The Battle of Hastings took place because two men wanted to be King of England. The two men were Harold Godwinson, a powerful man in England, and William, Duke of Normandy. Harold had heard that William had arrived on the southern coast. He marched his men to Hastings to meet William. The battle started at 9 a.m. on October 16, 1066. Harold and his 7,000 men fought from the top of Senlac hill, proudly holding their red banner with a dragon on it. While William and his 7,000 men were on the bottom of the hill, at a disadvantage. Harold also had a disadvantage because he had traveled from afar and his men were fatigued. Every time William ran up the hill to attack, he couldn't make it past their shield wall.
At the end of the battle, William finally had an idea. He decided that his men would run up the hill one last time and pretend to retreat into the forest, like they were giving up. Harold's army fell for the trick and ran down the hill to claim their land and title as King of England. When they ran down the hill, William's army came out of nowhere and attacked them. They did this multiple times. Soon, though, William was able to kill all of Harold's army, including him. After the battle, William was declared King of England. |