Key learning points

1. William of Normandy invaded England after Harold had fought the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
2. Harold's army consisted of an elite of housecarls with the majority being the untrained peasant conscripts of the fyrd.
3. Harold held the high ground on Senlac Hill with a shield wall.
4. William’s army mainly consisted of professional soldiers using a mix of archers and cavalry charges.
5. William's tactics brought him victory while Harold and many Anglo-Saxon nobles were killed.

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

Common misconception