- First of all, he was just really really unlucky. He had two competitors for the throne, they were both attacking and they were coming from different directions! So, with nature being as typical as it is: once Harold Godwinson (former king) had killed the vikings,the process being that he marched up from Hastings; beat the Vikings (Harold Tostig and Harald Hardraada) in York the wind changed and William Duke of Normandy sailed and attacked down south and took over Pevensey and Hastings! "So all the king's horses and all the king's men, had to march back down south again!"which leads us on to our next sub-subject.
- Harold's men weren't rested for the long journey back down as that was the decision that Harold made.And when people don't rest, they get tired; slower; less aware of things around you and all the rest of the yadayada that parents go on to their kids about after a late night of drinking, messing about and having fun(which is what the soldiers did, i don't expect anyone under the specific age of 21 to be drinking!) so, in a nutshell, they were tired and cranky.
- Harold couldn't control his troops. On the hill at Hastings, Harold's troops were so spread out that orders could not be heard, by sound or by word. So, in consequence to that, some of Harold's troops that were in the supposedly unbreakable 'shield wall' formation along the left hand side of the broke off and started chasing a smaller group of Normans. But it was a trap! a classic pincer movement meant that the group of English that chased the Normans was engulfed and said bye bye to as the whole army surrounded them and cut them down like ripe wheat.
- Harold had the lesser battle experience. Harold had only just took the throne, and that was by taking the crown off dead Ed's head but on the contrast: William had been in many battles and was ready for almost anything people threw at him. Will was an overall better leader because of his: Strategy; Experience; Numbers and was an Inspiration for his men.(If you have an argumentative point then please send me them and your email so i can get back to you.)
- William had a better claim to the throne. There was a claim from will that stated that he had the better claim to the throne because 'apparantly' Harold Godwinson and Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne of England in 1051. Harold had the fact that the council of England wanted him in, he was the most powerful man in England and that he was Edward the Confessor's brother in-law.
So in conclusion: Harold Godwinson was a ruler who wanted more than his share.He made mistakes but did not see that the consequences were that high as he was only a beginner at ruling a country. William was an overall better leader as his troops admired him, he was better at making decisions and seeing the outcome than Harold, he had more experience and he had more troops that were less tired and quite possibly less drunk than the Englishmen.
I hope that this helped you. I will be posting these on my site(if i find out how to!) so good bye for now...
Duh Blogger
