I'm delighted to welcome author Paula Lofting to the blog today. Paula's new book Searching for the Last Anglo-Saxon King is a biography of Harold Godwineson. Over to Paula:
A Just and Worthy Cause
Prelude to the Battle of Hastings
It is 9 am. The battle lines are drawn. King Harold’s army has been marshalled along the top of the ridge at the edge of Caldbeck Hill, that was later called Senlac Ridge. They are a tightly packed bunch of around 8 men deep. They watch as William’s army of chevaliers archers, crossbowmen and infantry are arrayed by their Norman leader, Duke William of Normandy at the bottom of the steep slope of Telham Hill more than 200 yards from the English. Harold’s men are shouting “Ut! Ut! Ut!” and bang their shields in time with the rhythm. Among William’s army, to the left of the field, the English are aware of the Bretons, the largest of his mercenary contingents along with the men from Anjou, Poitou, and Maine. They were under the command of the Breton, Alan Fergant. William took up the centre with his Norman troops and on the right flank, are the smaller contingents from France and Flanders, Picardy and Bolougne under the leaderships of William’s seneschal and great friend, William FitzOsbern, assisted by Eustace of Boulogne, the mischief maker that caused the fracas in Dover in 1051. The incident had triggered the mechanism that set the ball rolling for William, by escalating the growing rift between Earl Godwin and King Edward, paving the way for William to claim the lie that the throne was offered to him by the English king. Perhaps Harold’s scouts have informed him that his father’s nemesis is there, with the Bastard of Normandy and he swears under his breath at his insolence.
Harold’s personal bodyguard surround him, his standard bearer holds fast to his charge, the Dragon of Wessex that flies over men’s heads, letting the enemy know that they are dealing with the anointed king of England and not some base born bastard like the man who calls himself the duke. In the front lines are the thegns, the backbone of the fyrd, and the huscarles of his brothers, Earls Gyrth and Leofwin. They shout in the name of Godwinson and the “Oli Crosse!” the Holy Rood, for whom Harold’s sacred church is named for. They are a heaving mass of men from Sussex and Kent and the surrounding home counties as well as East Anglia, eager to kick out this uninvited invader who have been raiding, burning and ravaging their lands and raping women and murdering children and the elderly.
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| Warriors of Regia Anglorum at Hastings photo: Matt Bunker |
Harold had not long marched back down south from York where he had fought and won a hard day long battle against his brother, Tostig, and his ally the king of Norway, Harald Hardrada. He’d not expected the French to appear on his shores in Sussex so late in the year and had hoped that the Battle of Stamford was the last battle of that year. But it was not to be. He needed to recruit men for the third time that year, and he sent messengers on fast horses to call out the fyrds from East Anglia across to Hampshire. Many of these troops met him in London, but no doubt, some went straight to the Hoary Apple Tree mustering place in Sussex. Harold marched from London to the proposed meeting place whilst his messengers rounded up the men of the southwest to come join them. Men arrive throughout the day, augmenting Harold’s tired army. Many of these men are local militias from the shires, 1 man in every 5 hides, who train for 2 months a year. These men are often the local thegns, so are semi-professional land-owning warriors, armed with spears, swords, and shields, as well as helm and maille. The more experienced men like the elite huscarles or highly trained thegns fight in the front lines with their dreaded Dane Axes; the deadliest of hand weapons. The less experienced support the professional warriors from behind.
That the English army were mostly made up of peasant farmers with pitchforks and slings has been a myth largely propagated in the later sources. This is quite unlikely. How on earth does an army made up of yokels last in such a battle - and all day as we know the Battle of Hastings did? Working on a farm can give you muscles, sure, but muscles don’t provide weapon-skill or protection. The men in the front lines had to be professional, or at least semi-professional like the landholding 5 hide men, or the wealthy thegns holding higher offices. The weaker the men the easier the enemy could break the lines. The peasants are better utilised in bringing in the harvest, maintaining the fields and making sure there is enough food for the winter. Their inexperience would have them killed, so then who would there be to work the land if they were gone? Well, yes, the women, perhaps. But much of the husbandry would have needed the strength of men for the harvest to be brought in on time.
The only peasants to have turned up might are the local Sussex farmers; the cottars and villeins. This is their land; most would have been personally affected by the raiding of the Normans. These may be the men, who, when they arrive, see that enough men stood on that ridge already, men who are armoured and have fighting experience, so they went away, as is reported in Roman de Rou, and in Florence’s Chronicle of Worcester.
Both leaders have good reason to want to engage as soon as possible. William must have known that not all of Harold’s army had arrived yet. England’s martial system allowed Harold to draw on around 25,000 men in a national crisis. It is thought that at the opening of battle, Harold had around 7-8,000 men and we know that more appear during the day. William is cornered on the Hastings peninsula and has little in the way of retreat, with rumours of Harold’s fleet out to destroy the Normans ships, it was fight or die. But if the invaders got a foot hold in Kent, the English would be heading for disaster. William needed an early victory here on this uphill battlefield. He must kill Harold and shatter the morale of the English. Once dead, Harold’s men will be lost, and England will be William’s. Harold’s objective is to contain William, to keep him locked into that corner of Sussex until the rest of his army arrive or until nightfall when the Normans will be forced to flee, and Harold’s army able to chase and cut them down. That was why he took up the defensive stance on the ridge. His army blocked the road to London and if William retreated, they would be able to follow him and wrap him up in no time.
Also, a lot is at stake for Harold: Sussex is where most of Harold’s ancestral homelands are, the hoary tree lay within the boundaries of Harold’s estate of Whatlington and William is harrying his people. The king felt extremely concerned for his lands, and his people. He is their hlaford, their loaf-giver, their king. He owes them his protection. Hence his haste to get to the mustering point.
There is one piece of evidence that may offer some insight into Harold’s mental state. Half-English half Norman historian, Orderic, states that whilst waiting for his troops in London, Harold becomes increasingly agitated, hearing reports of what William is doing to his people in Sussex. One story tells how Harold’s own estate of Crowhurst is burned and his loyal, faithful reeve hung to the manor house’s gable. Not usually a man who is vengeful at every little wrong, this traumatises him. These are his ancestral lands. This is personal. The Bastard of Normandy will not get away with it.
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| Public Domain image from the Bayeaux Tapestry which may represent Crowhurst |
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| Crowhurst St George's Church |
By now, Harold and William have made their obligatory speeches to their men, exhorting them to fight for their respective causes. The English are told that their homes, their way of life, and their families are at risk. If they do not beat the invaders, they will lose everything. William’s men would be fighting for the spoils and riches they had been promised, and for their leader’s worthy and rightful cause, and of course, their lives. If they do not beat Harold in the field this day, they would be doomed to die far from home on foreign soil.
It is time for the battle to begin. The Normans sound their trumpets, and the army begins to move. The English continue to bang their shields and sound their war cries of “Ut! Ut! Ut!” and “Godwinson!” and wait for the invaders to approach them up the hill. To each side, this was their just and worthy cause.
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| Paula at Hastings |
Paula was born in the ancient Saxon county of Middlesex in 1961. She grew up in Australia hearing stories from her dad of her homeland and its history. As a youngster she read books by Rosemary Sutcliff and Leon Garfield and her love of English history grew. At 16 her family decided to travel back to England and resettle. She was able to visit the places she'd dreamt about as a child, bringing the stories of her childhood to life. It wasn't until later in life that Paula realised her dream to write and publish her own books. Her debut historical novel Sons of the Wolf was first published in 2012 and then revised and republished in 2016 along with the sequel, The Wolf Banner, in 2017. The third in the series, Wolf's Bane, will be ready for publishing later this year.
In this midst of all this, Paula acquired contracts for nonfiction books with the prestigious Pen & Sword publishers. Searching for the Last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold Godwinson, England’s golden Warrior is now available to buy in all good book outlets, and she is now working on the next non-fiction book about King Edmund Ironside. She has also written a short essay about Edmund for Iain Dale's Kings and Queens, articles for historical magazines. When she is not writing, she is a psychiatric nurse, mother of three grown up kids and grandmother of two and also re-enacts the Anglo-Saxon/Viking period with the awesome Regia Anglorum.
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Book Links
https://mybook.to/Haroldpreorder
Thank you to Paula!
