THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF ANGLO-NORMAN ENGLAND

THE BATTLE BEGINS

Harold II of England was 43 years old in 1066. He was a seasoned and respected warrior in his own right. He had helped the Irish throw the last Vikings out of Dublin. He has successfully campaigned in Wales and had fought with William the Bastard in France. Had he won at Hastings, he would have been Europe’s greatest general. Har-old’s last fight began at 09.00 on 14 October 1066 AD, and was signalled by the terri-ble sound of trumpets. It is worth recalling the remark of Freeman that medieval bat-tles all seem to begin in accordance with church hours. The Norman and allied archers and crossbowmen moved forward, the opening barrage hissed up the slopes, but as the archers and crossbowmen were shooting up hill the, the shower of arrows proved inef-fective, given the angle and trajectory and the steepness of the slope, many of the ar-rows were caught on the English Shields in the front line, or landing harmlessly in front of the English shield wall. Arrows and missiles that were shot higher were sim-ply passing over the heads of the English Warriors, to fall harmlessly behind, though a few stray shafts may have struck latecomers arriving in the rear of the English Line. There were few archers among the English shield wall; the number isn’t known, but it is known a few would have fallen at Fulford Gate and Stamford Bridge. Many archers had been left by Harold in York in his fast march southward. With few archers, there were few arrows to be retrieved and re-used by the Norman archers in their turn. Their quivers, each of which would most probably held around 24 arrows (the later medieval ‘sheaf’) would have been emptied in a few minutes, and even if additional supplies had been brought up on supply carts they were presumably inadequate, since the archers do not appear to have made much impression at this early stage of the battle, but would have appeared again later in the fighting. Thus the first phase of William the Bastard’s assault had failed; the English shield wall was still intact. The Duke now ordered his heavy infantry toiling up the slopes against the unbroken English shield wall. As they advanced they were met with a hail of missiles that included arrows, javelins and sling-stones. Poitiers notes axes, by which he probably means the smaller fransisca or mammon throwing axe, and stones lashed to pieces of wood. The Bayeaux Tapestry also shows a mace in flight. The Normans recoiled, but pressed on, their breathing becoming heavy and coming in gasps as they advanced up the slope, the English war cries of “UT, UT, UT, UT!!!” becoming increasingly louder as the Norman line at last closed with them. As the impact of the first Norman assault hit the English shield wall, an almighty roar and crash of shield on shield and steel on steel arose above the English war cry and cheering invaders, the opposing lines swayed as the Normans strove to break through the English shield wall. The violent and brutal struggle went on for some time until William realised his infantry couldn’t make any headway in the English shield wall, he ordered his horsemen up the slope in support. The clash of weapons, the cries and shrieks of the wounded men and horses, together with shouting, chanting and cheering of those at the front and in the rear of the opposing lines must have been appalling as the knights spurred their horses on towards the melee. As they did so, they too were struck by missiles that brought them screaming to the ground, their horses struggling on the slope and maddened by the rising roar of battle, the Norman cavalry spurred their mounts on, their speed slowed by the slope of that already blood stained hill. The picture below shows the fury of the hand-to-hand close combat.

Harold II of England carried a Dane Axe at Hastings. He is beside his Fighting Man and Dragon Standards.

The contingents of knights followed the pennon of their “Bastard” lord as they swept up that bloody hill, drawing their swords or in some cases perhaps a mace if the lance were lost, as they were seeking a gap in the English shield wall, or the moment when an English axe was raised and allowed a thrust to be delivered. The Norman cavalry did not stand still, but rode up and away, returning to re-engage. The stubborn English Huscarls in front of the shield wall steadfastly resisted, wounding and killing those Norman infantrymen who were throwing javelins from a distance. Poitiers points out how the English were helped by the slope, by their close order and by the effective-ness of their weapons. The great two-handed Dane axes cleaved shields and men in two, as the Norman horsemen came within striking distance, the Huscarls wielding those mighty two handed axes would, with a well-aimed blow cleave through the kite shaped shield, before slicing through man and horse together.