William's army were well-trained, well fed and equipped with horses, archers and skilled infantry
After travelling south for roughly 10 days Godinson arrived at Senlac hill prepared to fight William Duke of Normandy (7 miles from Hastings). He had with only 6-8 thousand men, already weary from their battle with the Viking King and their long march.
The Shield Wall
On Saturday 14th October 1066, Harold and William met at Senlac Hill prepared to fight each other.This gave the Saxons a significantheight advantage, being positioned on top of a ridge. They were also on their home turf with high hopes having just beaten Harold Hardrada.
Clever Norman Tactics
Let's get 'em Guys.
STAY TOGETHER MEN!!!
The Saxons had an incredibly effective 'shieldwall'formation that was able to repel opposing infantry, cavalry and ranged weapons.They were, however, exhausted after their previous battle and long march and were not in good physical shape.
The Death of The King
NOOOOOOOOO!!!
As soon as the Normans even got close to the shield wall the Saxons would stick out spears and weapons in their defence.Ashield wall is difficult to break. Horses baulk at the sight of it.The saxons used this to there to their advantage.
The Normans pretended to flee the battlefield. The Saxons, being undisciplined, then broke ranks and chased after them. This allowed the Norman cavalry to attack the broken line.The Saxons had no answer to this mobile form of warfare and had no defence against it.
When King Harold was killed by a lucky arrow to the eye as the shield wall failed, Saxon morale was devastated.The army from France were much better-trained than the English , they were fresh and cunning in their battle strategy.The battle was lost, amoment which changed the history of England forever.
Nice shot.
Sukurta daugiau nei 30 milijonų siužetinių lentelių