Tick Tock
16/10/23
The Battle of Hastings
CRASH. BANG. WALLOP. CHARGE!
I love history. I love understanding where things come from and what people used to do in the past. But, I also love seeing history. I do mean really seeing it.
But how can you see history? Well, sometimes you can. No, I don’t have a time machine, but that would be so amazing.
But, every year, a large number of history fans dress up in real chainmail armour, pick up their large shields and their real weapons and reenact the Battle of Hastings. This is called history re-enactment. I love it and I went to see one. Yes, actually see it. It was amazing.
Pretend soldiers. But, the weapons, chainmail armour
and beards are real.
Practice before the battle. These soldiers are Normans. You can tell because they have kite shaped shields.
This is King Harold's banner. It is called the "Fighting Man".
The Anglo-Saxon army get ready. The Anglo-Saxon's preferred round shields.
Is it real ... or pretend?
It’s not a real battle because the warriors are pretending and not actually trying to hurt each other. But it looks very real.
The battle that was being recreated is the Battle of Hastings. It took place in October 1066. It was fought between the Anglo-Saxon English army and their King Harold II. They were fighting the Norman army led by William of Normandy. William believed he should be king and had finally managed to sail across the sea to challenge Harold.
In 1066 both armies would have about 6,000 or maybe 7,000 soldiers. That was a lot of soldiers for that time in history. This year, both sides in the pretend battle had about 300 soldiers. But, that still gave an idea of what happened and how loud it would have been.
This is the type of ship the Normans crossed the English Channel in. It's not very big, is it?
Norman soldiers, with their preferred kite shaped shields, cheering before the battle.
From the bottom to the top. Of the hill.
I was at the bottom of a hill. The Normans were there. The Anglo-Saxons were at the top of the hill. I would get to them later. First I has to walk through the Norman camp, with tents and soldiers getting ready for the battle. There was even someone writing with a giant feather, called a quill. It was an early type of pen.
I got to see some real chainmail armour. It was really heavy.
The Normans used a strange looking shield called a kite shield. It was long and could protect their body from their legs to the head.
Then I visited the Anglo-Saxon camp.
The Anglo-Saxons mainly used a large round shield. It was good for hiding behind. It was also good for overlapping with the person next to you to make a sort of wall. It was called a shieldwall. It was very strong.
Normans. The kite shilds cover more of their body.
Anglo-Saxons, with their large round shields, and me!
A "What-if" moment.
The Anglo-Saxons were on top of the hill and the Normans had to march up it to fight them. I got to watch the battle from the middle of the hill. The Anglo-Saxons were at the tip of the hill, to my right. The Normans were to my left, coming up the hill.
The Anglo-Saxons waited. The Normans got closer and closer.
A big difference in the two armies is that the Normans had calvary, armoured men on horses and lots of archers. But even so, the Anglo-Saxon army was very strong. And on top of the hill.
Imagine having to walk up a steep hill, wearing your heavy armour and carrying your shield and weapons. It would be tiring. The Normans had to attack over and over again, up the hill. The Anglo-Saxons pushed them back, over and over again.
At one point, William had to show himself to his army as a lot of his soldiers thought he had been killed. Had the Anglo-Saxons charged down the hill right then, the Normans might have been defeated.
But they did not.
The Normans marching up the hill. It is very steep.
The Anglo-Saxons at the top of the hill, in their shieldwall.
Norman cavalry; a soldier on horseback. Could they break the shieldwall?
The Normas attacked up the hill, again and again and again. The Anglo-Saxons pushed them back, again and again and again.
Don't look up!
Later on, William used a favourite tactic. He asked some of his soldiers to panic and run away. It was hoped that the Anglo-Saxons would believe they were winning and chase after them. It worked.
A large part fo the Anglo-Saxon army ran down the hill, but the Normans were defeated. It was a trap. That caused a big problem.
The Normans then kept on attacking, sending lots of arrows up into the air and into the shieldwall. Many people think that Harold was hit in his eye. He then died in fighting and the Anglo-Saxon army was defeated.
A large statue of an archer. The Normans fired lots of arrows at the Anglo-Saxon shieldwall.
A large statue of an Anglo-Saxon soldier.
It was very close.
Seeing the pretend arrows fly through the air really made it seem so “real” and easy to believe Harold was hit in the face by an arrow. Both sides looked so strong, with really strong warriors. It really looked like both sides could have won, which was true. The battle lasted all day and it was very close. But in the end, the arrows and the Norman horses made the difference.
Can I go again?
What a great day it was. It happens every year and I think I’m going to go and watch it again. It has also made me want to look at other re-enactments and go and see some other pretend, but very real looking, battles.
All photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots Images. No Public Domain Images.