Preperations for the battle of hastings
What did william of normandy do to gain support for the invasion?
Gained norman nobility support and the support of the Catholic Church
How did the church support william for the invasion?
Papal support-william was given the papal banner to show that god was on his side and thought that william was the rightful heir to the english throne
How did william prepare for the invasion?
He promised great rewards to secure the loyalty of the nobility.
He began gathering his invasion force ( 1,000 ships, 10,000 men, 2,000 horses)
He also planned to tempt harold godwinson into early battle by sending his army to ravage surrounding lands ( burning houses and the bayeux tapastery)
What did harold godwinson do to prepare?
He had a strong army ready for battle but was unprepared by williams tactics of burning down the surrounding areas
What was harold godwinsons responce to the norman invasion?
Harold raced his army from york to ermine street and spent 5 daysp in london gathering what forces he could
He decided to force an early confrontation, butarrived to battle with exahusted troops
What are some key facts about harold godwinsons army?
He formed his any along the crest of the bridge just under 1 km in length
His army consisted of 7,000 - 8,000 men, with the infantry in 10 ranks all on foot
What were some key facts about williams army?
Similar in size to the anglo-saxon army, but contained more professional fighters
Archers and bowmen were in the front line
His army was divided into 3 sections. Left - bretons, centre - normans, right-french
( williams army consisted of many other supporting countries not just the normans)