William’s win at the Battle of Hastings came down to several factors: he was a better and more skilled commander; the English army was severely weakened as Harold was fighting off an invasion in the North of England and Harold made a vital mistake of prematurely entering the Battle of Hasting. However, in my opinion, another factor played the greatest role in William’s win, luck and timing. Luck and timing played a pivotal part in William’s success at Hastings. In advance of the campaign, two of William’s rivals had died: Henry, King of France and Count Fulk of Anjou.
This was very significant for two reasons: it enabled William to leave Normandy feeling safe because his two main adversaries were dead, and, secondly, permitted him to get to Hastings without agonizing over an invasion back in Normandy. Thus, he could dedicate his full thought to the campaign which lay ahead. When he did embark on the campaign, the weather was in the favour of the Normans. Initially, William had intended to embark in July, but owing to adverse winds, the invasion was delayed from the end of July to September. The Navy was no longer patrolling the sea as their duty ended on the 8th September.
With the confluence of clear seas and good weather on the 28th September, the day of crossing, the Normans crossed the channel in just over 24 hours. Moreover, unbeknownst to William, this was an extremely auspicious time for him to cross, because if he had arrived at his intended time of crossing in July, Harold and the Saxon army would have been waiting for him. The year of 1066 was a time of unease for Harold, as it was apparent that England was going to be invaded by either a Norman or a Scandinavian army. Harold was nervous throughout the entirety of his nine month reign.
He had troops both in the North and the South, waiting in vain for these invasions. Ultimately, this only tired out his troops and stretched his resources. The Scandinavians arrived first which meant that Harold made the Southern Fyrd march north to fight the Vikings. The battles of Gate Fulford, led by Edwin and Morcar, and the Battle of Stanford Bridge, were both won by the Saxons, boosting their morale. However, the reality was the Saxons suffered great losses and the troops were tired. The Normans were full of vigour and highly motivated. Both luck and timing worked in Williams favour: without the invasions from the Scandinavians and without the luck of the weather which resulted in a delay in invasion date, William would have had to fight an energized army. Instead the Normans fought only one battle against an already weakened enemy due to Saxon’s the significant losses Harold proved himself an adequate leader with success in the north, but a series of grossly miscalculated decisions ultimately contributed to his defeat. If Harold had waited longer before launching his attack on the Normans, the battle might not have had the same outcome.
This is because Harold had been marching his army all over England; facing a double invasion had put an enormous strain on the army, and the army had been mobilised since May 1066, a notable feat in itself. If Harold had rested his troops for a few days it would have benefited him greatly. Not only would he have been able to join up with Edwin and Morcar who were marching south at the time of Battle of Hastings and in turn recruited thousands more archers and troops, but it would have also given his army some time to rest after the Battle of Stanford Bridge.
Instead, Harold marched his army from York to London. The 58 mile walk from London to Hastings he did in just three days, further contributing to the army’s fatigue. Although it was in Harold’s best interest to wait, as this would rejuvenate his troops and starve William out, his impetus to fight William was too great, to exact revenge for rampaging his lands. Although Harold made many mistakes during the battle, he was at an immediate disadvantage as he and his soldiers were fighting on foot.
Harold’s tactics were limited and meant that he couldn’t control his army to dictate his plan for the battle. The domino effect of Harold’s initial mistake of not waiting a few days to increase the size of his army, while giving them time to rest, contributed to the Saxon loss of the Battle of Hastings. William’s strong and effective leadership, acute intuition and his ability to adjust in battle also helped to contribute to the Norman win at the Battle of Hastings.
While in Normandy, William had a good military reputation and a strong personality which enabled him to persuade the Normans and nearby states that he would succeed. This strong personality helped to keep up morale and discipline amongst his troops throughout the entire campaign. In addition, he was very intuitive, knowing just what to do to rile Harold, such as ravaging the land around Hastings to provoke Harold into a quick attack. The Norman army were equipped with horses which gave them the ability to be more mobile, travel quicker and attack more aggressively than the Saxons who were on foot.
Williams’s knights were highly trained and well equipped. William had both a strong intellect and intuition. Early in the battle, William realized he would need to break the shield wall in order to get to London and claim his crown. At one point in the battle, the Normans believed that William had been killed and started to disperse. The Saxons broke their formation, believing the battle to be won. From this William feigned and staged some retreats, gradually wearing down the wall, allowing the knights to infiltrate the Saxons.
It was through William’s strong intellect, intuition and strong leadership that the Normans eventually won the Battle of Hastings. If William did not possess such acute intuition, the two armies would have stayed fighting for days. Instead, William and the Normans adapted and won the battle. Harold was clearly limited, having neither the imagination nor the intelligence to think of a counter attack. Ultimately, it was a combination of factors that led to the Normans win at Hastings.
Clearly William was the stronger leader as he possessed a strong intellect, an agile mind, great intuition and excellent management skills that enabled the Normans to win the Battle of Hastings. Nevertheless, I believe the biggest factors were luck and timing. . He was lucky that the weather didn’t allow his initial invasion plans to go forward which meant he invaded later, Harold was not there waiting for him, and Harold’s troops were both demoralized and weakened from their earlier battle with the Vikings.
