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Battle of Hastings battlefield clues

Battlefield clues from the contemporary accounts:

  1. Orderic says that the English army: “took post at a place which was anciently called Senlac”. Senlac was Old English for ‘sandy loch’ or ‘sandy lake’, or perhaps Old French for 'bloody lake'.
  2. ASC-D (Whitelock translation) says that King Harold: “assembled a large army and came against him at the hoary apple tree”, or (Ingram translation) “gathered a large force and came to meet him at the estuary of Appledore”.
  3. Chronicon says that the engagement was: “nine miles from Heastinga, where they had fortified a castle”. This is usually interpreted to mean 'nine miles from modern Hastings'. We interpret it to mean nine Roman miles from Hæstinga port.
  4. CBA says that the monks of Marmoutier: “studied the battlefield and decided that it seemed hardly suitable for so outstanding a building. They therefore chose a fit place for settling, a site located not far off, but somewhat lower down, towards the western slope of the ridge. There, lest they seem to be doing nothing, they built themselves some little huts. This place, still called Herste, has a low wall as a mark of this.” The first part is self-explanatory. We interpret the second part to mean that the battlefield was at or near a place named Herste.
  5. Brevis Relatio describes William's arrival at the Norman battle camp on the day of battle, saying it was: “a hill that was on the side of Hastingas, opposite that hill upon which Harold with his army was”. By tradition, Hastingas refers to modern Hastings, so this clue is assumed to be spurious because the battle was not fought near modern Hastings. In this context, we interpret Hastingas to mean the Hastings Peninsula, so it is saying that the hill was adjacent to the Brede estuary which bordered the Hastings Peninsula to the north.
  6. CKE says that the English were: “roused with indignation as the Normans strived to gain the higher ground, drove them down into the valley beneath, where hurling their javelins and rolling down stones on them as they stood below, destroying them to a man". This is usually interpreted to mean the battlefield hill was high and steep. See below.
  7. Tapestry Panel 54 depicts the battlefield hill as small, low, uncultivated, flat topped and steeper on one side.
  8. Wace, Carmen, Jumièges and Orderic, in one way or another, say that the battle started at the third hour of the day. Given the time needed to don armour, assemble, receive a pep talk and receive commands, the battlefield cannot have been much more than a one-hour march from the Norman battle camp.
  9. ASC-D (Whitelock) says: “William came against them by surprise, before his army was drawn up in battle array". See below.
  10. John of Worcester says that: “the English were drawn up in a narrow place”. A 'narrow place' is, by definition, long in the other direction. We interpret John of Worcester to mean that the English were in a narrow place from the Norman perspective, which means something prevented them attacking the long sides.
  11. Carmen (Barlow) says: “Suddenly the forest spewed out its cohorts; and columns of men stormed out of their hiding-places in the woods. Near the forest was a hill and a valley and land too rough to be tilled. The English, as was their custom, advanced in mass formation and seized this position on which to fight.” We interpret the first sentence to mean that the English moved as an infantry column from woodland across a hollow/valley to an uncultivated battlefield. See below for the rest.
  12. Orderic says that the English: “... formed a solid column of infantry, and thus stood firm in the position they had taken". We interpret this to mean the English moved to the battlefield as an infantry column.
  13. Poitiers says: “... the English were camped on higher ground, on a hill close to the forest through which they had come". See below.
  14. Wace says that: “The Normans appeared, advancing over the ridge of a rising ground; and the first division of their troops moved onwards along the hill and across a valley ... another division, still larger, came in sight, close following upon the first; and they wheeled towards another side of the field, forming together as the first body had done."
  15. Wace says that the English built up a barricade before them: “... with their shields and ash and other wood, that had been well joined and wattled together".
  16. Carmen says: “In summo montis vexillum vertice fixit", which is usually translated “At the highest point of the summit he planted his banner".
  17. Poitiers says the Normans: “... began slowly to climb the steep slope". See below.
  18. Carmen says that the Duke: “boldly approached the steep slope". See below.
  19. Wace say that Harold notes: “how the Normans divided into three companies, in order to attack at three places”. Carmen says: “The French cavalry attacked to the left, the Bretons to the right, the duke with the Norman cavalry fights the middle”. Wace says that William chooses to: “fight in the middle throng”. Poitiers says that William took his position in the midst of the cavalry: “From this position he could command his army with voice and hand gestures”. We interpret this to mean that the flank divisions stayed within William’s sight throughout the battle.
  20. Wace says that: “In the plain was a fosse which the Normans had now behind them, having passed it in the fight without regarding it ...”. Then after a feigned retreat: “following the Normans, as they go rejoicing in the success of their scheme, the English scattered themselves over the plain”. So, there was a plain below the English shield wall.
  21. Wace continues: “… but the English charged and drove the Normans before them, till they made them fall back upon this fosse. Many were seen falling therein”. We interpret this to mean that the fosse in the plain was lateral, to the side of the battlefield.
  22. Poitiers says that even late in the day after having suffered heavy casualties the English position was still “very difficult to surround".
  23. Carmen (Tyson) says that: “The Duke spies the King above on the steep hill”. We interpret this to mean that William could see Harold over the shield wall, which is only possible if the slope behind the English line is greater than the slope in front of it.
  24. Wace says: “The youths and common herd of the camp, whose business was not to join in the battle, but to take care of the harness and stores, moved off towards a rising ground. The priests and the clerks also ascended a hill, there to offer up prayers to God, and watch the event of the battle.” We interpret this to mean that the battlefield was overlooked by a higher hill.
  25. Pseudo-Ingulf says of Harold’s demise: “At last, towards twilight, he fell, on a small hill where he had collected his forces”.
  26. CBA (Searle) describes the Malfosse: “Just where the fighting was going on, and stretching for a considerable distance, an immense ditch yawned. It may have been a natural cleft in the earth or it may have been hollowed out by storms.” Searle's translation skips over CBA's description of the precipitous (Latin 'precipitium'), ditch sides. It was clearly not fluvial. Wace also describes a ditch where the fighting was going on: “The English fell back upon a rising ground, and the Normans followed them across the valley, attacking them on foot and horseback." We interpret this to be the same ditch as the Malfosse and that it crossed the battlefield upslope with rising ground on the far side. The only plausible origin in this region is iron workings.
  27. WP says that the English flee when they realise their position is hopeless: “So they turned to escape as quickly as possible by flight, some on horses they had seized, some on foot, some on roads, others through untrodden wastes”. We interpret this to mean that there was a Roman road and scrub close to the battlefield.
  28. WP says: “However confidence returned to the fugitives when they found a good chance to renew battle, thanks to a broken rampart and labyrinth of ditches”. We interpret this to mean that there were several large iron workings, some of which were perhaps joined, on the flight route from the battlefield to the Roman road.
  29. WP says that the English flee when they realise their position is hopeless: “So they turned to escape as quickly as possible by flight, some on horses they had seized, some on foot, some on roads, others through untrodden wastes. Many left their corpses in deep woods, many who had collapsed on the routes blocked the way for those who came after. The Normans, though strangers to the district, pursued them relentlessly, slashing their guilty backs”. Carmen says: “Only night and flight avail the defeated English, through cover and hiding places in the dense forest.” We interpret this to mean that there was woodland on the flight route from the battlefield to the Roman road.
  30. Baudri of Bourgueil says: “The enemy, discarding their horses, form themselves into a close wedge”. We interpret this to mean that the English were probably deployed on a spur pointing towards the Norman advance, and that the shield wall tightly refused flanks perhaps forming an enclosed plectrum shaped loop.

Eleven more clues corroborate Baudri's implication that the English shield wall had tightly refused flanks, in a horse-shoe, wedge or enclosed loop deployment:

  1. Wace says that Harold issues orders that: “all should be ranged with their faces towards the enemy”.
  2. Tapestry Panel 52 and Panel 54 show the English fighting back-to-back.
  3. Baudri of Bourgueil says: “Backing up the enemy line, at a distance, were horsemen, waiting to intercept anyone trying to flee”.
  4. Wace says that: “The English had enclosed a field where Harold stood with his friends”, then that Harold knew the Normans would attack hand to hand: “so he had early enclosed the field in which he placed his men”.
  5. Wace says that: “The English stood in close ranks, ready and eager for the fight; and they had moreover made a fosse, which went across the field, guarding one side of their army”.
  6. Wace says that: “When Harold had made all ready, and given his orders, he came into the midst of the English, and dismounted by the side of the standard”.
  7. Wace says that William chooses to: “fight in the middle throng, where the battle shall be hottest”.
  8. Draco Normannicus says of the battlefield that: “The legion of the English surrounds the King".
  9. Brevis Relatio says that a Norman soldier thinks Harold is: “in the midst of the dense array, which was before them on the top of the hill, for he thinks he can see Harold’s Standard there".
  10. CBA says that the English were: “in an impenetrable formation around their king”.
  11. Henry of Huntingdon describes the English deployment as: “Cum ergo Haraldus totam gentum suam in una acie strictissime locasset, et quasi castellum inde construxisset, impenetrabiles erant Normannis”. This castellum is usually translated as ‘rampart’ because the translators assume the English shield wall was a line at Battle Abbey. It is clearly wrong. ‘castellum’ means fortress or castle. We translate it as: “When Harold had formed his whole army into a single tight line, constructed like a fortress, the Normans could not penetrate it”. In other words, the overlapping English shields looked like the stakes in a palisade.

Some of the clues above, as we explain in our main Sedlescombe Battlefield blog - here - are ambiguous:

  1. Carmen says: “In summo montis vexillum vertice fixit", which is usually translated “At the highest point of the summit of the hill he planted his banner". By tradition, this means that the battlefield hill was high, steep and with a conical summit. But it is a tautology. In this case, ‘summo’ might mean 'crest', in which case it is trying to say: “He planted his banner at the highest point of the crest of the hill".
  2. CKE says that the English were: “roused with indignation as the Normans strived to gain the higher ground, drove them down into the valley beneath, where hurling their javelins and rolling down stones on them as they stood below, destroyed them to a man”. By tradition, this means that the battlefield hill is steep and high. But wooden javelins cannot be thrown more than 50m on level ground, so the valley where the Normans were gathered was within 70m of the shield wall and no more than 20m lower. The stones might only have been fatal because the Normans were too tightly bunched to move sideways. If so, the battlefield was relatively small and low. 
  3. Poitiers says that the Normans: “... began slowly to climb the steep slope". Carmen says the Duke: “boldly approached the steep slope". By tradition, this means that the battlefield hill was big and steep. But Carmen implies that the approach to the battlefield was relatively shallow. This is not necessarily inconsistent with Poitiers. The slope would not have needed to be more than 1:20 for the Norman climb to be slow because they would all have been barefoot or wearing slick soled shoes.
  4. Poitiers says that: “... the English were camped on higher ground, on a hill close to the forest through which they had come". By tradition, this means that the English camp was on a treeless hilltop adjacent to a forest, often assumed to be the Andresweald. But Poitiers uses the ambiguous Latin word ‘castra’. It usually translates as 'fortress' or 'camp' but actually means any land occupied by a military force. The battlefield hill would effectively become a castra as soon as the English occupied it. Poitiers might have been trying to say that the English army deployed on a treeless hill close to woodland through which they had come.
  5. ASC says that: “William came against them by surprise, before his army was drawn up in battle array". This is usually interpreted to mean the English were victims of a surprise attack, but that is implausible because they had been exchanging messages the previous day. The Old English original uses the phrase 'ær þis folc gefylced wære', which would more usually mean 'before his army was prepared'. It might be trying to say that Harold did not expect the Normans to attack because he thought he had camped at a safe distance.