When and where was the Battle of Hastings fought, and what was at stake?

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 on Senlac Hill in Sussex, England. It decided the English crown, ending with the Anglo-Saxon king Harold Godwinson dead and William, Duke of Normandy, the victor.

Why was Harold Godwinson at a disadvantage at the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

Before the Battle of Hastings in 1066 Harold Godwinson had just destroyed Harald Hardrada's Norwegians at Stamford Bridge on 25 September, then force-marched his exhausted army some 250 miles south to meet William. He had to win a second kingdom-saving battle with tired men against a fresh invader.

What tactic turned the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

The Battle of Hastings in 1066 turned on the feigned flight, when Norman horsemen pretended to flee and lured English defenders off their ridge into the open to be cut down. Repeating the ruse thinned Harold's shield wall until it finally broke.

Why was the Anglo-Saxon shield wall so hard to defeat at Hastings in 1066?

At the Battle of Hastings in 1066 Harold held the high ground on Senlac Hill with a shield wall of housecarls and militia locked shield to shield, which on foot was nearly unbreakable. William's combined force of infantry, archers and mounted knights hurled itself uphill against it in vain for most of the day.

What were the long-term consequences of the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

The victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 led to William's coronation in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066, a new French-speaking ruling class, castles across the shires, the Domesday Book survey, and the fusion of English with Norman French. Nearly a thousand years later the language and institutions it set in motion still endure.

Who won the Battle of Hastings?

The Battle of Hastings in 1066 was won by William, Duke of Normandy, later known as William the Conqueror. The Anglo-Saxon king Harold Godwinson was defeated and killed on Senlac Hill, and William went on to take the English crown.

The Battle of Hastings, 1066: the day England changed hands

Few single days have changed a country as completely as 14 October 1066. When it began, England was Anglo-Saxon, ruled by a king crowned that January. When it ended, its king lay dead on a Sussex hillside and a duke from across the Channel had won a kingdom. Nearly a thousand years later we still speak the language, and live under the institutions, that this one battle set in motion.

Three kings, one crown

The trouble began when Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 without a son. The English crown passed to Harold Godwinson, the most powerful earl in the land, but two others believed it was theirs: William, Duke of Normandy, who claimed Edward had promised it to him, and Harald Hardrada, the fearsome king of Norway. By autumn, both were coming to take it.

Two invasions in one autumn

Hardrada struck first in the north. Harold marched his army the length of England and destroyed the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Three days later, William landed on the south coast at Pevensey. Harold turned his exhausted men around and force-marched them south again, some 250 miles, to meet a fresh invader. He had won one kingdom-saving battle already; he now had to win another.

Harold had beaten one invader in the north and marched the length of a country to face another.

The shield wall on Senlac Hill

Harold took the high ground on Senlac Hill and formed the classic Anglo-Saxon defence: a shield wall, ranks of housecarls and militia locked shield to shield along the ridge. Behind that wall, on foot, they were nearly unbreakable. William's army was different, a combined force of infantry, archers and mounted knights, and for most of the day it hurled itself uphill against the wall in vain.

The feigned flight

The battle turned on discipline, and the lack of it. At one point part of William's line broke and fled, and the English on the wing chased after them, down off the ridge and into the open, where the Norman cavalry wheeled and cut them to pieces. Seeing how well it worked, the Normans did it again on purpose. Twice more they pretended to flee, and twice more drew defenders off the hill to their deaths. The shield wall, still strong, grew thinner.

The arrow and the end

Late in the day it broke. Tradition, and the Bayeux Tapestry, holds that Harold was struck in the eye by an arrow and then cut down by Norman knights. With their king dead the English fought on around his body and then gave way. William had his victory, though it had cost him the whole of a long day and much of his army.

The Conquest

On Christmas Day 1066, William was crowned king in Westminster Abbey. What followed reshaped England to its roots: a new French-speaking ruling class, castles rising over every shire, a great survey of the land recorded in the Domesday Book, and centuries of English fused with Norman French into the language spoken today. One hillside, one afternoon, and a nation remade.