were in such a strong line they couldnt break through
What was williams seconed tatic
William prentended to retreat to try and break the english wall
What happens when williams army “retreats”
Harplds army followed them down the hill
What was williams counter attack from the retreat
Williams army turns around and attacks now the shield wall is gone
Who wins
Harrlads dies and william wins
Why did william win
Haralds army were tired since they had to go and deafeat Hadrada but also return from the north to the south. With a time span of days
Tactics: williams tactic helped him break the english wall and deafest harald
Army: william had a better army with a varitety of many soliders including archers foot soldiers and horses
Leadership: William was on horseback and had an overview of the whole battlefield. When a rumour went round his army that he had
been killed, he lifted his helmet to show them he was still alive. In contrast, Harold was on foot and was unable to stop his army losing their discipline and chasing down Senlac Hill after William’s retreating soldiers
What caused the Harying of the north
Anglo saxons didnt like william and there were many rebelions.
The biggest one was led by Edgar the Atheling in York 1069. He was joined by danish and scotisn armies
What happened to Edgar the athelings rebelion
Williom defeated the rebelion but didnt trust the rebels.
He met with the danes and had an agreement.
William payed the danes ti lieave the country peacfully
From 1069 to 1070 william ordered villages to be burned, farm animales to be slaughtered and crops to be destroyed.
Millions of people left or died of starvation or killed.
Edgar survied and fled to scotland