The Battle of Hastings was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman Conquest of England. The battle took place at Senlac Hill, approximately 6 miles northwest of Hastings, on which an abbey was subsequently built. The battle took place on October 14, 1066, between the Norman army of Duke William of Normandy and the English army led by King Harold II. Harold was killed during the battle, shot through the eye with an arrow. Although there was further English resistance for some time to come, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England.
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| - The Battle of Hastings was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman Conquest of England. The battle took place at Senlac Hill, approximately 6 miles northwest of Hastings, on which an abbey was subsequently built. The battle took place on October 14, 1066, between the Norman army of Duke William of Normandy and the English army led by King Harold II. Harold was killed during the battle, shot through the eye with an arrow. Although there was further English resistance for some time to come, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England.
- Harold II was presumably killed in the battle—legend has it, however, that the heavily armed old aged pensioner had gotten lost on his way to the shops. Scenes from the battle are famously depicted on an eight and a half mile long scarf knitted by a frustrated French prostitute five years after the battle took place, and now on show in Bayeux, France.
- The Eighth Doctor and his companion Mary Shelley met King Harold during the battle. (AUDIO: Mary's Story) The TARDIS' helmic regulator was hit and incapacitated by an arrow when the Eleventh Doctor visited the battle. (WC: Pond Life)
- In the episode "Forward into the Past", Nick Knight wants a favour from Aristotle, the vampire who creates false identities for fellow members of the vampire community who need to move on. To persuade Aristotle to help him, Nick reminds him that he had saved him at the Battle of Hastings.
- The Battle of Hastings was the most decisive Norman victory in the Norman conquest of England. On October 14, 1066, the Normans of Duke William of Normandy (named "Guillaume Le Conquérant" in both Norman and French, "William the Conqueror" in English) defeated the Saxon army led by King Harold II. Harold had claimed the throne of England for himself in January of that year soon after Edward the Confessor died, ignoring William's earlier claims. The resulting Norman Invasion of Saxon England has remained the final time England has been conquered by a foreign power.
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| Strength
| - 7000(xsd:integer)
- Unknown, estimates range from 5000 to 13,000
- Unknown, estimates range from 7000 to 12,000
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| Partof
| - the Norman Conquest
- the Norman conquest of England
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| Date
| - 14(xsd:integer)
- 1066(xsd:integer)
- 1066-10-14(xsd:date)
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| Caption
| - Harold Rex Interfectus Est: "King Harold is killed". Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings and the death of Harold.
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| Casualties
| - Unknown, thought to be around 2,000 killed and wounded
- Unknown, but significantly more than the Normans
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| Result
| - Norman victory
- Decisive Norman victory
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| Place
| - Battle near Hastings, East Sussex, England
- Battle near Hastings, England
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| Conflict
| - Battle of Hastings
- The Battle of Hastings
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| - The Battle of Hastings was the most decisive Norman victory in the Norman conquest of England. On October 14, 1066, the Normans of Duke William of Normandy (named "Guillaume Le Conquérant" in both Norman and French, "William the Conqueror" in English) defeated the Saxon army led by King Harold II. Harold had claimed the throne of England for himself in January of that year soon after Edward the Confessor died, ignoring William's earlier claims. The resulting Norman Invasion of Saxon England has remained the final time England has been conquered by a foreign power. On September 28 1066, William of Normandy, asserting his claim to the English crown by military force, landed unopposed at Pevensey after being delayed by a storm in the English Channel. Legend has it that upon setting foot on the beach, William tripped and fell on his face. Turning potential embarrassment in front of his troops into a face-saving exercise, he rose with his hands full of sand and shouted "I now take hold of the land of England!" This bears suspicious resemblance to the story of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain, and was probably employed by William's biographer to enhance the similarities between Caesar and William. On hearing the news of the landing of the Duke's forces, the Saxon Harold II, who had just destroyed an invading Norwegian Viking army under King Harald Hardråda and Tostig Godwinson (Harold's brother) at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, hurried southward from London the morning of the 12th, gathering what forces he could on the way. He arrived at the battlefield the night of 13 October 1066. Harold deployed his force, astride the road from Hastings to London, on Senlac Hill some six miles inland from Hastings. Behind him was the great forest of Anderida (the Weald) and in front the ground fell away in a long glacis-like slope, which at the bottom rose again as the opposing slope of Telham Hill. The later town called Battle in the modern county of East Sussex was named to commemorate this event. The Saxon force is usually estimated at seven to eight thousand strong, and consisted entirely of infantry (the English rode to their battles but did not fight from horseback). It comprised the English men-at-arms of the fyrd, mainly thegns (the English equivalent of a land-holding aristocracy), along with lesser thegns and a core of professional warriors: Housecarls, the King's royal troops and bodyguards. The thegns and housecarls, probably veterans of the recent Stamford Bridge battle, were armed principally with swords, spears, and in some cases the formidable Danish axes, and were protected by coats of chainmail and their usually circular shields. They took the front ranks, forming a 'shield wall' with interlocking shields side by side. The entire army took up position along the ridgeline; as casualties fell in the front lines the rear ranks would move forward to fill the gaps. The Saxons, however, were still exhausted from the Battle of Stamford Bridge, where they had achieved an almost-Pyrrhic victory against the Vikings, and were in no shape to fight again. On the morning of Saturday, 14 October 1066, Duke William of Normandy gathered his army below the Saxon position. The Norman army was of comparable size to the Saxon force, and composed of William's Norman, Breton and Flemish vassals along with their retainers, and freebooters from as far away as Norman Italy. The nobles had been promised English lands and titles in return for their material support: the common troopers were paid with the spoils and "cash", and hoped for land when English fiefs were handed out. Many had also come because they considered it a holy crusade, due to the Pope's decision to bless the invasion. The army was deployed in the classic medieval fashion of three divisions, or "battles" - the Normans taking the centre, the Bretons on the left wing and the Franco-Flemish on right wing. Each battle comprised infantry, cavalry and archers along with crossbowmen. The archers and crossbowmen stood to the front for the start of the battle. Legend has it that William's minstrel and knight, Ivo Taillefer, begged his master for permission to strike the first blows of the battle. Permission was granted, and Taillefer rode before the Saxons alone, tossing his sword and lance in the air and catching them while he sang an early version of The Song of Roland. The earliest account of this tale (in The Carmen de Hastingae Proelio) says that a Saxon champion came from the ranks, and Taillefer quickly slew him, taking his head as a trophy to show that God favoured the invaders: later 12th century sources say that Taillefer charged into the English ranks and killed one to three Englishmen before suffering death himself. Regardless, fighting was now underway.
- In the episode "Forward into the Past", Nick Knight wants a favour from Aristotle, the vampire who creates false identities for fellow members of the vampire community who need to move on. To persuade Aristotle to help him, Nick reminds him that he had saved him at the Battle of Hastings. This is often cited as one of the most egregious mistakes made by a scriptwriter for the series. As the voiceover to the opening credits reminds the viewer every episode, Nick Knight was brought across in 1228. The historical Battle of Hastings, however, was fought in 1066. There is no way that Nick could have been there, either as a vampire or during his mortal life: the battle occurred years before he was born.
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