Battle of Hastings and its influence on England history
                     BATTLE OF HASTINGS 
AND ITS INFLUENCE ON 
ENGLAND HISTORY
Presentation Subtitle
INTRODUCTI
ON
• The Battle of Hastings was fought for the 
crown of England between William, Duke 
of Normandy and the recently enthroned 
Harold Godwineson.
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THE BATTLE 
• The English army, led by King Harold, took 
up their position on Senlac Hill near 
Hastings on the morning of the 14th 
October 1066. 
• Harold’s exhausted and depleted Saxon 
troops had been forced to march 
southwards following the bitter, bloody 
battle to capture Stamford Bridge in 
Yorkshire only days earlier.
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THE BATTLE 
CONT.
• The fighting continued for most of the day 
with the shield wall unbroken. 
• It is said that it was the sight of retreating 
Normans which finally lured the English 
away from their defensive positions as they 
broke ranks in pursuit of the enemy.
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INFLUENCE ON 
ENGLAND 
HISTORY
• This battle changed the entire course of 
not just English, but European history. 
• England would henceforth be ruled by an 
oppressive foreign aristocracy, which in 
turn would influence the entire 
ecclesiastical and political institutions of 
Christendom.
Source: www.historic-uk.com
KEY FACTS
• Date: 14th October, 1066
• War: Norman Conquest
• Location: Battle, East Sussex
• Belligerents: English Anglo-Saxons, 
Normans
• Victors: Normans
• Numbers: English Anglo-Saxons around 
8,000, Normans between 5,000 – 12,000
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MEDIEVAL 
ACCOUNTS OF 
THE BATTLE OF 
HASTINGS
• On 14 October 1066, William’s forces 
clashed with an English army near 
Hastings. 
• Within a century of these events taking 
place, over a dozen writers had described 
the battle and its aftermath. Some of these 
accounts are lengthy, but they contradict 
each other and do not allow us to 
reconstruct the battle with any certainty.
Source: www.historic-uk.com
HOW WAS KING 
HAROLD KILLED?
• Even the Bayeux Tapestry does not offer a 
clear answer. Near the phrase ‘King 
Harold was killed’, there are images in the 
tapestry of men being shot with arrows 
and cut down with swords.
• William the Conqueror then advanced 
towards London, and he was crowned at 
Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 
1066.
Source: www.historic-uk.com
REMEMBERING 
KING HAROLD
• Although King Harold was defeated, 
sympathy for the English army at Hastings 
continued long after the Conquest. 
• The monks at St Augustine’s Abbey, 
Canterbury, commemorated the Battle of 
Hastings in a martyrology made at that 
abbey. 
Source: www.historic-uk.com
THE IMPACT OF 
THE BATTLE OF 
HASTINGS
• Hastings is one of the most famous battles 
in English history. Modern historians 
continue to debate its impact. 
• The Norman Conquest brought many 
social, economic, political and cultural 
changes, but some people living in 11th-
century England did not even consider this 
battle to be the most important event of 
1066.
Source: www.historic-uk.com
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