Today In My Family History-Battle of Hastings

Family Tree History & Research
Ancient History
Dietz-Pope Family Branch
The Battle of Hastings-13 October 1066


The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman conquest of England. It took place approximately 7 miles (11 kilometres) northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

Many of my ancestral Great Grandfathers and Great Uncles and Cousins that I have discovered through my mother's line fought in this battle that changed the course of history for England and the entire world for all time, most of them being on the side of William.
The Norman influence on the world as we know it today is such that almost every facet of life has some Norman origin......Read on:




Some of my ancestral kin who participated in this battle:
For England:
Harold Godwinsson, King of England -29th great grandfather (& 27th Step Great Grandfather)

For Normandy:
King William I (The Conquerer)-27th, 28th, 29th great grandfather (& 27th great uncle)
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey-27th great grandfather
Eustace II, count of Boulogne-28th great grandfather
William I de Braose -26th great grandfather
Guillaume I Malet, seigneur de Graville-28th great grandfather.
Odo (Bayeux) of Bayeux-27th great uncle
Robert (Beaumont) de Beaumont-26th great grandfather
Robert, Comte (Conteville) of Mortain-27th great uncle
Henry (Ferrières) de Ferrers-28th great grandfather
Ralph (Gael) de Montford -28th great grandfather
Gualter Giffard I-27th great grandfather
Hugh II (Montfort) de Montfort-27th great grandfather

Today In History-13 October 1066 

(952 Years Ago) 

The Battle of Hastings

The background to the battle was the death of the childless King Edward the Confessor in January 1066, which set up a succession struggle between several claimants to his throne. Harold was crowned king shortly after Edward's death, but faced invasions by William, his own brother Tostig, and the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada (Harold III of Norway). Hardrada and Tostig defeated a hastily gathered army of Englishmen at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September 1066, and were in turn defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge five days later. The deaths of Tostig and Hardrada at Stamford Bridge left William as Harold's only serious opponent. While Harold and his forces were recovering, William landed his invasion forces in the south of England at Pevensey on 28 September 1066 and established a beachhead for his conquest of the kingdom. Harold was forced to march south swiftly, gathering forces as he went.

The exact numbers present at the battle are unknown; modern estimates are around 10,000 for William and about 7,000 for Harold. The composition of the forces is clearer; the English army was composed almost entirely of infantry and had few archers, whereas only about half of the invading force was infantry, the rest split equally between cavalry and archers. Harold appears to have tried to surprise William, but scouts found his army and reported its arrival to William, who marched from Hastings to the battlefield to confront Harold. The battle lasted from about 9 am to dusk. Early efforts of the invaders to break the English battle lines had little effect; therefore, the Normans adopted the tactic of pretending to flee in panic and then turning on their pursuers. Harold's death, probably near the end of the battle, led to the retreat and defeat of most of his army. After further marching and some skirmishes, William was crowned as king on Christmas Day 1066.

There continued to be rebellions and resistance to William's rule, but Hastings effectively marked the culmination of William's conquest of England. Casualty figures are hard to come by, but some historians estimate that 2,000 invaders died along with about twice that number of Englishmen. William founded a monastery at the site of the battle, the high altar of the abbey church supposedly placed at the spot where Harold died.