Mysteries of the Norman Conquest: Unravelling the Truth of the Battle of Hastings and the Events of 1066 by Robert Allred

Author:Robert Allred
Format: epub

What The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Tells us About the Preliminaries of the Battle near Hastings

In the most lengthy entry in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1066, the scribes recorded, as noted earlier, that: ‘Meantime Earl William came up from Normandy into Pevensey on the eve of St Michael’s mass; and soon after his landing was effected, they constructed a castle at the port of Hastings.’¹⁰ So far, all is in accordance with the likely facts. The Chronicle then goes on to state, ‘This was then told to King Harold; and he gathered a large force [7 he gaderade þa mycelne† here] and came to meet him at the estuary of Appledore’.¹¹ Also, here is where things tend to diverge into unknown territory. At least one writer has said that King Harold went to Devonshire before mustering his army near Hastings. What that writer and others managed to do is confuse the village of Appledore, at the mouth of the Torridge River in the county of Devon, with another town with that name in Kent, just a few miles from Battle Hill. The Chronicle then reports: ‘William, however, came against him unawares, ere his army was collected; but the king, nevertheless, very hardly encountered him with the men that would support him: and there was a great slaughter made on either side.’¹² In this passage we find, when compared with the previously cited entry an indication that there was a serious, or at least some, division within the Anglo-Saxon ranks. I will elaborate.

Duke William had made landfall on 28 September, having left the Norman port of St Valery on the 27th. Whether this was part of a clever strategy or just fate, as dictated by the winds of the English Channel, no one will ever know for sure. It is possible though, even likely, that William himself circulated rumours of unfavourable winds to keep his troops from becoming too impatient and restless, and to confuse King Harold’s spies.¹³ However, it is almost certain that Duke William’s supporters in England had spies throughout the island and probably even within King Harold’s camp. Duke William would definitely have had it confirmed to him, within days, that King Harald Hardrada of Norway and Tostig Godwinsson had effected a landing near York, which had initially occurred on 14 August – more than 10 weeks earlier. Or, he may have had other sources who could have sailed directly from the north – from either northern England or Scandinavia – to Normandy with the news. So, with the Norwegian fleet stopping off in the Shetlands and Orkneys, then landing on the English coast near Holderness and burning and pillaging before going inland to York, Duke William had ample time to learn of and take advantage of the diversion and to almost immediately embark for England. Possibly knowing of the Viking invasion, Duke William would have, as he did, set sail for the south coast of England at what he would judge to be the opportune moment, realising that his opponent would be hurrying north to defend his kingdom from the Viking invaders.

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