Normans - 1066 the battles Flashcards
what are the fyrd
the part of the saxon army made up of peasant farmers
what are thegns
landowners who held less land than earls
expected to fight in saxon army
what was a vassal
someone who had been given land in exchange for loyalty/military service
what were the witan
council of leading earls, thegns, and bishops
why was tostig forced into exile in 1065
people of northumbria refused to accept him as their earl
why was tostig hated
harsh rule
refused to consider concerns of northumbrians
what did tostig do in exile
travelled to scotland, normandy, and norway to gain support for bid to return to power in england
what did harald hardrada do for tostig
assembled army of 10,000 norwegians and sailed to the north east of england
met with edwin and morcar at fulford on 20th SEPTEMBER 1066
what happened at fulford
harald positioned weaker troops at one wing of army
anglo saxons charged, hardrada brought stronger soldiers to attack from the side
english army tried to retreat but got stuck in marsh
blood bath of english basically
what was the outcome of fulford
hardrada won
captured york
camped his army 15 miles south at stamford bridge to wait for money and hostages
who were the housecarls
an elite troop, armed with shield and battle axe
what did harold do after he heard about fulford
assembled 15000 men (3000 of which were housecarls) in two days
what did harold do after he heard about fulford
assembled 15000 men (3000 of which were housecarls) in two days
how far and in how much time did harold troops walk to stamford
185 miles in 4 days
why did godwinson win stamford bridge
vikings were unaware they were coming - relaxed without armour, split up over the river
english killed most powerful viking fighter
what was the outcome of stamford
harold wins
tostig + hardrada killed
harold loses 1/3 of his forces
no more threat of vikings
what did william do after landing in england on 28th SEPTEMBER 1066
builds motte and bailey castle in pevensey
raids south of england
how did harold prepare for hastings
called upon the fyrd which brought his army up to 7000
describe the norman feigning retreat tactic
some norman soldiers fled due to belief william died, english army followed them
norman cavalry begins feigning retreat to break english shield wall
english follow the normans then get cut to pieces
break in shield wall
describe the norman tactic of changing the archery method
archers fire at harold army but shield wall prevents damage
once shield wall was broken, archers could get closer to saxons and could cause great damage from a distance
harold is shot in the eye
what were the reasons for harold defeat at hastings
poor discipline of troops
poor timing of defences
unreadiness for battle
decision to leave london and meet william at hastings
how important was luck at hastings
harold was killed probably by an arrow in the eye, gave william victory as saxons troops started to disband
vikings attacked shortly before norman’s sailed, so saxon troops were exhausted by the time they got to hastings
weather was bad enough to damage english and convince harold william wouldn’t attack, but not bad enough to stop norman’s from sailing
how did the different types of soldiers help william
troops had a variety of skills and tactics (saxons fought in a similar way every time)
william could try different methods
how did the cavalry help the norman’s
deadly force
strong charge and height advantage
once shield wall was broken they destroyed saxon troops
