Why the Normans won the battle of hastings
Why Did the Normans Win the Battle of Hastings?
On 5th January in the year 1066, England’s king, Edward the Confessor died. Unfortunately he had no heir, so three men were competing for the throne. These were called; Harold Godwineson, William, Duke of Normandy, and Harald Hardraada. Harold Godwineson stole the throne and became the king. Both William and Harald were furious and were prepared to fight for the country, thus creating the battle of Stamford Bridge and later on, the battle of Hastings…
Harold Godwineson was extremely unlucky. When both of the other competitors decided to attack, he didn’t know who would arrive first. He could either take his army north to where Harald’s Viking army would go, or south to wait for William to arrive. He had to guess which way to go and he knew that if he chose the wrong way, he would be letting the entire country down. Eventually he chose north. The army marched north and finally met the Vikings on the 25th September the same year. They fought, and the Saxons won with Harald himself amongst the dead. Although they had conquered one army, many of Harold’s men were injured if not dead, and they now had to march an exhausting two-hundred-and-sixty miles to meet the Normans.
Another main reason that the Normans won was because William had prepared a lot more than Harold for this battle. With him he had brought an astonishing seven thousand, five hundred men to fight with him, who were all fully trained, and about another four or five thousand to help, such as doctors, blacksmiths, chefs and so on. Harold brought about five hundred housecarls, who were fully trained fighters, along with around seven thousand fryd, who were just peasants that he picked up along the way.
The army of the Saxons were desperately in need of rest after their march through the country, but the odds were not in their favour. The battle began almost immediately, so Harold’s men did not have any time to plan an attack or anything. The
On 5th January in the year 1066, England’s king, Edward the Confessor died. Unfortunately he had no heir, so three men were competing for the throne. These were called; Harold Godwineson, William, Duke of Normandy, and Harald Hardraada. Harold Godwineson stole the throne and became the king. Both William and Harald were furious and were prepared to fight for the country, thus creating the battle of Stamford Bridge and later on, the battle of Hastings…
Harold Godwineson was extremely unlucky. When both of the other competitors decided to attack, he didn’t know who would arrive first. He could either take his army north to where Harald’s Viking army would go, or south to wait for William to arrive. He had to guess which way to go and he knew that if he chose the wrong way, he would be letting the entire country down. Eventually he chose north. The army marched north and finally met the Vikings on the 25th September the same year. They fought, and the Saxons won with Harald himself amongst the dead. Although they had conquered one army, many of Harold’s men were injured if not dead, and they now had to march an exhausting two-hundred-and-sixty miles to meet the Normans.
Another main reason that the Normans won was because William had prepared a lot more than Harold for this battle. With him he had brought an astonishing seven thousand, five hundred men to fight with him, who were all fully trained, and about another four or five thousand to help, such as doctors, blacksmiths, chefs and so on. Harold brought about five hundred housecarls, who were fully trained fighters, along with around seven thousand fryd, who were just peasants that he picked up along the way.
The army of the Saxons were desperately in need of rest after their march through the country, but the odds were not in their favour. The battle began almost immediately, so Harold’s men did not have any time to plan an attack or anything. The