Guestling Bradshaw CE Primary School

When King Edward died childless in January 1066 and the throne was given to Harold Godwinson, William of Normandy was so angry he decided to invade England. He claimed that Edward, his cousin, had promised him the throne 15 years earlier.

He convinced the French nobles that his claim was justified, largely by bribing them with promises of land and power in his new kingdom, and even sent an envoy to the Pope, asking for his blessing. He built a fleet of about 700 ships in the classic Norse design, on the Normandy coast. But he didn’t get his invasion fleet ready immediately. He waited until Tostig, dishonoured brother of Harold, arrived in Flanders looking for support for an invasion of Northumberland.

Harold guessed that William might come to England, and assembled his troops on the Isle of Wight. But the Norman invasion fleet remained in port for such a long time, that by August, Harold released his army (many of whom were peasant farmers, desperate to bring in their harvest) and returned to London.

Meanwhile, Harald Hardrada of Norway, who also reckoned he had a claim to the throne, decided that he would join forces with Tostig, and invade Northumbria. On 20th September, their fleet of longships arrived at the English coast and sailed up the River Ouse. Edwin, Earl of Mercia, and Morcar, Earl of Northumberland, came out to meet them with their hastily assembled forces, but were defeated at the Battle of Fulford, just outside York.

Harold had a problem: should he ride north to head off the Viking invasion, or south to meet the Normans? He hoped he would have time to defeat Hardrada and return south before William arrived. Marching 180 miles in just four days, he reached York on 25th September. Confident after their recent victory, Hardrada had left a reduced force at Stamford Bridge. Harold took the Viking invaders by surprise and scored a resounding victory.

However, Harold and his army now had to march the long road back to the south coast. He had lost many men, and those that were left were exhausted. This was when William acted. Having sailed his fleet to St Valéry sur Somme, he waited for the wind to be in the right direction, and two days after Stamford Bridge, he sailed.

William’s forces are thought to have landed at Pevensey. Once ashore, some of the boats were symbolically burnt, while the rest were pulled ashore and protected from the weather by an earth embankment. Then the Normans pillaged and burnt the surrounding area, to force Harold to come and meet him.

Harold did not hesitate. Having already heard of William's landing while in York, he raced his army down the old Roman road of Ermine Street. By 12th October, he was back in London and gathering what forces he could to face William. William also received news of Harold's approach and marched out to face the English king.

The actual battle took place in Battle, just outside Hastings, on 14th October 1066. Harold drew up his army in three wedges on Senlac Ridge, overlooking the battlefield. With him he had little more than 6,000 footsore and weary men, against a Norman force of around 10,000 infantry, archers and cavalry.

Harold had no choice but to fight a defensive battle. He had to rely on the much-used English shield wall, behind which his men could stand and let the Norman attacks break themselves. The tactic was a great success. Again and again, the Norman knights hurled themselves against the English shields, but were unable to make any headway.

Then on the Norman left, a group of soldiers turned to flee, either in terror or pretending to be. Instead of holding their ground, Harold’s men began to chase them. That was the turning point in the battle: the English wall had been broken. The Normans quickly surrounded the soldiers who had broken away and mowed them down. Harold’s brothers, Gyrth and Leofwine were killed, and Harold soon after.

The whole incident is portrayed on the Bayeux tapestry. Harold can be seen with an arrow in his eye, then being ridden down by a Norman cavalryman. Though the English fought on bravely after their king had fallen, their cause was lost, and eventually they fled into the night.

William gave thanks to God for his victory and ordered that all in his army should do penance for the souls that they had killed that day. He himself paid for the foundation of Battle Abbey on the spot where Harold fell.

The contest for England was not quite over, however. William had several more battles before he finally took control of Canterbury, the religious centre of England, and Winchester, the ceremonial seat of the English kings. Many towns had been razed to the ground along the way. By December, his campaign had sapped the English will to resist, and the bishops and nobles surrendered. William the Conqueror, as he became known, was crowned king of England on Christmas Day at Westminster Abbey.

The Bayeux Tapestry (technically an embroidery) is 70 metres (230 feet) long. It tells the story, from a Norman perspective of course, from the death of Edward up to William’s victory in the Battle of Hastings. It shows around 50 different scenes, embroidered on linen in woollen yarn. It was probably commissioned by Odo, William’s half-brother, and made it England in the 1070s. It is interesting to see Halley’s Comet depicted on the tapestry. The comet is portrayed as a portent of doom for Harold.

The Saxon people lost many of the rights and privileges they had previously enjoyed. One of the big changes was the new system of governing the country. In the past, officials called earls were almost as important as the king. They governed their own regions as they saw fit. However William introduced a new system of government, where the king was the authority figure and made all the decisions about how the country would be run.

The second change was the new language and culture that everyone had to adopt. People in Britain had to speak a French dialect – a custom that was to last for the next 300 years and infusing our language with new words.

The third significant result of William’s victory was the introduction of the feudal system to England. He offered his Norman followers a plot of land, called a fief, in exchange for their loyalty, taking away traditional Anglo-Saxon lands from their owners. This loyalty often held a kingdom together, ensuring that any Saxon rebellions would be crushed.

The Normans were great architects, building castles to frighten the English (who hadn't seen them before) and keep out anyone who might attack them. Many of our churches and cathedrals are also Norman.