History- Anglo Saxon battles

Gate Fulford
1. Harold's fyrd were ready to defend England's southern coast all through the spring and summer of 1066, but as September came, the fyrd had to be disbanded for the harvest. By mid-September, Hardrada and Tostig had launched their invasion, which Harold heard about on 19th September.
2. Reasons for it
  1. Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, and his elder brother Edwin, Earl of Mercia, had gathered an army to defend the North.
  2. Hardrada and Tostig had landed with 10,000 warriors on the River Humber and then marched up towards York.
  3. Morcar and Edwin decided to meet them in open battle at Gate Fulford rather than defend the fortified city of York.
3. Events of it
  1. Edwin and Morcar were outnumbered
  2. As the English shield wall surged forward against Tostig's weaker troops, Hardrada hit the English troops with his best warriors from the side {a clever flanking tactic}
  3. Thousands of English troops were killed or wounded, making them unavaliable to fight against the Norman invasion. Hardrada and Tostig took many English hostages.
  4. Harold was forced to come north to deal with Hardrada and Tostig, with consequencesfor the Battle of Hastings.
    1. The English were positioned with marshland behind them, which meant that when they were pushed back they became stuck in mud and were massacred.
4. Although leaving the southern coast turned out to be a terrible decision for Harold II, there were good reasons at the time to think the threat of invasion from Normandy had passed for 1066. The Channel was notorious for winter storms, making a September crossing extremely risky. The wind was also still blowing from the north when Harold set off, thus keeping William bottled up in port in Normandy.
Stamford Bridge
1. Having led a rapid march to the north, gathering troops along the way, Harold's army surprised the Viking army at Stamford Bridge.
2. Harold was victorious. Both Hardrada and Tostig were killed in the battle.
3. The Vikings had left their armour with their ships. The English broke their shield wall.
4. Significance
  1. King Harold achieved a great victory, defending England from invasion.
  2. However, William invaded in the south while Harold was in the north.
  3. Harold had to rapidly move south again, tiring his housecarls.
  4. Harold's victory may have made him complacent about William's threat.
  5. The battles in the north may have prevented troops reaching Hastings from Mercia and Northumbria.
Hastings
1. Norman Knights V. English housecarls.
  1. Norman knights- ADVANTAGES -- Highly trained, heavily-armoured mounted knights could launch devastating charges using their height advantage to beat down foes.
    1. DISADVANTAGES -- horses were vulnerable to attack, advantages of a cavalry charge were lost if horses had to run uphill.
  2. English housecarls - ADVANTAGES -- a disciplined shield wall was very hard to break. Housecarls knew how to fight together and their axes were highly effective.
    1. DISADVANTAGES -- once the shield wall began to break, housecarls were vunerable to cavalry and archer attacks.
2. Norman foot soldiers V. English fyrds.
  1. William's foot soldiers were a mixture of Normans and mercenaries from across Europe. There were lightly armoured archers and crossbowmen and heavily armoured foot soldiers. Foot soldiers may not have trained with knights, making coordinated attacks difficult.
    1. While thegns had good weapons, many of Harold's general fyrd would have had farm tools and long knives. There were few archers, General fyrdsmen were not well trained.
3. Key events
  1. 2) Harold's army was able to position itself along a ridge at the top of a hill. That meant that William had to attack up hill.
  2. 1) William's scouts spotted Harold's advancing army - Harold failed to achieve a surprise attack.
  3. 3) The battle lasted eight hours - a very long time for a medieval battle. This was perhaps because the two sides were quite evenly matched. There were different phases to the battle.
  4. 4) William's archers were first to atack, but the archers had to stay out of the English javelin range and the English shield wall knew how to catch the arrows on their shields.
  5. 5) William's foot soldiers and knights were beaten back by the shield wall initially. The English housecarls did great damage to horses and men with their two-handed axes.
  6. 6) At one point the Norman army was panicking that William had been killed. William tipped back his helmet to show he was still alive.
  7. 7) A feigned retreat {or a real retreat} meant English fyrdsmen left the shield wall to chase after retreating Normans. The English were then surrounded and cut down.
  8. 8) The shield wall was gradually thinned out. Norman knights then charged through it and caused great damage. Norman archers also became more effective as the shield wall failed.
  9. 9) Harold and his brothers, Gyrth and Leofwine, and their housecarls, made final stands at the top of the hill, fighting to the death. Harold and his brothers died.
  10. 10) The rest of the English army then ran for it. The Bayeux Tapestry ends with the words {in Latin} : 'and the English turned and fled'.

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History- Anglo Saxon battles

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	Created by Lia Gregory over 6 years ago