Why did William win the battle of Hastings?

by fritz4444 (student)

William won the Battle of Hastings in 1066. I think that he won because of his planning and leadership but many other people think that he won because of his luck and a big, strong army. It could be possible that all of them played a part in William's victory at the Battle of Hastings.

Planning helped William a lot because he knew that if he made Harold Godwinson and his Saxon army travel from the north of England to the south of England, where the Normans had set their camp up, then the Saxons would be very tired whilst the Normans would be rested. He also knew that once the bad winds had stopped, his army could cross safely without the Saxons to stop them for they were in the north of England fighting Harold Hadrada. This was also to do with luck. Whilst the battle was going on, William thought up a plan. He ordered his men to pretend to retreat down the hill and used the rumour of him being dead to help him as well.

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William's leadership and skill helped him a lot because he commanded his men very well and had an army eager to fight. William kept control all the through the battle by speaking to his troops and fighting at the front. He had also gotten the pope, Alexander II to support him. William was given a banner from the pope saying that William's attack on England was a holy crusade.

Harold Godwinson had also shown great skill because he had positioned his men on Senlac hill, which made it harder for the Normans to get to them, and commanded his men ...

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Harold Godwinson had also shown great skill because he had positioned his men on Senlac hill, which made it harder for the Normans to get to them, and commanded his men to form a large shield wall which protected them from the Normans. But he had made some mistakes. When Harold had heard that William had landed on the other side of England, he had decided to go straight to him and gather some troops instead of waiting for a bigger army and getting a short rest. He had also not thought about the Normans' arrows as they were long range, so they could pick off Saxons at a long distance.

Preparation played a part in William's victory because he had set up a camp for his army and made sure his men trained for the battle. They also had time to rest and gather food in preparation. Harold Godwinson and his army had less time to prepare and were extremely tired as they had to walk to the south of England. They had less time to prepare food and spent the night without sleep or rest.

Luck helped William a little bit because the bad weather stopped while Harold Godwinson was fighting Harold Hadrada. Harold Godwinson was lucky as well because if the bad winds had stopped earlier then he would have to had fought two battles. Luck also helped William because there was a rumour going around that he was killed in battle and his men started retreating, but then William lifted his visor and the Norman army charged back up Senlac Hill. William kept using that on all sides of the hill.

I think that William won because of his planning and leadership. I think this because if William had not planned then he might not have won the battle and his men would've gone charging straight into battle and the Saxons would of hacked them down. If William did not have good leadership either, then his troops will not of been well disciplined and well trained and it is likely that he would not of fought in the front and his men would've lost concentration. A lot of people thought that luck was one of the main things that caused William to win the battle of Hastings but I don't because if william had gone into battle with poor leadership and no planning then it would be possible that the rumour never happened because the normans would've been defeated for they weren't ready. Luck did help a bit though because the bad wind stopped so that William could land whilst Harold Godwinson was fighting.