The Battle of Hastings

On the night of Friday the thirteenth of October 1066, Harold, Saxon King of England met with Duke William of Normandy, later to be known as William the Conqueror.

Harold had an army of up to 5,000 men. They comprised professional soldiers complete with spears, throwing axes, swords and some bowmen along with a collection of farmers and peasants who had joined the army upon the approach to the battleground. Most of the soldiers wore leather caps and some had mail shirts.

William had an army of 8,000 fully trained fighters. There were 1000 archers, 4,000 men-at-arms and 3,000 cavalry. Their weapons included lances, spears, axes, bows and arrows, swords and most wore steel caps and mail shirts.

William offered his terms to King Harold – he would rule the south and Harold could retain everything north of the river Humber. Harold declined the offer and the next day the Battle of Hastings began.

As the battle started, the Saxon army held the advantageous position on the top of a hill and perhaps the psychological advantage of defending their homeland against an invading army. The Norman Cavalry rose from the valley floor and charged a line of English soldiers standing along the top of the ridge. This type of shield wall had been the typical response of foot soldiers to mounted attackers since the days of the Romans. The Normans advanced up the hill only to be repelled by a tirade of spears and axes. After several hours the Norman army retreated unable to break the wall.

Several hours later, they attacked again and again they were repelled.

As the Normans retreated into the valley below for the second time, the English followed them – a fatal mistake that cost them King and country.

When the Normans noticed the English army on the level ground of the valley they turned and charged for a third assault. This time, they mowed the English down and then completed the slaughter by killing King Harold and his bodyguards in hand-to-hand combat.

In a matter of 8 hours, the government of England had changed from the Saxon king of Harold to the Normans.


Whilst the English may have lost the battle for their country because they stepped outside the capabilities of their own weaponry, it was probably a mismatch of technology anyway.
The English army held round or oval shields and their battle plan was based around resistance. In stark contrast, the Normans had kite shaped shields, cavalry and bowmen. This was a battle between combat methods from the seventh century and those of the eleventh century. With their new weapons, the Normans had reinvented the battle and conquered England.

Major Source

James Burke, "Connections", Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1978, pages 47-51.

Other Sources

Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, "War and Peace in the Global Village", Touchstone, New York, 1968, Pages 26-33.
Lynn White, "Medieval Technology and Social Change", Clarendon Press, Oxford.


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