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JJDESIGNS NEWS UPDATE 4[SUP]th[/SUP] MARCH 2024
THE AGE OF ARTHUR
THE NORMANS
The most fearsome Anglo-Saxon warriors were King Harold’s “Housecarls”, which were among the finest foot soldiers in Europe. Their famous long 2 handed battle axe, which originated with the Vikings, was capable of cutting off the head of a man or a horse.
A look at the most famous source for the battle of Hastings – the Bayeux Tapestry – suggests that the weapons used by the English and the Normans were very similar. On both sides we see men wearing mail shirts and conical helmets with flat, fixed nasals, protecting themselves with shields and attacking their opponents with swords and spears (though spears are far more common).
When it came to tactics, however, the two sides at Hastings had very different ideas, as contemporary chroniclers noted. The English, after centuries of fighting against Vikings, fought in Scandinavian fashion, standing on foot and forming their celebrated ‘shield-wall’.
The Norman elite, by contrast, despite their own Viking origins, had adapted during the course of the 10th century to fighting on horseback.
Therefore the “secret weapon” of the Norman army, were the armoured warriors which fought on horseback, with lances, swords and shields.
The Anglo Saxons used horses mainly to ride to the battlefield, so they were not accustomed to fighting Norman Knights.
The action at Hastings was therefore unconventional, with the English standing still on the top of a ridge, obliging the Norman cavalry to ride up a slope in order to engage them.
William had brought between 1,000-2,000 Norman Knights with him to England, and it was these troops which proved decisive in the invading army’s victory at Hastings in 1066.
At the Battle of Hastings, initially it seemed that the English army’s tactics would serve them well: despite repeated assaults from the Norman infantry and cavalry, the shield-wall held firm.
Some way into the battle, however, a crucial turning point occurred. A rumor ran through the Norman ranks that William had been killed, and some of his forces turned and started to flee. It was almost disastrous, and only retrieved by William removing his helmet and riding along the line to demonstrate that the rumor was untrue. But seeing their enemies retreating in disarray persuaded some of the English that the battle was won, and so they pursued them down the hillside. Once the Normans had recovered their composure, and wheeled round to attack their pursuers, they found that the shield-wall now had breaks in it.
The 1066 Norman army included many groups of knights who were trained to fight side by side under the same leaders. This meant they were disciplined and skilled in co-ordinating “feigned flight”, and then turning and cutting down their pursuers.
All the sources agree that the battle of Hastings was a very bloody affair. The Battle began at 9am on Saturday 14[SUP]th[/SUP] October 1066, and both sides were still engaged at dusk, which was around 5pm.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, speaks of “great slaughter on both sides”. William of Poitiers, describing the aftermath, wrote that “far and wide, the earth was covered with the flower of the English nobility and youth, drenched in blood”. For the Godwinson family in particular the battle was catastrophic, for not only King Harold, but two of his younger brothers, Leofwine and Gyrth, were among the fallen. (Another brother, Tostig, had been killed three weeks earlier at Stamford Bridge).
It is estimated that the Norman Army 7,000 strong, suffered around 2,000 casualties.
EUROPEAN ALLIED INFANTRY
Eustace II, Count of Boulogne
Eustace II, Count of Boulogne (c. 1015 – 1087) also known as Eustace aux Grenons (Eustace with long moustaches) was the Count of Boulogne from 1049 – 1087. He fought on the Norman side at the battle of Hastings, and was an important participant in the Norman conquest of England.
Sources vary regarding the details of his conduct during the Battle of Hastings, but it must have been significant as afterwar the battle he received large grants of land. It has also been suggested that Eustace was the patron of the Bayeux Tapestry.
French Infantrymen of this period that accompanied the Norman army at Hastings were armed with spear and shield, which were the standard arms of the general levy. The winged spearhead is derived from the Carolingian period, the function of the wings was to prevent the spear head from penetrating too far.
THE BRETONS
The Bretons were originally from the ancient province of Brittany which lies in the northwest peninsula of France. Formerly known as Armorica, a possession of the Roman Empire, this land consists of a plateau with a deeply indented coastline, and is broken by hills in the west. The region was renamed Britannia Minor by the Romans, following the emigration of six thousand Britons across the English channel, an event which took place at the behest of the Roman commander in Britain.
Originally of Celtic stock, the Bretons were mainly composed of three tribes from Cornwall, and South Wales, who were known as the Veniti, the Curiovolitae, and the Asismii. Their leader , Prince Cowan of Powys was married to the sister of St. Patrick and was considered to have been the most ancient Christian king in Europe.
Following the fall of the Roman Empire, and subsequent invasion of Britain by the Angles and the Saxons during the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] and 6[SUP]th[/SUP] centuries, many more Britons fled their ancient home. Many settled in Brittany, where the race that came to be known as the Bretons flourished.
The Bretons constituted one third of the Norman forces at Hastings, and were to play a significant role in the Norman conquest of England.
The Bretons were led by Alan Rufus,(Alan The Red), and in the journey to meet the English at the battle site the Breton forces formed the vanguard, arriving a good half an hour before the rest of William’s army. In the actual battle formation the Bretons were positioned on the left wing of Williams army.
ALAN RUFUS
Alan Rufus (c. 1040 -1093) was a Breton nobleman, cousin and companion of William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England.
He was the second son of Eozen Penteur, a Count of Brittany, and an older maternal first cousin of Edward King of England.
During the Battle of Hastings, there is evidence that Alan Rufus led William’s Household Knights whilst Alan’s brother Breon led the left wing. This put Alan in the perfecr position to co-ordinate feints with his brother. Breon would draw the inexperienced Saxon fyrdmen forward, and the other would follow in behind and isolate the pursuing Saxons. This was a modification of tactics used by the Bretons for many years. An example being the Battle of Jengland AD851.
Several documents refer to Gyrth Godwinson, Harold’s younger brother and Earl of East Anglia, leading an assault on William’s position. William’s horse was cut down from under him, Gyrth seeing this moved to kill him, but someone stopped him, and Gyrth was killed instead. Without the experienced leadership of Gyrth at the front of the shield wall, and since Harold’s other younger brother Leofric Earl of Essex had already fallen, this probably proved decisive factor in the English defeat.
William’s chroniclers say he cut down Gyrth, but Domesday evidence tells us that one of William’s Breton allies rode to his rescue, either Ralph “the Staller”, or Alan Rufus.
Alan Rufus, and many of the Breton Knights were to be granted considerable land holdings by William the Conqueror in return for their services.
Rufus would receive land in Northern England and later he would build Richmond Castle. Many of Alan Rufus’s early acquisitions in England included many land titles that had been in the possession of King Harold’s wife Edith the Fair, including all but one of her holdings in Cambridgeshire.
By 1086 Alan had become one of the richest and most powerful men in England.
The Bretons and French allies will be available over the next few months.
Best wishes,
john jenkins
THE AGE OF ARTHUR
THE NORMANS
The most fearsome Anglo-Saxon warriors were King Harold’s “Housecarls”, which were among the finest foot soldiers in Europe. Their famous long 2 handed battle axe, which originated with the Vikings, was capable of cutting off the head of a man or a horse.
A look at the most famous source for the battle of Hastings – the Bayeux Tapestry – suggests that the weapons used by the English and the Normans were very similar. On both sides we see men wearing mail shirts and conical helmets with flat, fixed nasals, protecting themselves with shields and attacking their opponents with swords and spears (though spears are far more common).
When it came to tactics, however, the two sides at Hastings had very different ideas, as contemporary chroniclers noted. The English, after centuries of fighting against Vikings, fought in Scandinavian fashion, standing on foot and forming their celebrated ‘shield-wall’.
The Norman elite, by contrast, despite their own Viking origins, had adapted during the course of the 10th century to fighting on horseback.
Therefore the “secret weapon” of the Norman army, were the armoured warriors which fought on horseback, with lances, swords and shields.
The Anglo Saxons used horses mainly to ride to the battlefield, so they were not accustomed to fighting Norman Knights.
The action at Hastings was therefore unconventional, with the English standing still on the top of a ridge, obliging the Norman cavalry to ride up a slope in order to engage them.
William had brought between 1,000-2,000 Norman Knights with him to England, and it was these troops which proved decisive in the invading army’s victory at Hastings in 1066.
At the Battle of Hastings, initially it seemed that the English army’s tactics would serve them well: despite repeated assaults from the Norman infantry and cavalry, the shield-wall held firm.
Some way into the battle, however, a crucial turning point occurred. A rumor ran through the Norman ranks that William had been killed, and some of his forces turned and started to flee. It was almost disastrous, and only retrieved by William removing his helmet and riding along the line to demonstrate that the rumor was untrue. But seeing their enemies retreating in disarray persuaded some of the English that the battle was won, and so they pursued them down the hillside. Once the Normans had recovered their composure, and wheeled round to attack their pursuers, they found that the shield-wall now had breaks in it.
The 1066 Norman army included many groups of knights who were trained to fight side by side under the same leaders. This meant they were disciplined and skilled in co-ordinating “feigned flight”, and then turning and cutting down their pursuers.
All the sources agree that the battle of Hastings was a very bloody affair. The Battle began at 9am on Saturday 14[SUP]th[/SUP] October 1066, and both sides were still engaged at dusk, which was around 5pm.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, speaks of “great slaughter on both sides”. William of Poitiers, describing the aftermath, wrote that “far and wide, the earth was covered with the flower of the English nobility and youth, drenched in blood”. For the Godwinson family in particular the battle was catastrophic, for not only King Harold, but two of his younger brothers, Leofwine and Gyrth, were among the fallen. (Another brother, Tostig, had been killed three weeks earlier at Stamford Bridge).
It is estimated that the Norman Army 7,000 strong, suffered around 2,000 casualties.
EUROPEAN ALLIED INFANTRY
Eustace II, Count of Boulogne
Eustace II, Count of Boulogne (c. 1015 – 1087) also known as Eustace aux Grenons (Eustace with long moustaches) was the Count of Boulogne from 1049 – 1087. He fought on the Norman side at the battle of Hastings, and was an important participant in the Norman conquest of England.
Sources vary regarding the details of his conduct during the Battle of Hastings, but it must have been significant as afterwar the battle he received large grants of land. It has also been suggested that Eustace was the patron of the Bayeux Tapestry.
French Infantrymen of this period that accompanied the Norman army at Hastings were armed with spear and shield, which were the standard arms of the general levy. The winged spearhead is derived from the Carolingian period, the function of the wings was to prevent the spear head from penetrating too far.
THE BRETONS
The Bretons were originally from the ancient province of Brittany which lies in the northwest peninsula of France. Formerly known as Armorica, a possession of the Roman Empire, this land consists of a plateau with a deeply indented coastline, and is broken by hills in the west. The region was renamed Britannia Minor by the Romans, following the emigration of six thousand Britons across the English channel, an event which took place at the behest of the Roman commander in Britain.
Originally of Celtic stock, the Bretons were mainly composed of three tribes from Cornwall, and South Wales, who were known as the Veniti, the Curiovolitae, and the Asismii. Their leader , Prince Cowan of Powys was married to the sister of St. Patrick and was considered to have been the most ancient Christian king in Europe.
Following the fall of the Roman Empire, and subsequent invasion of Britain by the Angles and the Saxons during the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] and 6[SUP]th[/SUP] centuries, many more Britons fled their ancient home. Many settled in Brittany, where the race that came to be known as the Bretons flourished.
The Bretons constituted one third of the Norman forces at Hastings, and were to play a significant role in the Norman conquest of England.
The Bretons were led by Alan Rufus,(Alan The Red), and in the journey to meet the English at the battle site the Breton forces formed the vanguard, arriving a good half an hour before the rest of William’s army. In the actual battle formation the Bretons were positioned on the left wing of Williams army.
ALAN RUFUS
Alan Rufus (c. 1040 -1093) was a Breton nobleman, cousin and companion of William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England.
He was the second son of Eozen Penteur, a Count of Brittany, and an older maternal first cousin of Edward King of England.
During the Battle of Hastings, there is evidence that Alan Rufus led William’s Household Knights whilst Alan’s brother Breon led the left wing. This put Alan in the perfecr position to co-ordinate feints with his brother. Breon would draw the inexperienced Saxon fyrdmen forward, and the other would follow in behind and isolate the pursuing Saxons. This was a modification of tactics used by the Bretons for many years. An example being the Battle of Jengland AD851.
Several documents refer to Gyrth Godwinson, Harold’s younger brother and Earl of East Anglia, leading an assault on William’s position. William’s horse was cut down from under him, Gyrth seeing this moved to kill him, but someone stopped him, and Gyrth was killed instead. Without the experienced leadership of Gyrth at the front of the shield wall, and since Harold’s other younger brother Leofric Earl of Essex had already fallen, this probably proved decisive factor in the English defeat.
William’s chroniclers say he cut down Gyrth, but Domesday evidence tells us that one of William’s Breton allies rode to his rescue, either Ralph “the Staller”, or Alan Rufus.
Alan Rufus, and many of the Breton Knights were to be granted considerable land holdings by William the Conqueror in return for their services.
Rufus would receive land in Northern England and later he would build Richmond Castle. Many of Alan Rufus’s early acquisitions in England included many land titles that had been in the possession of King Harold’s wife Edith the Fair, including all but one of her holdings in Cambridgeshire.
By 1086 Alan had become one of the richest and most powerful men in England.
The Bretons and French allies will be available over the next few months.
Best wishes,
john jenkins
.
