How William the Conqueror became King of England

By Koushik Rajesh (Year 7)

England in 1066 was one of the best governed countries in Europe and the known world. It had plenty of wealth, food and overall abundance. Alas, this all changed in one of British history’s biggest turning points, one that, at its heart, is a true underdog story...

There were four main candidates who had a good shot at getting the throne...

The first was Edgar the Atheling, son of the late King’s brother. His father had been promised the throne after Edward died. However, Edgar’s father died under suspicious circumstances, and, at just 15 years of age, Edgar lacked both the experience and necessary support to rule England.

The next candidate was Harald Hardrada, the King of Norway and a formidable Viking warrior. He was a descendant of Harthacnut, the first Viking king of England. England was ruled by Vikings for a brief period and Hardrada alleged that his father was supposed to inherit the throne, rather than Edward, and thus Hardrada believed that England was his country to rule.

The next claimant to the throne was Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, who was an Anglo-Saxon. He was also the late King’s advisor. He had governed the city while Edward was busy. Edward had even married Harold’s sister Edith. Harold also claimed that Edward had promised him the throne on his deathbed.

Finally, there was William, Duke of Normandy. Edward had lived in Normandy for 25 years prior to his coronation. Therefore, he knew William better than most of his colleagues in England. William also claimed that Edward had promised him the throne. William had many supporters, including the Pope in Rome, which also meant that he had the backing of God through the Papal Banner. To top it all, William claimed that Harold had sworn loyalty to him on sacred relics when he supported the Confessor during a conflict in 1053.

None the less, the Witan chose Harold Godwinson as the King of England. Fearing an attack, Harold was promptly crowned on the same day as Edward’s funeral. However, this didn’t mean that Harold would stay the King.

After Harold was crowned, he expected an invasion from Normandy and so he placed troops on the south coast. However, the Normans did not attack. With supplies running low, Harold disbanded his troops, most of whom were peasants, so that they could carry out the harvest. But an invasion was coming; not from Normandy in the south, but from Scandinavia in the north.

Hardrada had prepared his army and had started sailing to England. He was encouraged to do so by Tostig Godwinson: Harold Godwinson’s own brother. He had been the Earl of Northumbia. However, his high taxes and brutal treatment made him a hated man and, to keep peace in the north, Harold had turned against his brother and exiled him. In replacement, Harold had named a nobleman called Morcar the new Earl of Northumbia. Morcar was the younger brother of Edwin: Earl of Mercia. These two were very popular at the time and their sister Edith was married to King Harold.

Hardrada brought a massive fleet of 300 ships and an army of over 10,000 men. Together they ravaged the coast before heading to York on foot and leaving 3,000 men to guard the fleet. Edwin and Morcar bought their armies to meet Hardrada. The battle ground was in a place called Fulford. Hardrada placed Tostig with the least experienced warriors facing the English. He and his army of experienced warriors were covered by hills, with a plan of ambushing the Saxons. At around midday, the flood water dried up and the battle began. However, now Hardrada was free to take his troops around the river and surround the English. Hardrada killed everyone in his path. The Viking had won. Following their victory, Hardrada and his troops settled at Stamford Bridge to rest from their battle before heading south to seize their new kingdom.

When Harold heard the news, he was furious, rapidly assembling his most skilled warriors and beginning the journey up north, recruiting more troops along the way. On the 25th of September they started the long march to Stamford Bridge, travelling 300km (about twice the distance from Washington, D.C. to New York City) in a matter of days, in what is a spectacular achievement. Hardrada and Tostig did not expect any trouble as they had just won a battle against the two Earls of the North.

Godwinson chose to ambush the enemy from behind a hill, taking the Norwegians completely by surprise. The only thing that separated the two armies was the river Derwent with a narrow bridge to access the other side. It is believed that a Viking named Berserk blocked the English from crossing the bridge. It is estimated that he killed about 40 warriors until a cunning Saxon decided to go under the bridge and thrust his spear into Berserk. The plan was successful, killing the axe man and allowing both armies to collide. The English started storming the Vikings from both sides. Hardrada sent his three fastest horsemen to get his reserve troops, before he ordered his warriors to make a strong shield wall, a traditional technique adopted by medieval horses- but also a tactic that our underdog William was able to exploit later... Harold’s army also formed a shield wall and advanced up the hill. Before the battle commenced, Harold gave Tostig a chance to join him. However, Tostig did not take the offer and thus the battle began.

The Norwegians were heavily outnumbered, and the English kept advancing. Eventually the Norwegian’s line started to break. Then Hardrada leaped into the battle, swinging weapons in both hands. This meant he had no shield for protection, and he didn’t wear the long-mail shirt either. That was a bad move. An arrow struck Hardrada in the throat and he died. Tostig was also slain. With the reserve warriors too far away to save their King, the last warriors retreated, and some others were taken as prisoners.

Hardrada's son Olav managed to survive the fight. Olav gave himself up to the King. However, in an act of mercy, Harold let Olav and his remaining troops back to Scandinavia, if he swore an oath never to invade England again. Of the 300 ships that had come to England, there were only enough Vikings to sail 7 back home.

However, Harold’s fight to hold onto the English throne was far from over and a new adversary arrived on the horizon.

When William was told of Harold’s coronation, he was outraged. Therefore, he began to gather support and build an army. Whoever chose to support him was promised land in England as well as a place in heaven, making this a holy war.

William had a huge army of approximately 7,000 men and a fleet of 700 ships. However, the day he was going to invade, northerly winds hit so he had to delay his fleet by several weeks. Had William left on time, perhaps Harold would have already been ready and waiting for him with a prepared army in the south, as was originally Godwinson’s plan... None the less, in late September, the Normans landed in England. When they landed, instead of advancing, William provoked Harold by destroying his former Earldom, Wessex.

When Harold heard about this (already battle weary) he gathered another army and quickly sped south. On October the 14th William marched his army just over 10 km to confront Harold, whereas the Saxons had travelled all the way from the North to South of England in just a matter of a few days.

At 9am the battle for the English crown began. The English were on a hill flanked with two streams on the side and a forest behind them, making it difficult to retreat. They created a shield wall with Harold at the center. While the English had the Dane Axe and used a Defensive Shield Wall tactic, the Normans had 2,000 cavalry which the English had never seen before as well as a line of archers. The Norman Archers attacked first but the distance was too great, so the arrows mostly just rebounded off the English’s shields or zoomed over their heads. Then the mounted Norman knights attacked, but the horses found it impossible to charge up the steep slope. Eventually the horses retreated. A rumor was starting to spread that William had been killed. It is said that William lifted his helmet and shouted that he would win. William understood that the Normans could not win unless they penetrated the shield wall. Therefore, William used an old Norman tactic called the feigned retreat the horses would pretend to retreat but when the English started to chase them, they would turn around and surround the shield wall. Slowly but surely, the shield wall started to wither. William then ordered his archers to attack. This time many of the arrows hit home and Harold was finally killed. We don’t know exactly how Harold was killed but most ancient drawings show him getting shot in the eye or being cut down. However, what we do know is that William had now won the throne.

Although he won the battle, it didn’t mean he would become King immediately. The Witan would have to choose him. They chose to support Edgar the Atheling. William would have to make them change their minds. After waiting for two weeks at Hastings he knew that the nobles were not coming to crown him, King. Therefore, he went to them instead. On his way, he took control of Dover, Canterbury, Winchester before going to Walingford. This was where the Archbishop of Canterbury submitted to William realizing that resistance was futile. Not soon after the Archbishop of York and the Earls, Edwin and Morcar also submitted to William. England had finally accepted defeat. On Christmas day 1066 William was crowned as the first Norman King of England, a true underdog story that saw a Duke from such a small kingdom raise an army of 7000 men, get the support of the Pope and use tactics that were advanced for their time to strategically defeat the mighty Saxon army and secure a foreign crown.