Battle of Hastings
I can give an account of the Battle of Hastings.
Battle of Hastings
I can give an account of the Battle of Hastings.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- William of Normandy invaded England after Harold had fought the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
- Harold's army consisted of an elite of housecarls with the majority being the untrained peasant conscripts of the fyrd.
- Harold held the high ground on Senlac Hill with a shield wall.
- William’s army mainly consisted of professional soldiers using a mix of archers and cavalry charges.
- William's tactics brought him victory while Harold and many Anglo-Saxon nobles were killed.
Common misconception
The shield wall was not a very sophisticated or effective military tactic.
In fact the shield wall proved effective in holding off the Norman attacks for many hours.
Keywords
Fyrd - the Anglo-Saxon fyrd was an army made up of mostly untrained conscripts from England’s peasant population
Housecarl - the housecarl was an elite unit of the Anglo-Saxon army: a well-trained and well-equipped soldier
Knight - the knight was the elite unit of the Norman army: a soldier who fought on horseback, riding a specially-trained war horse
Shield wall - a shield wall is a military tactic where soldiers stood in a long line overlapping their shields to form a wall of shields
Feigned retreat - a feigned retreat is when soldiers pretend to retreat in order to lure the enemy into a more vulnerable position
Content guidance
- Contains conflict or violence.
Supervision
Adult supervision suggested.
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Video
Loading...