From Norsemen to Normans

1066: the Battle of Hastings

Third-year special subject field trip to Battle Abbey.

1066 is probably the most famous date in British history. The battle we now know as Hastings was unusual for the eleventh century: it was a pitched battle and lasted all day. The outcome was in the balance until Harold Godwineson was killed. But do we know as much as we think about the events of 14 October 1066?

The site of the battle itself has significantly changed The field trip combines a battle-field walk with over the past thousand years. In c. 1070, William discussion of the various accounts in the eleventh- founded the abbey to commemorate his victory. The and twelfth-century sources. We consider the site has been landscaped and is now home to a differences in the Norman and English views and school. No eyewitness account exists of the battle how these changed over time. Key to our and some of the earliest sources, like the Bayeux understanding is how the Norman writers justified Tapestry, are controversial. The fighting itself the conquest and how the later Anglo-Norman probably ranged much more widely over the site historians explained it. occupied by the town of Battle and the surrounding landscape. We also consider the foundation of the abbey. Why did William insist on such an unsuitable location with a steep slope and no water? The Chronicle of Battle Abbey records that he wanted the high altar of the church to sit on the exact spot where Harold died. The abbey therefore stands as a very visible and powerful reminder of the enormity of William’s victory.

By studying the landscape, chronicles and art- historical sources, we can never know exactly what happened on that momentous day. What we can do is to look at how contemporaries understood the events of 1066 and how that understanding has shaped the writing of our history over the course of nearly ten centuries.

Dr Leonie Hicks is a specialist in Norman history. She teaches modules on many aspects of the middle ages, including the role of castles in medieval society, the Vikings and, of course, the Normans.