Hi!

I’m at York, the place of the Vikings and the Saxons. It’s amazing, there’s so much history. We went to the Viking museum this afternoon and I learnt a lot!

Do you have the courage to face the gory battles?

Read on to find out…

When King Edward the Confessor died, he didn’t have a son and he hadn’t chosen the next King. This caused a war over the English crown. The three contenders were: Harald Hardrada, William of Normandy and Harold Godwinson. Who do you think will get the crown? I wanted it to be William as he had experience and seemed like he would protect England. But oh how wrong I was…

The three contenders made reasons about why they should be King. Harold was heavily supported by lots of the nobles (the lords and important seniors). He also was the leader of Edwards army! In fact he was the most powerful noble in England. He wanted more power.

Harald Hardrada claimed his family was the rightful owner of the crown and that he was a decedent of the heir before Edward.

William was an ambitious person. He wanted more power and to build up an empire. He jumped at the chance for the crown.

What do you think?

Let’s see if your right!

The answer is: HAROLD GODWINSON. He scored extra points as he was a Saxon. The English wanted one of their kind to rule. Not a Frenchman nor a Viking. A Saxon.

Harold was crowned all at once, a quick ceremony. But when he took the crown a comet flashed across the sky like a bad omen. The English were quite alarmed and plopped the crown on Harold’s head, not wanting to regret it.

Little did Harold know, he was going to have company…

Harald and William were furious when they found out. William had planned to bring his men across and he was closer. But, lucky for Harold, the winds were raging and William couldn’t get through. So Harald Hardrada’s men came from the North and were ready for a battle.

“HOW?!” Harold screamed when his men told him the great Viking warrior was in the North East coast of England ready to battle. You see, Godwinson was expecting an attack from William, not Harald. It was a shock, but he assembled his men and got ready to fight the ruthless vikings.

About 360 ships arrived with Hardrada. Harold Godwinson was especially shaken when his brother Tostig fought with his enemy! This was going to be a hard battle.

And it was. 1066, 25th September: THE BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE…

There was an agreement that Harald Hardrada should get Hostages (prisoners) at Stamford bridge. In fact, Hardrada was so confident and sure that everything would go to plan, he left a third of his men and armory (swords, shields, ect) at base camp.

When Godwinson arrived, not with Hostages but with weaponry and an army. The vikings had to leap up and defend with only themselves.

What do you think so far? Because here comes the gory bits…

Hardrada had sent for a few of his quick riders and told them to get the rest of the troop and armory. With quick thinking, he had a giant Viking Besurka guard the bridge so the Saxons couldn’t get across. He killed many soldiers.

Then when the armory arrived with more men, the battle was in motion. They all fought, blood everywhere, the Besurka still fighting the Saxons. Until-

A Saxon went underneath the bridge in a barrel and stabbed the Besurka in the back. After that the Saxons had the advantage. And they won. Many, many, many vikings were killed that day. They promised not to invade again and be at peace with the Saxon King.

That was the end of the viking age. Only 24 ships came back that day…

Who came next? William of NORMANDY and his NORMANS. This was the battle of Hastings.

Williams army had less men but very skilled men. Harold had more men but not as skilled. You see, Harold had fyrd’s, men that weren’t as well armed some better than others. They were farmers only part-time soldiers. Some holding pitchforks as weapons. Harold had some amazing fighters called Housecarls. These men wore full armour, and real weapons. But these were the best he had. And not as many as Fyrd and Peasants.

William on the other hand had cavalry, foot soldiers and archers. William’s army was also rested and fit for the battle. Harold had just faced Harald and walked for miles up to where William was. But was that going to stop Godwinson? NO!

The battle was on top of Senlac hill, William at the bottom and Harold at the top. His army made a shield wall so the archers couldn’t fire their arrows. The cavalry were on horses. The horses couldn’t gallop up the hill easily and when they did, they couldn’t get passed the shield wall.

Rumors spread throughout the Norman army that their leader had been killed! But William, leapt up and lifted his helmet showing he was alive and there was hope. “I am alive! We can still win!” He might have said. Like I said, William was an ambitious man. He wouldn’t quit.

William had a plan. The feigned retreat, it was called. Where his army fell back pretending to retreat. And that’s when Harold’s army fell apart. The fyrd and the peasants ran back, following Williams army, chasing them away. Just like that, the shield wall was broken. The archers fired their arrows, the cavalry charged and the foot soldiers fought. Groups of fyrd and peasants ran from the army surrounding them. The Housecarls fought bravely, but they were no match for William’s army.

There is some uncertainty about how Harold Godwinson died, but he did. Maybe it was by an arrow in the eye or a dagger in the stomach. Some people think one, some another, some both. We don’t know for sure, but in the Bayeux Tapestry where Harold’s name is written, an arrow spikes his eye.

This is not the end. There is more. If you found this interesting, click on the link for what happened next.

William hasn’t conquered England yet. The nobles don’t want him to be King. I mean, “A Frenchman?! NO!”

The next stage is called the Harrying of the North. Click here for that.

If you want to know more about the Vikings, click here.

Click here for more about the battle of Hastings, games and videos.

Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this. Bye.