Why did William the Conqueror succeed in the Battle of Hastings

Fortune, Energy, Leadership, Tactics.

This anagram is the most useful way to remember how and why the Battle of Hastings was won by William the Conquerer.

Although Harold Godwinson was in an advantageous position on his hoem soil, his army had had to march from stamford bridge hundreds of miles away and were tired and malnourished. . A third of his men had died at Stamford Bridge and another third were left behind during the march south, because they could not keep up. Harold did add to his army with the fyrd. They were not fully trained soldiers but had to fight for the king when called upon. Although they boosted Harold’s army to roughly 7,000, they were inferior to the men he had left behind on the road south to Hastings.

Harold and his army then decided to take up the best defensive position in the area, a small hill which the Normans later called Senlac Hill which means ‘blood-lake’ in French. They probably gave it this name because it sounded similar to the English name for the site, scen-leag, and because so many died there.

William’s cavalry also failed to break the shield wall and some men even began to retreat after they heard rumours of William’s death. William rode to the front of his army and lifted his helmet to show his men that he was still alive and he led another attack on the shield wall. In the late afternoon William’s cavalry tried to move the English away from their defensive position by feigning retreat. After many attempts some of the inexperienced English infantry left the shield wall and tried to attack the Norman cavalry who they believed were retreating. The Norman cavalry turned round and cut the English to pieces. As more of Harold’s army came down from the hill to join the battle, the Normans had the opportunity to break the shield wall. Around 5pm an arrow hit King Harold, who was fighting with his men on foot, and on hearing of his death his army lost all their discipline and were massacred by the Norman infantry and cavalry. Harold’s brothers Gyrth and Leofwine died beside him and as the sun began to set the battle was clearly over. Duke William had won