Why did William win the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

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William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings (1066) through a combination of good preparation, better resources, strong leadership on his part, poor choices by his opponent and a little luck.

William, Duke of Normandy, had claimed the English throne upon the death of Edward the Confessor, alleging that Harold, Earl of Wessex, had agreed to William’s claim a year earlier as part of a French-English alliance against the Vikings. Instead, however, Harold was crowned King of England in 1066, and thus William began preparations for war to claim the English throne. William’s claim and preparations were the beginning of the Norman invasion and conquest of England.

William brought his troops to the coast of Normandy in the middle of August. His intent was to gather his forces there and then continue across what is now known as the English Channel to England. However, unfavorable winds kept the French army docked. William made good use of this extra time by continuing to train his troops. Even as the wind began to shift slightly, the weather then turned bad, hitting William’s ships as they tried to sail, causing many deaths and destroying many ships.

The travails of the French, even before they began the battle, took its toll on French morale. William again showed his leadership by taking the weather delay to inspire his men. He had a local saint’s body exhumed and had his men pray on the saint’s body for good winds to take them easily and safely to England. The wind did quickly change, not only enabling the French fleet to begin sailing across the channel but also reinvigorating their spirits for the fight.

The bad winds and weather provided William with a critical advantage, even beyond the extra training time and opportunity to build the “esprit d’corps”. While William’s invasion was delayed, the Vikings, seeing discord and opportunity, struck at England first. The Vikings came from the north and won the initial battles. Although Harold and the English army did eventually defeat and repel the Viking invasion, this distraction left the English army low on supplies, low on experienced men, battle-weary and on the wrong side of the country. Just two days after the Vikings were defeated, William finally set sail to invade England. As the entire English army was still up north from the Viking battle, William’s fleet was able to arrive, without obstruction, along the southern coast of England. There he further prepared his attack while Harold and his army were still celebrating victory against the Vikings up north.

While there were negotiations and preparations on both sides, it was William who moved first marching towards Hastings near where the English army was stationed, putting the English on defense. The Norman forces were better rested and had resources the English did not, such as a cavalry and archers. In contrast, the English army was all on foot and had few experienced archers. Furthermore, William implemented new battle tactics, such as having his archers shoot their arrows upwards into the air, rather than straight across. The result was that the arrows would come down on the heads and faces of the English soldiers, leading to horrific and demoralizing injuries, as well as deaths. Harold himself lost an eye to an arrow, dying a few days later. The death of their king greatly affected the English troops.

William also used better tactics than Harold and was able to use his forces to lead the English down from a superior land position. The English thought the Normans were retreating, so they followed them, breaking their formations and losing their position. Until this point, the battle was evenly matched with no clear victor in sight. However, as the English chased the French army, some of the French dispersed outwards and were able to backtrack so they came up behind the English, trapping them between two French sides.

After the success in this battle, William would go on to complete the Norman Conquest of England and become King William I of England.

Resource by A.Moore

I just moved to Michigan from South Carolina. This is my first winter here and so far it's freezing. I enjoy traveling, drawing, camping, writing, and doing community service in my spare time. I work for a education company and help them with their outreach to teachers and students. Hope everyone enjoys my articles.

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