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Question: How did the Normans win the battle of hasting in 1066!?
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Just to clarify a point in a previous answer: Harald of Norway and William of Normandy did NOT plan together the invasion of England!. Their invasions were independent of each other!.
Okay, William claimed that he'd been promised the English throne, so was angry when Harold of Wessex became king instead!. William prepared to invade!.
Harold, meanwhile, had to repel the Norwegian invasion in the north of England, and defeated the Norwegians at the Battle of Stamford Bridge!.
Meanwhile, back on the south coast of England, William landed at Pevensey on 28 September 1066!. Harold got the news and hurriedly marched south to meet the Normans!. The subsequent battle, which took place a little inland from Hastings on 14 October 1066, had a profound effect on British history!.
Harold lined up his forces along a ridge at the place that has since become the town of Battle!. The Normans, whose forces included Bretons and Flemings and French mercenaries, faced up toward them!.
First, William ordered his archers to shoot at the English force!. The arrows struck the 'shield wall' and made little effect!. He then ordered his infantry to attack, but they were repelled!. The Norman cavalry then charged, but by having to charge uphill the momentum was lost, and horses tend not to like impaling themselves on spears!. So far, not so good for William!.
Then the Breton troops on William's left flank retreated!. Historians argue about whether this was a deliberate ploy to lure the English off the hill or whether it was the Bretons just chickening out!. I believe it was deliberate strategy as it was a ploy that had been practice by both Normans and Bretons for many decades!. And it worked; an English contingent of untrained militia chased the Bretons who then turned round to face the English, by which time William's cavalry had ridden around to pincer the English who were consequently slaughtered!.
As the battle progressed, William ordered his archers to fire again on the English!. (By the way, Harold was still waiting for his archers to arrive!.) This time, they fired high, over the shield wall!. It seems that one arrow hit the English king in the head, badly wounding him!. English morale plumetted!. Finally, Norman knights broke through the shortened English line, and Harold was hacked to death!. This caused the English to flee the field!.
William of Normandy, in this way, won the Battle of Hastings, and was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066!.
I hope this helps!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Just for accuracy, Harold had defeated a Norwegian army at Stamford Bridge!.

The Normans were faced with a shield-wall on a height at Senlac Hill, their tactic was to attack the wall with their infantry in the attempt to force a path for the cavalry, once a shield wall is breached it becomes a liability to the defenders!. Having pursued this tactic in combination with a rain of arrows and crossbow bolts, the wall did not break, however a retreating group of Bretons provided a tempting target for some of Harold's forces, they followed, breaking the shield-wall!. William launched his cavalry in a counter-attack, cutting down the pursuers, only some managed to regain the position on the hill!. The cohesion of the shield-wall failed, after several feints the Norman cavalry was able to break through, this coincided with the death (or fatal wounding) of Harold, the fyrd faltered, the Normans broke through in numbers and the battle was decided!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Sheer luck that Harold had already fought one battle at stirling bridge and then forced marched his troops to Hastings , The Saxons were tired not all the army had reached hastings in time for the battle !. If it had been a Straight fight the Normans were no match for the Saxon house Karl's and their shield wall !. The Norman army was a hotch potch of Danish raiders poor knights looking for conquest and land hungry Normans , As it was they only just won by default if a lucky arrow had not struck Harold it is very doubtful that they would have done!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Harolds men had just had a big battle up on the north coast somewhere against the Danish, and had then marched all the way to the southcoast, so were not at full strength when William Attacked!.
So it was mainly they were outnumbered !.
Harold wasn't killed by an arrow in the eye!. Yes he did get shot in the eye, but then the normans rushed in passed the defences and cut him down!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

the normans were a very organised group!. In fact, during the war, William the Conquerer divided his army into three and the attack strategy was well organised!. However, they were still losing to the English Rubble of knights and farmers, so they decided to retreat!. When they retreated they saw the English come down with joy and they took the occasion to slaughter the joyful English!. They did this retreat strategy three times before the english were finally defeatedWww@QuestionHome@Com

They got there 'the first, with the most', which was a sound strategy for that type of fighting!. It was a very one-sided battle!. All the Saxons had were infantry!. The Normans had infantry, over 1500 professional archers, and the best cavalry in Europe!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Great info inside
http://www!.battle-of-hastings-1066!.org!.u!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

As far as I know they were also technically superior!. You can see on The Bayeux tapestry that they had more modern bows!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Hi there!.
A very interesting story!
Harold of Norway and William of Normandy planned a twin strike to unseat Harold of England!. Harold of England gathered his army and ecided to face the Norwegians first, so they marched north to Yorkshire and caught the vikings by surprise just after they had landed, thoroughly defeating them and killing Harold of Norway with most of his chief nobles!. This was the battle of Stamford Bridge!. It was a very hot day and the vikings were moving around without their armour, setting up camp!. They didn't expect the English and had only one sentry guarding a key bridge - which he was doing very well and holding them up!. The English sent two men to float under the bridge and stab upwards with a spear, spearing the man through the groin and bypassing the chainmail coat the sentry was wearing!. The English then streamed across and attacked the vikings half-prepared!.

So!. Having won this battle, harold of England turned south!. Bad weather in the channel had delayed the Normans, so the English by forced march arrived at battle in time to take the high ground and form the defensive shield wall!. The heavy cavalry of the Normans couldn't attack uphill, the crossbowmen couldn't get any purchase either!.
So, a Norman knight rode towards the English line juggling daggers (and yes, this is true)!. The English watched to see what he would do - he got close then suddenly threw one of the daggers, killing an English soldier!. he then rode off laughing!
This enraged the family and friends of the dead man (in those days, you stood next to your family and clan), who chased after him!.
Seeing part of the army charge, a number of other soldiers charged down after them flushed with their victory over the vikings and thinking it was time!. Once off the hill, the heavy cavalry and crossbowmen gave the Normans a massive advantage and after heavy fighting, they won!. Harold of England was killed because he refused to stay a safe distance away, but insisted on beng in the fight with his men!.
William still needed to subjugate the rest of the country, but the main job was done!.

An interesting story and rarely told properly!.
Cheers, Steve!.Www@QuestionHome@Com