king harold versus william, duke of normandy · the battle of hastings began before harold’s...

ECS History Department Year 7 ISBL Why did the Normans win the Battle of Hastings?

King Harold versus William, Duke of Normandy


Your enquiry Historians like to work out why things happen. They try to explain things. When we look for the causes of the Norman victory we find some very surprising things. William was very skilful, and determined, but he was also very lucky. So why did the Normans win the battle of Hastings? You are going to build your very own historical explanation.


The Normans get ready to invade The pictures below are taken from the Bayeux Tapestry. The Tapestry tells us the story of one of the most important events in British history – the Norman victory over the English at the Battle of Hastings. The year was 1066 and the picture show how well prepared the Normans were and how seriously they were taking the invasion. We shouldn’t be surprised as their leader, William Duke of Normandy, was determined to invade England and place himself on the throne.

Here they are dragging the ships that

they have built to the English Channel

This shows the Normans carrying supplies,

weapons and armour to their boats


Activity 1: William was determined

You are going to create a series of ‘cause cards’. In the shapes below are three causes of the Normans success. You need to copy them out onto separate pieces of paper or print them out from here. Once you have copied them out work out what these causes have in common. Write down one heading that you think best sums up all three cards. If you are finding it hard to think go to the last page of the ISBL where there is a key word box – there should be something in there to help.

Activity 2: The English were not ready

William put into place his plans and started to get ready to invade England because he thought he should have been made King of England at the start of 1066 when Edward the Confessor (the old King of England) died. However, Harold Godwin (who was a powerful English earl) was selected by Englishmen to be their new king and he was made King Harold of England shortly after the funeral of Edward the Confessor. This action by Harold Godwin angered two other men; William and Harald Hardraada. Harold Godwin knew his action would make him enemies and that they would invade England at some point. Therefore Harold Godwin gathered together the largest army that England had ever seen. All through the summer of 1066 he kept his men and fleet of ships along the south coast of England waiting for William and his Norman army to come. Unfortunately for Harold the wait was a very long one as William did not set sail in the summer. In fact William couldn’t set sail in the summer as the wind was not blowing in the

The Normans had knights on horseback who were skilful

fighters

The Normans prepared carefully. They brought with them a useful

mixture of well-equipped foot-soldiers, archers and cavalry.

William was skilful, ambitious and determined to be King

of England.


right direction for his ships to sail from Normandy to England. Until the wind blew in the right direction it was impossible for William to set sail. If this wasn’t bad enough, Harold Godwin heard even worse news. Harald Hardraade, King of Norway had landed with a Viking army in the north of England. Even worse, Tostig (Harold Godwins half brother) had joined Hardraada in this attempt to take over England. Harold had to forget about William and go north to fight Hardraada. The map below shows what happened that summer/autumn to Harold Godwin and England;


As you can see from the map Harold Godwin and his army had to do a great deal of marching and fighting. So when they heard the news that William had landed in the south they were extremely unlucky. Harold decided to march his exhausted men down to meet William. Many soldiers were left behind because they couldn’t keep up. In the meantime William had found time to gather food and build a camp which was secure. The two leaders and their armies met at Hastings, the normally well prepared King Harold was not as ready as William. This would cost him a great deal. There are four more cause cards below which set out other factors for the Norman success at Hastings. Copy them out onto separate pieces of paper or print them off and cut them out. You then need to think of a word or short phrase that sums up all four cards. Remember to look in the key word box if you are finding it too difficult.

Activity 3: The Battle

One of the best sources of evidence that we have of how the battle went is the Bayeux tapestry. As you can see from some of the pictures it shows how Harold Godwin took up a defensive position on the top of Senlac Hill. He squashed all of his soldiers together – the

The wind changed direction and allowed William’s troops to cross the English Channel at

a time when Harold Godwin and his army were away in the north.

Some of Harold’s best fighters died at the Battle of Stamford

Bridge defeating Hardraada and his Viking army.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge and the long march south made

Harold’s troops very tired.

The Battle of Hastings began before Harold’s troops were

properly ready.


housecarls were in the front and they locked their large, circular shields together to form a ‘shield wall’ which was very hard to break down. The fyrd soldiers were behind them, closely packed together to add strength to the ‘wall’.

The Normans had to break through this shield wall or get the English to leave the top of the hill if they wanted to win. A mighty battle took place. The Normans, at the bottom of the hill kept on charging up the slope and throwing spears at the English. This did not work though as the English either threw the spears back or hacked down soldiers who got too close with their large battle-axes.

This Norman charge and English beating them back continued for a long while until a rumour went around that William had been killed. On hearing the rumour some of the Normans ran away believing that all was lost. However, William was not dead and to prove

The well trained housecarls formed a ‘shield

wall’

The Norman cavalry (soldiers on horseback) charging up

the hill to throw spears at the English shield wall


this he pulled up his helmet (a brave thing to do in the middle of battle) and shouted “Look at me well! I am alive and by God’s grace I shall yet be the victor! What is this madness that makes you flee?”

This incident gave William and the Normans an idea. They would try to trick the English into leaving their strong position on top of the hill by pretending to flee (run away). It worked, the Normans attacked and then pretended to run away. Some of the English, believing the battle had been won chased the Normans, leaving their safe hilltop position. The Normans turned around and slaughtered the English who were now out in the open and were no match for the Normans cavalry. The English fought on but soon King Harold was killed (by an arrow through the eye is what many people think). The shield wall had been broken and the Normans could cut down the English soldiers. It was an English tradition never to leave a dead leader so Harolds best soldiers fought on, dying bravely with their fallen king.

William lifting up his helmet to prove he was

still alive

King Harold is killed with an

arrow in his eye.


It is believed that by 5 ‘o’ clock in the evening the remaining English soldiers either collapsed with exhaustion or finally fled. The English had been defeated and now William was able to have himself crowned King of England.

There are three final cause cards on the next page which set out other factors for the Norman success at Hastings. Copy them out onto separate pieces of paper or print them off and cut them out. You then need to think of a word or short phrase that sums up all four cards. Remember to look in the key word box if you are finding it too difficult.

William is crowned King of England


Activity 4

You now have a set of cause cards (you can add more if you like). You have given each group of cards a heading. These headings give the main reasons for the Norman victory – or do they? There are many ways you could sort your cards. Put all of your cards in front of you. Try to think about ways of grouping them. Think hard about where the cards belong. It isn’t always easy. Sort them under the following headings;

Things to do with the Normans strength and skill

Things to do with Harold’s bad luck

Things that happened before the battle

Things that happened during the battle

Things to do with the armies

Things to do with the leaders

William arranged his troops carefully and used them

skilfully in the battle.

The Normans clever trick of pretending to retreat caused the

English to leave their strong position on the hill.

In the middle of the battle, Harold was killed. The English

were weak without their leader.


Which was the best way to group the cards? Which gives the clearest explanation of why the Normans won the Battle of Hastings? Try to think of some of your own headings, write them down.

Activity 5 You have a set of cards that give different reasons why the Normans won the Battle of Hastings. You are now going to bring all of these causes together and write an essay about why the Normans won the Battle of Hastings. There is a plan to help you on the next page. You need to make sure that you include as many of the causes as you can as this will give your essay depth of historical detail and give you a better chance of achieving a high level. There is also a mark scheme on the last page that your teacher will be using to mark your essays – read this as it will help you understand what your teacher is looking for when marking your work. When writing out your essay remember not to write any subheadings.


Why did the Normans win the Battle of Hastings?

Introduction: Firstly set the scene: You need to write a few sentences about why there had to be a battle in 1066. Who was involved in the battles and why they thought they should be King. Secondly you need to explain what factors helped the Normans (preparation/leadership/luck). 2nd paragraph - Preparation: One of the reasons William won was because he was well prepared for battle. He…. (you need to go on to give examples of how William prepared for the invasion and battle, explain how these examples helped him win). 3rd paragraph - Leadership: William was not just well prepared, he was also a skilful leader. He…(you need to go on to give examples of how William led his army, explain how these examples helped him win). 4th paragraph - Luck: William was also much luckier than Harold. He……… whereas Harold …(you need to go on to give examples of how William was lucky and how Harold was unlucky, explain how these examples helped him William win). Conclusion: You need to explain which factor you think was most important in helping William win. You have to explain why you have come to this decision.

Keywords

Normans Saxons Stamford Bridge Hastings Cavalry Infantry Archers Shield Wall Luck Skill Preparation Organisation Determined Trick Success King Throne Knights Housecarls Fyrd


Why did the Normans win the Battle of Hastings?

Level Description

LEVEL 2 You copy out the cause cards and add a little of your own

knowledge, your meaning is not clear.

LEVEL 3 You give a few reasons why the Normans won the Battle of

Hastings. You make your meaning clear.

LEVEL 4 You give some general information to support your

description of why the Normans won the Battle of Hastings.

You concentrate on a few causes and begin to produce

structured work using appropriate historical terms.

LEVEL 5 You classify the reasons and begin to make links between

several relevant causes. You use knowledge to support your

descriptions and explanations. You use a range of historical

terms accurately to help you structure your work. You reach a

conclusion.

LEVEL 6 You begin to analyse the reasons, and explain why some

causes may be more important than others. Your work is well

structured and you use historical vocabulary confidently. Your

conclusion is well explained and supports your analysis.

LEVEL 7 You use knowledge to analyse reasons, as well as describe

them. You confidently explain why some causes may be more

important than others. You select and effectively use

appropriate supporting knowledge to support your analysis.

Your work is detailed and well structured, and your

conclusions are reasoned.

LEVEL 8 Your work is very detailed, carefully structured and analytical.

You use wider historical knowledge to support and extend

your explanation and analysis of reasons, and to make links

and connections between causes. You confidently select and

handle large amounts of factual detail to produce a structured

and well-supported answer. You reach substantiated

conclusions.

Things you

did well

Level achieved

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king harold versus william, duke of normandy · the battle of hastings began before harold’s...

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