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Battle of Hastings
1 Battle of Hastings
V této kapitole se dozvíte:

o bitvě u Hastingsu

o jedné z kapitol britské historie
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
pochopit historické a politické poměry v 11. století

pohovořit o bitvě u Hastingsu
Klíčová slova této kapitoly:
Hastings, Edward the Confessor, battle, William, Norman, Saxons
Čas potřebný k prostudování učiva kapitoly:
2 hodiny
Battle of Hastings
Key events prior to 1066
In 1016, Cnut of Denmark invaded England. He eradicated
all opposition in a pogrom in winter 1017, and ruled
thereafter with a combination of Danes and newly promoted English Earls
who profited from the Danish Conquest. Edward (the Confessor) fled to his
father-in-law in Normandy. He finally regained the throne in 1042.
William's later chroniclers claim (after the fact) that
Edward the Confessor offered William the crown and sent
Harold to pledge it to him in the winter of 1064/5. In fact,
reading between the lines we can see that Harold was
shipwrecked in Normandy whilst trying to visit France,
and took advantage of the
situation by trying to secure
the release of his brother and
nephew who were held as
hostages in the Norman court.
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The events of 1066

January 1066: Edward the Confessor dies. Harold gambles and makes a
bid for the Crown, supported by all the magnates of England. William does
nothing, despite the so-called oath.

May 1066: Tostig makes an abortive attempt to invade England. Harold
calls out the English levy to defend against an expected thrust from
William, but it never comes. By 8th September, Harold let it go home to
harvest its crops.
The eve of conquest

20th September 1066: After sailing up the Ouse with more than 10,000
men in 200 long ships, Harald Hardrada and Tostig defeat the hastily
assembled forces of Earls Edwin and Morcar at Fulford outside York. The
army of the Earls is decimated and Edwin & Morcar are unable to play any
more part in the campaigns of 1066. This leaves them free to make their
peace with William after Hastings, but need not be seen as premeditated.

25th September 1066: Harold responds by scraping together a scratch
force made up largely of his own housewares and personal followers, and
racing north, calling up the shire levies as he passes through. In four days,
he has marched 180 miles, and surprised the Norwegian army outside York
at Stamford Bridge. Harold offers Tostig his earldom back if he will turn on
Harald, but Tostig refuses. Legend has a lone berserker axe man defending
the bridge until the sneaky English paddle under the bridge in a barrel and
thrust a spear up through the wooden slats. Harald and Tostig both fall at the
head of their men.

28th September 1066:
Having sailed his fleet to St
Valery sur Somme, William
waits for the wind to be in
the right direction. It changes
2 days after Stamford Bridge,
and William's fleet makes
landfall at Pevensey completely unopposed. He marches to Hastings - a
good harbour from which he can withdraw easily if necessary, and begins to
build a castle.
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
1st October 1066: While at York, Harold learns of William's landing.
He marches back down Ermine Street, stopping to pray at Waltham Abbey
(which he had founded) on the way. By 12th October, he is back in London
and gathering what forces he could to face William.

14th October 1066: Harold takes up a position
blocking the Norman advance to London on Senlac
Ridge at the site of Battle with an army of little more
than 5,000 weary and footsore men. He intends to
fight a purely defensive battle, sitting behind the
famous Saxon shield wall and letting the Normans
break themselves against it. This works well, beating back repeated waves
of Norman infantry followed by cavalry. It works so well in fact, that the
Breton knights on the Norman left begin to run. Seeing victory in their
grasp, the English right charges down the slope after them, exposing
themselves to a devastating counter-attack led by William himself.

However, William is unhorsed and a shout goes up that he is dead.
Everything hangs in the balance; but William sweeps off his helmet and
rises to rally his troops. Yet the pause
had given the English time to regroup,
and the Normans batter themselves
uselessly against the reformed shield
wall. As the day drags on, the numbers
began to tell and the English shield
wall begins to crack.

Late in the day, Harold takes an
arrow in the eye and as his men mill around him; four Norman knights
break through and hack him down. Legend has it that his body was so
mutilated that it could not be recognised until it was identified by his
devoted mistress, Edith Swanneck.

Oct-Dec 1066: A state of
war continues until Christmas
1066, when a deal is struck
between William and the
English magnates in which he
guarantees their positions in
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return for their support. William is crowned King of England on Christmas
Day in London by Archbishops Eldred and Stigand. Edwin, Morcar and
Waltheof swear allegiance to him.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/key_events_01.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/
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