Norman Conquest

1066 – c. 1072

Overview

When Edward the Confessor died childless in January 1066, the English crown was claimed by three men: Harold Godwinson, the most powerful earl in England, who was crowned at once; Harald Hardrada, king of Norway; and William, Duke of Normandy, who said Edward had promised him the throne. Harald Hardrada landed first, in the north, and was defeated and killed by Harold at Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Three days later William landed at Pevensey on the south coast. Harold marched south and met him at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October, where the English were defeated and Harold was killed. William was crowned on Christmas Day 1066, but it took him years of campaigning, rebellion and repression, including the devastation of northern England known as the Harrying of the North, to secure the kingdom by about 1072.

Weapons of the English

The Anglo-Saxon army fought on foot. Its core was the housecarls, the professional retainers of the king and earls, in mail and helmets, many wielding the long two-handed Dane Axe. With the local levies of the fyrd they formed a shield wall, a dense line of overlapping shields that was very hard to break with a frontal attack. Swords, spears, javelins and the Seax were common, but the English had few archers at Hastings and no cavalry.

Weapons of the Normans

William's army combined three arms. His mounted knights wore the Mail Hauberk and a conical helmet, carried the tall Norman Kite Shield and fought with lance and sword. His archers and crossbowmen could strike the shield wall from a distance. The combination, rather than any one weapon, decided Hastings: repeated cavalry attacks, feigned retreats that drew parts of the English line out of position, and archery that wore it down until it broke.

Legacy

The conquest replaced the English aristocracy with a Norman one, filled the country with castles, and reshaped the English language, law and church. It is the best-illustrated war of the Middle Ages: the Bayeux Tapestry shows its arms and armor in detail, and it is still the main visual source for eleventh-century warfare.

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