My name is Elena and I love nature, and know a lot about what is going on in my country. I am living in a village where we are surrounded by trees and fields. I live in a small reasonably clean sheltered area, and have heard that Edward The Confessor has died. Today is the 5th of January 1066 and is a day to remember. I already know that he doesn`t have any children and now I know that there will be fighting for the crown. I`m not quite sure who will now be king, but I know that I would like Harold Godwineson to become King because he is the brother-in-law of Edward and because he is also English, just like me.
Here in the village people are nice and caring and we all are hoping for the best to come out of what has happened. Some people say that Harald Hardraada will become king and others say William, Duke of Normandy could become king.
As months go by I survive on stolen food, I hear that Harold needs men to fight for him, but I am not allowed to fight. Every man in the village has to leave their homes and families and go to war to fight for Harold. After a few days I hear some good news, finally. Harold has fought against the Vikings with their leader Harald Hardraada, and has defeated them. Hip hip, hurray!
On the 28th of September, William is invading the coast of England with 2000 foot soldiers and 100 ships. Once I heard that, I was fealing scared and worried, also for all the men from the village having to go to war. The village is more empty and their families are more alone than ever. So, I found out from another woman in my village, since I was so interrested in what was going on, that Harold was now heading south to fight William for the crown.
Today I have made up my mind to try, and watch the battle. Suddenly, I see a beautiful brown horse eating grass in a field near by with no-one watching it. I make my way towards the horse and quickly climb onto its back and start my journey.
In the distance I suddenly see an enormous old oak tree with branches winding all around. Up on a hill there are thousands of soldiers preparing to meet their enemies. They all are wearing chain mail armour which shine in the sun. I am riding towards the old oak tree and realise that it would make a fantastic place to hide and watch the battle of Hastings. So I climb up the tree and look through the leaves. After a while I notice that someone else has arrived. I recognise the two ladies standing beneath me. It is the woman that Harold loved, called Edith The Swan Neck, and Harold`s mother Gytha.
The soldiers weapons look very dangerous. I can just about see the anger on some soldiers faces and in others their anxiety. Now I see the leader, Harold on his horse at the front of his army. I could tell that Edith The Swan Neck was upset and scared by this war. I can also hear the horses hooves and the heavy breathing of them as well. Harold quickly makes some signals and so does William, and they both shout as everyone charges forward.
I can hear voices from underneath me. Edith and Harolds mother are saying that the fighting is taking place on the sight of Battle Abbey. From up in this old oak tree I can smell Edith and Gythas perfume. I see the archers firing their arrows high in the air. They are flying like waves through the air and some arrows even collide with each other. OH MY GOSH! Harold has an arrow heading straight for him and it penetrates through the hole in his armour into his eye. He is dead! Today is the 14th of October, I just thought whoever will read this may like to know.
After the battle, when there were no more soldiers to be seen walking around, Edith The Swan Neck went running out to the dead men. She took nearly every soldiers chain mail armour off to be able to recognize her beloved Harold by his tatoos on his body, and on one of the men she stopped. She is crying, I also felt sorry for her but new I must get back home and explain what happened to the people in the village.
I have now arrived in the village and brought the horse back to the field. I went to go tell everything to the ladies in the village and the tragedy of Harolds death.
After that, I know that this battle will stay in my mind forever. I promise myself never to play a killing game with other children in the village because I am so frightened after what has happened and what I saw.
Today, is Christmas day 1066 and William is crowning himself king of England in Westminster Abbey. But I`m not going to watch because I will not be able to bear the thought of him being crowned King. So from today and onwards, I also know that he will be known as William the Conqueror.
by Antonia Jane Nash
29/10/2009
The date is the 14th of october 1066 (by Mitchell McGuire)
The date is the 14th of october 1066. It is late at night we have have just finished our campaign against Harold’s forces in the south of england. We defeated them, it was a bloodbath for either side but we did. Harold’s men are undisciplined and they fought like savages and then cowards all within a day. I watched most of my friends die and and believe me, that is not a nice feeling. The fight was incredibly gruesome we used anything that we could find to kill the enemy after we ran out of arrows. I saw men getting beaten to death by helmets it was a most disturbing sight. At one point in the battle someone started a rumor that william had been killed we hightailed it in full retreat before william came out on his horse and led us back into battle.
The battle started very slowly not much was happening both sides were seemingly een,y matched as an archer I didn’t do much during this part of the battle but I keep remembering my family back in normandy it’s hard to think that you may never see them again. England doesn’t seem like too bad a place though. The weather is close to what it was at home the landscape is beautiful and william treats us well, I get paid a lot more than I would have been if I had opted out of the invasion plus I get free meals. The weapons I fought with today were more or less the usual I used and a bow that was made of yew and an arrow that was made of pine and tipped with iron. I also carried an iron sword in case something went wrong. Our forces were split up into 4 components The Cavalry, the infantry and my unit the archers. The infantry always went in first they are like the testers making sure that the valuable people like me and the cavalry don’t get hurt. They are formidable fighters I must say but we have to send someone in first. As the battle progressed it became evident that we were losing so william the genius that he is devised a new plan. The new plan was that us archers would aim high and bombard the english aiming for their faces. This plan worked so well we killed harold! The cavalry then made one final charge and destroyed the english lines, the english ran for it giving us time to to slaughter them. The bloodshed didn’t stop there we continued to loot all he towns we could find and slaughtered the population looting all the gold we could find we even burned down part of london.
Well that was the most exciting day of my life I just cant believe it I’d never expect to be able to go on a foreign conquest. From looking around here in england I can tell that this place isn’t half as peaceful as Normandy, but do you know what i think with william in charge he can make anywhere more peaceful and better to live in. I heard some good news today, as a soldier of the conquest I am immune from all taxes and I might even get some land.
(by Mitchell McGuire)
The battle started very slowly not much was happening both sides were seemingly een,y matched as an archer I didn’t do much during this part of the battle but I keep remembering my family back in normandy it’s hard to think that you may never see them again. England doesn’t seem like too bad a place though. The weather is close to what it was at home the landscape is beautiful and william treats us well, I get paid a lot more than I would have been if I had opted out of the invasion plus I get free meals. The weapons I fought with today were more or less the usual I used and a bow that was made of yew and an arrow that was made of pine and tipped with iron. I also carried an iron sword in case something went wrong. Our forces were split up into 4 components The Cavalry, the infantry and my unit the archers. The infantry always went in first they are like the testers making sure that the valuable people like me and the cavalry don’t get hurt. They are formidable fighters I must say but we have to send someone in first. As the battle progressed it became evident that we were losing so william the genius that he is devised a new plan. The new plan was that us archers would aim high and bombard the english aiming for their faces. This plan worked so well we killed harold! The cavalry then made one final charge and destroyed the english lines, the english ran for it giving us time to to slaughter them. The bloodshed didn’t stop there we continued to loot all he towns we could find and slaughtered the population looting all the gold we could find we even burned down part of london.
Well that was the most exciting day of my life I just cant believe it I’d never expect to be able to go on a foreign conquest. From looking around here in england I can tell that this place isn’t half as peaceful as Normandy, but do you know what i think with william in charge he can make anywhere more peaceful and better to live in. I heard some good news today, as a soldier of the conquest I am immune from all taxes and I might even get some land.
(by Mitchell McGuire)
28/10/2009
Battle of Hastings Journal
1st July 1066
I am writing this because, when I go back to the future, I want kids to know, how it was like for example I want them to know how it felt, smelled and what you could see all around. Oh my bad I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Claude Papon. I have dirty blonde, not too long but not too short hair; my eyes are brown and greenish color. I am medium sized and I am fit so I can fight as long as I have too. I am really nervous but excited to fight in the war against the Anglo-Saxons, I am grateful that I know that we are going to win, so then I can think about how I am going to escape if I need too. I am anxious and nervous because to know how to escape if anything goes wrong.
10th July 1066
I am in the coast of France; we have been here weeks waiting for the wind to turn the other direction so we can go to England in boats. We have made our time waiting useful. We have been practicing all summer so we can fight our best in the battle against the Anglo-Saxons. Some of the soldiers are exhausted from all the practicing that William had made us do. I have a break right now, so I am taking the time to write this. I am guessing that I do miss my village, but I am really proud to be fighting, it’s a real honor. Well now I have got to go and practice some more.
24th September 1066
It has been two months and 4 days and still the wind hasn’t turned the other direction. Now you can see all the soldiers exhausted, the smell around is horrific, nobody has showered in a long time, there are some people that have been in the water since it is summer, but the ocean really doesn’t help that much because it only makes us smell like sweat with salt water. So if you know what I mean good, and if you don’t, I think you really don’t ever want to sweat go to the beach and sweat some more. The wind has turned a bit to the other direction, but not enough to take us across the channel. I am tired and I want to do something more interesting then practicing, but the practicing part is for a good reason, so I better get on with it.
26th September 1066
Finally the wind changed direction, I am on the boat accompanied but about 700 more boats, if you were wondering if they had a big army no you know that they do have a small army. I am wondering if the Anglo-Saxons will be there when we arrive and we will have to fight directly when we get there, I am nervous to know, I know it is strange for a soldier to be nervous but I am I mean I don’t want to be killed, then who will be able to send you this, but the good thing is that I have my way to escape. Well I have to keep rowing, I’ll write later.
1st October 1066
Well when we got here the Anglo-Saxons weren’t here yet, we found out that they were fighting the Vikings and they had to march 250 miles down to where we were. In the mean time we started to burn villages and kill people to provoke Harald. It’s the night and still we haven’t seen anyone from the army of the English, the good thing is that we can have a rest here before the Anglo-Saxons come from Stanford Bridge. The villages here are small, everyone seems so poor I feel bad for them, the clothes they were are rags and there are so many holes in them, they’re misfortunate, they smell like they have been living in their own waste. It is repulsive. I feel really big I have about 20 kg. of all thing I wear. I am wearing a basinet which protects the side of your head and neck. The basinet has a metal plate which you can pull down and it would protect your face. I am also wearing a Hauberk which is a long shirt that gets up to your knees. When I put that on I feels like I am wearing wood on me it is utterly heavy for it to be a long shirt. I also wear something called a kite shield it is shaped in a triangular formed and it would protect your body and legs, that would be made out of iron, leather and wood. I wear of course chain mail all over my body to protect myself.
26th October 1066
Guess what?!?! We won! We won the battle against the Anglo-Saxons we had a lot of luck because they were tired from the other battle and they only fought with fury, not with tactics or anything. The bad thing was that we were down hill, so we had to run uphill, but that didn’t stop us. We won because we threw arrows up, and one of them went in to Harald Godwinsons eye. We were proud of our selves for fighting the way we did, it was also relieve for me that I know that I didn’t die. But now the battlefield is quite. During the battle you could see heads flying around there was the clinging of swords the scream of the army’s the banging of spears on shields, the noises of our horses, it was all crazy. You can barely hear yourself scream. I knew that when we saw the English coming we all got as ready as we could to fight, my heart was pumping and I felt like if I was going to die even before the battle started. The people next to me were also nervous you could see it in all their faces, but we had to remember that that wouldn’t bring us down at all. We knew we had to fight our best, and the good thing is that I knew who was going to win, but I can’t imagine how hard it would’ve been for them since they didn’t know. Still the thought that I might’ve gotten killed still comes to my head. I also can’t seem to get the images and screaming of people dying out of my head, the blood that crippled through the grass and mixing with dirt gave my shivers through my back, but I had to realize that, this is what they lived for, fighting. I was positioned in the middle with the Normandy part I was more towards the middle then from the back all the people that were in the back didn’t really know what they were doing since there was a lot of peasants and didn’t get practice like we did.
29th October 1066
Now that the battle is over I am back to what I work on. I work as a blacksmiths making tools and things like lanterns for people. It isn’t that real hard of job, but it is much harder then it’s back in the future. I am struggling a bit more to make money since before I made a lot of things for the battles. I am gaining a bit of money to keep me from dying of hunger.
Battle of Hastings Journal (Jenny)
October 12th,1066
I’m writing this from October 12th, 1066. Right now, the Saxon army and I are on the long march to Hastings. So that I do not stand out, I am using the name Oswald Smith, and I am a blacksmith. William and his men have invaded, and they are killing the countrymen and their livestock. This makes the need to for us to get to Hastings in good time even stronger. All the men in the Saxon army are exhausted; they just got back from the battle at Stamford Bridge. As we walk, Harold keeps ordering us to keep it up. We are all tired and hungry. We had very little sleep because of the rate Harold demands us to travel at. We are low on men, because we lost many in the previous battle. Harold seems to be sure we can win this battle though, and because of that, all the men believe it.
October 13th,1066
We are very near to Hastings now. The mood of the soldiers has changed completely. With the battle so close, all of them are anxious and ready. Harold seems as determined as ever, and so are we. We are ready to go into battle tomorrow. We keep marching as the day draws to a close. Harold tells us to stop for the night, but we all knew we wouldn’t get much sleep. For one, Harold won’t let us have many hours of sleep because of the impending battle, and we probably wont be able to get to sleep anyway.
October 14th, 1066
Today was the day. Our army assembled on a field, ready for action. Men were constantly coming and making our army grow, which for us, was a big encouragement. The noise of the whole shield wall banging their shields was breath taking. Harold’s face was unreadable, but everyone could tell he was deep in concentration. The whole army was in formation now; we were ready. We stood there, when we heard a great noise approaching us. We knew it was William. You could hear the pounding of horse hooves and the feet crunching on dead leaves of thousands of men. As William got his men into formation, we could all tell it was going to be a bloody battle. William had out numbered us,and he had an extremely strong cavalry. We weren’t about to back down though.We were all going to fight to the death, if that’s what it took, to take our country. William was ready now. He shouted a command we couldn’t hear, and all of his archers rained on us with arrows. This did little impact though, because of our mighty shield wall. I was at the back, though, because I was just part of the Fyrd, since I was only a peasant. But then it didn’t matter. All that mattered to me there was winning this battle and claiming England. The only weapons the Fyrd and I had were simple, like farmers tools. We had little to no protective clothing, but that was ok since we were at the back. Though we were unprotected and had un-useful weapons, Harold had assured us all that we were just as important to the army as he was. With him here, fighting along with us,it seems to give us encouragement and a sense of knowing we were going to succeed.
The battle carried on for hours. The Normans had discovered a way to break our shield wall by the technique of retreat, and little by little our shield wall was breaking. Though I couldn’t admit it to myself, I knew that we were beginning to lose. I looked around and saw that some of the members of the Fyrd were beginning to have the same thoughts. But then, all of a sudden, William seemed to get a new plan. He stopped the Normans retreating and shouted another order to them. I strained to hear what he was saying, but it was pointless. I watched in shock as William sent his archers back forward. He gave a count, and all the archers raised their arrows to the sky. I watched in horror as one comedown toward Harold, and hit him in the eye. With our leader dead, I found no reason to fight anymore. I ran into the woods behind us, and that was the end of my Hastings adventure.
I’m writing this from October 12th, 1066. Right now, the Saxon army and I are on the long march to Hastings. So that I do not stand out, I am using the name Oswald Smith, and I am a blacksmith. William and his men have invaded, and they are killing the countrymen and their livestock. This makes the need to for us to get to Hastings in good time even stronger. All the men in the Saxon army are exhausted; they just got back from the battle at Stamford Bridge. As we walk, Harold keeps ordering us to keep it up. We are all tired and hungry. We had very little sleep because of the rate Harold demands us to travel at. We are low on men, because we lost many in the previous battle. Harold seems to be sure we can win this battle though, and because of that, all the men believe it.
October 13th,1066
We are very near to Hastings now. The mood of the soldiers has changed completely. With the battle so close, all of them are anxious and ready. Harold seems as determined as ever, and so are we. We are ready to go into battle tomorrow. We keep marching as the day draws to a close. Harold tells us to stop for the night, but we all knew we wouldn’t get much sleep. For one, Harold won’t let us have many hours of sleep because of the impending battle, and we probably wont be able to get to sleep anyway.
October 14th, 1066
Today was the day. Our army assembled on a field, ready for action. Men were constantly coming and making our army grow, which for us, was a big encouragement. The noise of the whole shield wall banging their shields was breath taking. Harold’s face was unreadable, but everyone could tell he was deep in concentration. The whole army was in formation now; we were ready. We stood there, when we heard a great noise approaching us. We knew it was William. You could hear the pounding of horse hooves and the feet crunching on dead leaves of thousands of men. As William got his men into formation, we could all tell it was going to be a bloody battle. William had out numbered us,and he had an extremely strong cavalry. We weren’t about to back down though.We were all going to fight to the death, if that’s what it took, to take our country. William was ready now. He shouted a command we couldn’t hear, and all of his archers rained on us with arrows. This did little impact though, because of our mighty shield wall. I was at the back, though, because I was just part of the Fyrd, since I was only a peasant. But then it didn’t matter. All that mattered to me there was winning this battle and claiming England. The only weapons the Fyrd and I had were simple, like farmers tools. We had little to no protective clothing, but that was ok since we were at the back. Though we were unprotected and had un-useful weapons, Harold had assured us all that we were just as important to the army as he was. With him here, fighting along with us,it seems to give us encouragement and a sense of knowing we were going to succeed.
The battle carried on for hours. The Normans had discovered a way to break our shield wall by the technique of retreat, and little by little our shield wall was breaking. Though I couldn’t admit it to myself, I knew that we were beginning to lose. I looked around and saw that some of the members of the Fyrd were beginning to have the same thoughts. But then, all of a sudden, William seemed to get a new plan. He stopped the Normans retreating and shouted another order to them. I strained to hear what he was saying, but it was pointless. I watched in shock as William sent his archers back forward. He gave a count, and all the archers raised their arrows to the sky. I watched in horror as one comedown toward Harold, and hit him in the eye. With our leader dead, I found no reason to fight anymore. I ran into the woods behind us, and that was the end of my Hastings adventure.
Battle of Hasting : you are there !!!!!
Hi, my name is Nola and I have to get back in past and give some information about the battle of Hasting.
DAY 1
3, 2, 1 there we go ! We are in 1066 and I arrived in a big house. From there we could see the people working. I was in a earl family.I could hear people speaking, not english, but french. I was in Normandy.
« Come on Noah, time to go to bed » my new mum said.
DAY 2
When I woke up, I had to rember realy to act like a boy and not said « I’m from the future ». When I went down to take my breakfast, my new mu told me that I was late for my work (war training) because nomands had a professional army. Yesterday I didn’t had time to look at the country and when I was going through the village I saw that normands built wooden castle on samll hills called mottes. They were used to defend the city. The normands also used stone as well, instead of wood to constuct their main buildings such as chures, abbeys and cathedrals.
When I arrived at the war training , I saw that normands fighting methods were very differnt from thoses of the saxons. They had knights who were heavily armed soldiers who fought on horseback : they were called the Cavalery. They carried kite shape shield and coats of mail. They also had some nose guards to protect their faces. Knights fought with Swords, maces, lances or javelins.
William, Duke of Nomandy, the Normands leader, had also 2 types of foot soldiers : the helmeted soldiers in leather armor who fought with spears, swords or small hand axes. And the archers, lightly armed man who carried bows (they could kill a man at a distance of 100 m).
DAY 3
Everything was ready for war. But there was a little problem : we needed a wind from the south to make the journey to England as quick as possible. And for 1 month we waited the wind to change direction.
A MONTH LATER
One day, the wind came south and we could go ! Soldiers didn’t know how to swim and were scared of water ! The crossing was an adventure and it took us one day to reach the english coast at Pevency beach. We were expecting the English but, luckily for us, they were nowhere to be seen. At Pevency, William told us to built wooden castle on top of a motte to protect us. Other soldiers looted houses and farms in search of food and supplies.
I was hiding in the boat and was observing what was happening.
William send out some troops to tell him where the saxons were. They were at Senlac Hill. William decided to take them by surprise the next day !
And I decided to follow them in sectert.
BATTLE DAY
ORGANISATION
We had to wake up very early this morning, Saturday October 14, 1066. When we arrived we were on Telham Hill opposit of Senlac Hill (the englisch).I was hidding in a little bush not far from the battlefield. Saxons had an adventage : they were up hill and we were down hill. Seeing that the Norman soldiers felt bad. Wiliam realised this and said : « Now is the time for you to show your strenght and the courage that is yours. You fight not only for victory but also for survival. »
Then he organised his soldiers in three ranks.
The first rank was made up by archers who only wore little armour and carried only few arrows. The second rank was made up by heavely armed foot soldiers who wore chail mail and helmet and shield for protection. The third rank was made up by the knights on horsebacks in chaine mail, armed with swords and javellins.
Norman troops were also divided into 3 wings. On the left were the Breton soldiers. On the right were the Frensh and Flamish. And in the middle were the Normands.
THE BATTLE
Suddently the Normans took one step fowards and the war started. First came the morman archers but it didn’t do anything because most of the arrows when staight over the Saxons head. Then the Norman foot soldiers took place. But they had to fight up hill so the Saxon had no probleme forcing them back. Then came the norman knights. The Normans had a little succsese. From now I could hear steel striking steel and the sound of dying men.
Suddendly some foot soldiers and knights from Brittany (the left hand wing) turned into confusion by the furry of the Saxon defence. They turned and fled. I don’t know if the soldiers were really scared or this was planned. The result of that is that the some Saxon left their strong position on the hill and run after the Normans. In this rush, William fell off his horse and the Normans all thought he was dead. This means that there was no point continuing the battle for the Normans !
But William was not dead. He bravly took off his helmet and said in the middle off the battle field « look at me well ! I’m still alive, and by the grace of God I shall yet prove victory ».
From this point the battle turn to the adventage of the Normans. William ordered to surrround the Saxons who came out of the rank down hill. Twice Saxon soldiers chased Norman soldiers down the hill, and twice they were cut into pieces. Slowly the Normans with their better weapons, their archers, and their knights on horseback began to win the battle.
Now the Norman archers have to shoot their arrows up hight in the air. And this is how Harold was dead with an arrow in his eye.
The war was finally finished.
William, Duke of Normandy will become King of England.
Back to 2009
Suddenly, I heard a loud sound coming from my hand. And I knew that I had to go back to 2009 now. What an adventure !
The END
The journey to 1066
Friday 9th October,
Dear Diary,
Hello my name is Pierre and I work at the International Museum of History. Recently we have raised funds for a time machine so we can learn more about history and share it with the world. Finally the day has come that we have built a time machine and I have been nominated to be the first man to walk through time and discover the world’s biggest secrets. My first assignment was to go to the battle of Hastings, I already knew enough about the battle to not get killed so I was confident that I will survive the battle. Before I went my friend Jacob (who also works with me) said; remember, you’re a middle classed villager who recently moved there and who wants to be a blacksmith to help William Duke of Normandy conquer England. I stepped into the time machine and told everybody “See you in a second.” Jacob yelled, “Wait, don’t forget to write in your journal.” “Ok” I said. I then closed the door, set the date to 9th of October 1066 and hit enter. Everything started spinning fast then faster and then it got slower until everything stopped. I opened the door and found myself in a freezing cow field and thought I’d better stay in the time machine for the night.
Saturday 10th October
Dear Diary,
After an uncomfortable sleep in the time machine I got up and bought a horse and a giant wooden wagon which I used to carry around the time machine. While in the village there was a giant farmers market where I purchased hay which I used to hide the time machine. I also purchased an anvil, a hammer, a couple of sheets of metal and some fresh food. Now that I have materials necessary to be a blacksmith I only need to know how to get into the Duke of Normandy’s army and the Battle of Hastings which I have to be a part of in just four days!
Sunday 11th October
Dear Diary,
Last night I slept on hay in the wagon and as soon as I woke up I walked around the village and sketched what I saw. After breakfast I tried to spot some soldiers recruiting new people to be in William’s army. After a couple of hours of no luck I spotted some tough looking men walking into the village. One of them stood on top of a crate and started talking really loud in French. Another man stood by him and repeated what the man was saying in English and said something about joining the army of William Duke of Normandy. “Yes, this is it!” I thought, I just need to find out from the English speaking one if they need a blacksmith. If they say yes then this is going to be a success for sure! Then I walked over to him and said “Hi my name is Pierre and I would like to be a blacksmith in William’s army. I even brought my own anvil and metal.” Then he just stared at me with his eyes wide open and said, “Are thou saying that thou is a blacksmith?” Uuu… Yes. “Fantastique!” the man shouted, hugged me and told the other French man something and that man smiled and hugged me harder than the English man did. “Bringith your supplies blacksmith, thou has long journey ahead of himself.” A little confused I brought my horse and followed the Englishmen to a camp. The good thing is I’m not sleeping in a medal time machine or on top of some hay but on a comfortable tent in a town near the Norman fleet of boats
Monday 12th October
Dear Diary
This morning I was sleeping soundly when the man who spoke English came into my tent and screamed “Wake up!” I practically jumped out of my bed when that foghorn of a voice went off. “Come on then” said the man dragging me out of my tent and put me in front of my anvil and handed me my hammer. “Thou shall make this.” he took my hammer and got a long piece of hot steel and pounded it until it was shaped like a sword. “Now thou shall create a sword like I did and I shall sharpen it.” “Oh no” I thought, while the man was watching me I took out the long piece of metal and tried hammering it like the man did. After a while I made a not too bad sword and the man sharpened it until it couldn’t get any sharper. We did this for hours and I think I got the hang of it but we only made twenty five swords in about six hours. By now I was afraid that the man might have a hunch that I’m not a blacksmith. When noon came and we all had lunch, suddenly everybody stood up at attention to one man and it took me a second to figure out that that man was William Duke of Normandy. His face looks just like the description in the monk scrolls. Just then an arrow zoomed by my face and skidded past Williams head and missed him. Another arrow flew by and a brave knight jumped up and took the hit of the arrow. Just then my horse ran and knocks over the man who was shooting all of the arrows and knocked him clean out. Someone shouted “Whose horse did that?” “It’s my horse” I said. The brave Knight who took the arrow just lay on the table until medics came and removed the arrow from the knight’s arm and talked to the scared William and my friend who can speak English said “Thou are too weak to fight.” Who shall take his place, said my friend. William Stood up and said something in French that I didn’t understand. What did he say I said to the English speaking man, he said “thou shall be granted the rank of knight whoever owns that horse.” “Wait I own that horse!” All of a sudden everybody turned to me and William walked towards me, took out his sword and said something I didn’t understand. My friend whispered to me that Lord William Duke wishes to know your name. “Pierre sir”, Then William said Pierre and the rest I did not understand and put his sword on my left and right soldier and my friend said “thou are now a knight.” “Oh no” I thought as we all got on our ancient boats to invade England and I got on Williams exclusive boat with my friend and thought that this may end badly.
Tuesday, 13th October
Dear Diary,
Early this morning our fleet washed up on England’s shore. My friend and the rest of the army looked pleasantly surprised that there was no army here. Relieved, everyone climbed out of their ships and got their weapons out. All were ready to terrorize the villages in order to grab the king of England Harold Goodwinsons attention. After a long hike to the first small village we saw that it had only a small mound of dirt to protect itself. However, what the soldiers where about to do to the village could not be protected by the dirt. All of a sudden, William Duke of Normandy gave a battle cry and the rest of the army joined him in screaming. William then charged and the rest of his army followed as well. Unfortunately, I had to do the same charge with the soldiers and destroy the village. As we moved down I saw the people and they were dirty and wore rags; this must mean it is a peasant village. We also slaughtered all their animals and put all of their straw houses and crops in a mighty blaze of fire. All day today we did the same, pillaging and plundering villages until we moved to Hastings. There we celebrated with food and wine all night about our mighty victory. By now a messenger must be informing Harold Goodwinson about William Duke of Normandy’s invasion.
Wednesday 14th October
Dear Diary
Today I woke up early to train for the battle because being from the future I knew that today is the date of the Battle of Hastings. So after an hour of training a watch out man spotted King Harold’s army on top of Senlac hill and everyone got battle prepped for battle. Once everyone was ready we all moved out, then I thought to myself just block with my shied and keep my distance from the English shield wall. The English shield wall was used when locking together their shields to form a defensive line against the enemy. However, the most important rule I must remember is trying not to kill anyone because if I do that it might cause catastrophic changes to the future. Once we reached the battle field it was very misty and Goodwinsons army was dead a head of us clacking their swords against their shields to try and intimidate us so we did the same thing to them. With electricity buzzing through my head that there is nothing to worry about the archers positioned themselves and fired there arrows. I remember this part of the battle, where the English had an uphill advantage so the arrows couldn’t reach them and I was right. All of the arrows just hit either the ground or the shields not even harming the English. I thought to myself that next William sent his troops into the battle. Then he did, William gave us the order to go towards the English. Calming myself down I thought no pressure, just stay away from all of the fighting. I managed not to get hurt for a while but a crowd of my men pushed me and my horse to the left side of the field towards the shield wall. “Oh no” I thought as I was blocking all of the swords trying to cut me and my horse and all of a sudden all of the Bretons retreated down the battle field. The Bretons where supporters of William Duke of Normandy. Unfortunately I had no chance but to run with them because half of the English army is chasing me! “If I turn around towards the battle field I might not get cornered by the English in the marshy river ahead.” Just as I was escaping from the English I saw that William had positioned all of his archers in the back. Then the archers aimed there bows towards the sky and flew down on to the English. This must be the part of the battle where Harold Goodwinson was killed from an arrow going through his eye. By now I have figured out that this is where I should leave this time period but I want to talk to my friend before I go. So once I got to him I jumped off my horse and said here take my horse, “why?” He said, well because I’m going back to where I came from and you can have all my stuff. Oh and what’s your name friend? Anthony Ores he yelled. Oh, Good bye Anthony! Good bye Pierre! After that I ran down the hill and now it seemed that the English where surrendering and fleeing as I rushed to the time machine. Once there I take the time machine out of the giant wooden wagon and get inside. Then I turn the dial to October 9th 2009 and punch enter. Everything started going fast then faster and then got slower until everything stopped and I had just been away from the International Museum of History for only a second.
The Battle Of Hastings 1066
Sunday 4/08/1066:
I just got trough the time machine! All the people look very strange to me: they are very small. The streets are very small and they are also very dirty because the people throw their detritus on the streets. The streets don’t smell very well because they clean the streets only one time a year. When it rains the streets are very muddy. On the street there are many people who sell clothes and other stuffs. People are working on the street. Animals like cows and pigs are on the street. People are busy preparing the boats, making shields and weapons. It’s all for the battle. For this reason I’m here. I know that William Duke of Normandy wants to be the king of England. Before Edward died, he had said to William that he would be the throne successor. But when Edward died, Harold Godwinson, the second most powerful man in England and an advisor to Edward ,took the throne . Harold and Edward became brothers-in-law when the king married Harold's sister. Harold Godwinson took the throne the day after Edwards death. William was very mad at Harold . He wanted to conquer the Anglo-Saxon army. King Harold went to the North side of England to attack Harald Hadraada’s army. So actually there are 3 men fighting for the throne. And I chose for William’s side!! So now all these people are working for William. I think I need to help with the boats.
Sunday 4/08/1066 evening:
I’m glad there is a house where I can sleep and eat. The houses are made of wood. The houses have only 1 space where they cook, eat, sleep and work . People have no earthemware but only wooden bowls, spoons ,… I sleep in prickly straw mattress. There are also farms and churches. The churches are made of stone.
Friday 27/09/1066:
At last , we can go with the boats to England. We have been waiting for 6 weeks so that the wind was ok before we could leave.
Saterday 28/09/1066:
We landed by Pevensey with 3000 ships with men, sheep, weapons and horses. Nobody is on the beach . We Normans didn’t see the Saxons. We made a reinforcement on a moot. We looted the houses.
It was hard to distinguish in the fight friend from enemy. It was difficult to recognise en their harnesses. Thus one used colourful signs and shields as well as banners and flags, so one knew against whom one was fighting.
Monday 14/10/1066 :
In the morning we were on the battlefield. We were at the foot off the hill. The Anglo-Saxons were at the top. We have many men, they are feudatories, macrons, barons, knights, … We also have French and Flemish. We look much stronger than Harold’s army. We have knights on horses and the other don’t. The battle begins, I’m a foot soldier. We attack. I’m wearing a chain mail coat and a helmet. I have a shield and a spear. The men on the horses also had swords and some of them had bows. We fight for hours and hours, the chain male is very heavy, I’m sweating. I’m a bit scared that I will be hit by a spear or a sword or something else. But I know that I am flashed as soon as someone comes down. In the middle of all this chaos, Duke William fell off his horse. We thought : “ o no Duke William is dead, what do we need to do if Duke William is dead, what was the point of going on?” But then Duke William takes another horse , he takes off his helm and shouts out to his troops, “Look at me well! I am still alive, and by the grace of God I shall yet prove victor!” King Harold has a flag with a white and red fighting man. Suddenly, I see that we, the Normans got the flag of King Harold. That means that he is dead. Harold was hit in his eye by an arrow.
It ‘s horribly to see all the dead men, some are only age 15.
Tuesday 15/10/1066:
William, duke of Normandy is the throne successor!! We have to hurry now. We go for London because William will get the throne before there is someone else that takes it.
The end
charlotte De Fraye
I just got trough the time machine! All the people look very strange to me: they are very small. The streets are very small and they are also very dirty because the people throw their detritus on the streets. The streets don’t smell very well because they clean the streets only one time a year. When it rains the streets are very muddy. On the street there are many people who sell clothes and other stuffs. People are working on the street. Animals like cows and pigs are on the street. People are busy preparing the boats, making shields and weapons. It’s all for the battle. For this reason I’m here. I know that William Duke of Normandy wants to be the king of England. Before Edward died, he had said to William that he would be the throne successor. But when Edward died, Harold Godwinson, the second most powerful man in England and an advisor to Edward ,took the throne . Harold and Edward became brothers-in-law when the king married Harold's sister. Harold Godwinson took the throne the day after Edwards death. William was very mad at Harold . He wanted to conquer the Anglo-Saxon army. King Harold went to the North side of England to attack Harald Hadraada’s army. So actually there are 3 men fighting for the throne. And I chose for William’s side!! So now all these people are working for William. I think I need to help with the boats.
Sunday 4/08/1066 evening:
I’m glad there is a house where I can sleep and eat. The houses are made of wood. The houses have only 1 space where they cook, eat, sleep and work . People have no earthemware but only wooden bowls, spoons ,… I sleep in prickly straw mattress. There are also farms and churches. The churches are made of stone.
Friday 27/09/1066:
At last , we can go with the boats to England. We have been waiting for 6 weeks so that the wind was ok before we could leave.
Saterday 28/09/1066:
We landed by Pevensey with 3000 ships with men, sheep, weapons and horses. Nobody is on the beach . We Normans didn’t see the Saxons. We made a reinforcement on a moot. We looted the houses.
It was hard to distinguish in the fight friend from enemy. It was difficult to recognise en their harnesses. Thus one used colourful signs and shields as well as banners and flags, so one knew against whom one was fighting.
Monday 14/10/1066 :
In the morning we were on the battlefield. We were at the foot off the hill. The Anglo-Saxons were at the top. We have many men, they are feudatories, macrons, barons, knights, … We also have French and Flemish. We look much stronger than Harold’s army. We have knights on horses and the other don’t. The battle begins, I’m a foot soldier. We attack. I’m wearing a chain mail coat and a helmet. I have a shield and a spear. The men on the horses also had swords and some of them had bows. We fight for hours and hours, the chain male is very heavy, I’m sweating. I’m a bit scared that I will be hit by a spear or a sword or something else. But I know that I am flashed as soon as someone comes down. In the middle of all this chaos, Duke William fell off his horse. We thought : “ o no Duke William is dead, what do we need to do if Duke William is dead, what was the point of going on?” But then Duke William takes another horse , he takes off his helm and shouts out to his troops, “Look at me well! I am still alive, and by the grace of God I shall yet prove victor!” King Harold has a flag with a white and red fighting man. Suddenly, I see that we, the Normans got the flag of King Harold. That means that he is dead. Harold was hit in his eye by an arrow.
It ‘s horribly to see all the dead men, some are only age 15.
Tuesday 15/10/1066:
William, duke of Normandy is the throne successor!! We have to hurry now. We go for London because William will get the throne before there is someone else that takes it.
The end
charlotte De Fraye
Dear diary By GodCarlos Le
1066 September 20th
Today I will go back in time to the middle ages, more specifically to the 1066. I am going to report back to the future on how life was in the middle ages and how people lived before and after battle. There people can’t know that I am from the future and in this case I have to use a different name and I will be using Acwel Arthur. I will be fighting on Harold Godwineson’s side as a saxon.
1066 September 21st
Edward the confessor king of England died in January 5th 1066. Edward had no children therefore there was no one to take the throne of England. There were three men who claimed they were the rightful men to take the throne these men were Harold Godwineson , Harald Hardraada and William the duke of Normandy. Unfortunately for Hardraada and William Harold Godwineson had the best claim and became the king of England. But they weren’t going to give up like that they were going to fight for the throne.
1066 September 22n
I arrived in the 1066 and I need to get new clothes because people can see me and know that I am from the future. So I got myself a long cloth and a chainmail on top, most people wore the long cloth but I was going to be a warior so therefore I needed chainmail and a sword and a shield. I also needed to eat food from there because if they see me eating Oreos they will know I am from the future. I saw that lots of people eating bread drinking water. Some of the wealthier people ate fruits but I wasn’t going to be a wealthy person.
1066 September 23rd
Harald Hardraada had arrived in the north of England and started to burn small towns. As the Saxons all marched to the north to attack Hardrada I waited in London and explored how people lived there.
The final fight for the English throne!
Dear dairy
Written 12th October 1066 B.C
I have been sent from the future. A vogue only thought of by little boys who had heard of it in stories before going to sleep. Fortunately in 2008 a very secret and quiet project was finally complete. A time machine, after millions of pounds and many, many years we finally can travel thorough time. Just as well in the nick of time because in 2010 they have scheduled to revive William the conqueror. The people of the UK military don’t agree to these arrangements and ethics that the museums share. It is my job to stop William the conqueror from being king of England this may cause some changes in the future that we must live in, but it is for the sake of the good. I came out of the time vortex in ordinary gear for a house Carl a stronger mail chest, a helmet protecting my head, plated leg armour, gloves and boots. I thought I did a very good job of blending in today. The army has not arrived from Stamford Bridge yet and I shall get a job as a merchant until they come home. Later the next day at around 3:30 AM I went out hunting for meat to sell. I found it demeaning after two hours of hunting I kill 4 deer and I have not sold any meat hard work no money.
Dear dairy
Written 13th October 1066 B.C
As night broke into day I had accidentally dosed off while seating down waiting for someone to buy my meat. I wake up around 1 O’ clock and find I have no meat now, but that didn’t bother me because the army was arriving. This meant that you would get ale and bread when you get home from battle. Thankfully I was accepted as a solider because of my gear. I quickly asked a solider if he wanted me hold his sword so it looked like I had just fought. That night I was told not to make to many friends because it may alter time, but I was a little too happy to have some ale and drank too much. I met George who is only fifteen which made me feel bad about drinking with him. As well he joined the army because the Vikings had killed his parent’s which is why he fought in Stamford Bridge. I also met Edwin who is twenty-four and it surprises to see how much the human race has evolved because when I was talking to him he did not know what the sun was or how to read. I felt privileged to know so many things that I never thought were important. When they asked me my name I answered the first name that came to me I answered “William Sheffield”. That night I had nowhere to sleep so I feel asleep onto the table when everyone else left.
Dear diary
Written October 1066 B.C
In the morning George and Edwin came in the cafeteria and woke me up I got my gear on then realized that I was going into battle I was really paying attention to that part until I thought about while getting my gear on. The problem was that it was an alarm saying that the Normans were attacking in the south. As we marched down towards the blue wavy sea I felt scared, the weeks of training and tactical learning it took for me too learn the English battle formation were just slipping away like the howling wind passing my eyes. As we spotted the Normans at the bottom of the hill we form our shield wall stay in the middle become more scared every second the Normans came closer. After 1 hour of useless fighting I see a black cloud of some sort coming over me which I then suddenly realize is a pack of arrows I shout “Arrows!” This was a stupid decision by me because most people looked up and got hit in the eye. I saw a gap in the wall I quickly filled eat at that moment I swallowed my fear and fought for what I thought was right and stopped being scarred. After another few hours of them hitting our shields and our shields hitting them the Normans started to retreat then for some reason Edwin who was also in the front of the wall ran after the Normans this was not a good idea. Our entire wall started to follow Edwin I stayed back as another cloud of arrows strikes our army I knew that this fight was lost. I did not go down without a fight I went on a rampage running at the enemy striking anything in my path with a powerful blow. I went thorough about ten or fifteen people when I suddenly feel a sharp piercing in my knee I look down and find an arrow caught between a small gap in my legs. As I fell towards the ground I thought about not one man can change anything it is a group challenge. I crawled towards a river to wash the wound, but the pain was too deep I took my sword and cut under the arrow so it falls out. My leg was incredible hurt I had to crawl to the nearest medical attention facility. Now here I am one and half legs just finishing a useless mission that was a complete failure. If humanity can not sort out issues with each other then how can you learn to compromise or agree on decisions that clearly need to be discussed between the two parties even if they have different laws or beliefs. My portal back too the 21st century comes on the 16th of October which gives me time to rest I shall use this event as something to learn from and not try to redo.
Austin Irving
Bibliography
Historic-uk.com
Britannica.com
1066 the year of conquest by David Howarth
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings
Battle of Stanford Bridge
Journal
Lately I have been on quite an interesting trip to 1066 to experience a legendary battle. The Battle of Stamford Bridge. I became a Viking called Olaf Henriksson; I live in Norway and I’m a fishmonger. It all started early September…
September 14
We were just about to invade England, when our leader Harald Hadraada gave an electrifying speech, motivating us all. Vikings shall rein England once again.
September 18
We arrived early this morning on the British coast. The first thing we did was to invade York, but my battalion didn’t, so I wasn’t there. Meanwhile we set up camp around the bridge, relaxing and preparing to fight. We knew it would take a long time for Harold’s army to arrive, so we were having the time of our lives.
September 25
After 7 days of settling and preparing, on the horizon we could see a cloud of dust. Strange weather. We noticed it getting bigger and coming in our way. A friend of mine called Thon Frederickson reckons it’s the Saxon army, but we all refused his idea. They couldn’t have arrived so quickly. Soon we could see the shapes forming, and it was the faces of angry Saxon warriors. Thon was right. Not only that, but our camp was on the other side of the river.
We all ran as fast as we can to cross the bridge. I saw Thon’s face in the middle of the crowd squelching with blood. Terrorized, I made it to our camp alive. “S… S… Sax… Saxon!” I managed to mutter, although they must’ve already known. My battalion I left on the other side of the bridge were successfully holding out the enemy. The rest of our army and I were getting our axes and spears; we didn’t have time to put our armour on. My battalion didn’t hold on for long and were easily defeated. Right when we thought that they would reduce us to pulp, a brave Norseman courageously stood on the bridge alone. I believe he was one of Haralds elite soldier squad because he held off the Saxons for a remarkably long time. We just had enough time to hear a morale-boosting speech and to put on our helmets.
This was it. We could hear the loud cries of the Saxons as they approached to form their wall. For a few minutes we just chanted and cheer until our throats started scorching. Harald went to make an announcement in front of the entire Saxon army. “The throne of England shall be mine!” he hollered. “Never!” replied Harold Godwineson. And that’s when our walls crashed and our battle commenced. It was brutal and bloody to the bone, if you still had any intact, that is. Our men were falling by the minute, as we didn’t have armour. The sound of swords clashing, shields hitting and skulls breaking continued until dusk. Our army was diminishing; we knew that we were losing.
Soon, I heard some news from a fellow warrior. He said that Harald is dead. We were all demoralized, and the smell of dead bodies didn’t help it either they infiltrated our wall and started eating us up from the inside. I desperately retreated to avoid being killed by the angry Saxon fighters that now surrounded me. Me and some other Vikings ran for our life, quite literally. After they finished us off they celebrated between their king and started running back into the horizon, just like as they came. Few ships were left undamaged so the remaining Vikings and me sailed back to our lands, feeling sick and frustrated. Our villages back home won’t be happy at all with the devastating news of failure. We reeked of it.
Alas, the Viking golden age has come to a close leaving the throne of England to be debated by the Saxons and the Normans.
September 29
We arrived back to Norway to resume our normal lives. That was when I travelled back to 2009.
The end
By Alex Anagnostopoulos
Lately I have been on quite an interesting trip to 1066 to experience a legendary battle. The Battle of Stamford Bridge. I became a Viking called Olaf Henriksson; I live in Norway and I’m a fishmonger. It all started early September…
September 14
We were just about to invade England, when our leader Harald Hadraada gave an electrifying speech, motivating us all. Vikings shall rein England once again.
September 18
We arrived early this morning on the British coast. The first thing we did was to invade York, but my battalion didn’t, so I wasn’t there. Meanwhile we set up camp around the bridge, relaxing and preparing to fight. We knew it would take a long time for Harold’s army to arrive, so we were having the time of our lives.
September 25
After 7 days of settling and preparing, on the horizon we could see a cloud of dust. Strange weather. We noticed it getting bigger and coming in our way. A friend of mine called Thon Frederickson reckons it’s the Saxon army, but we all refused his idea. They couldn’t have arrived so quickly. Soon we could see the shapes forming, and it was the faces of angry Saxon warriors. Thon was right. Not only that, but our camp was on the other side of the river.
We all ran as fast as we can to cross the bridge. I saw Thon’s face in the middle of the crowd squelching with blood. Terrorized, I made it to our camp alive. “S… S… Sax… Saxon!” I managed to mutter, although they must’ve already known. My battalion I left on the other side of the bridge were successfully holding out the enemy. The rest of our army and I were getting our axes and spears; we didn’t have time to put our armour on. My battalion didn’t hold on for long and were easily defeated. Right when we thought that they would reduce us to pulp, a brave Norseman courageously stood on the bridge alone. I believe he was one of Haralds elite soldier squad because he held off the Saxons for a remarkably long time. We just had enough time to hear a morale-boosting speech and to put on our helmets.
This was it. We could hear the loud cries of the Saxons as they approached to form their wall. For a few minutes we just chanted and cheer until our throats started scorching. Harald went to make an announcement in front of the entire Saxon army. “The throne of England shall be mine!” he hollered. “Never!” replied Harold Godwineson. And that’s when our walls crashed and our battle commenced. It was brutal and bloody to the bone, if you still had any intact, that is. Our men were falling by the minute, as we didn’t have armour. The sound of swords clashing, shields hitting and skulls breaking continued until dusk. Our army was diminishing; we knew that we were losing.
Soon, I heard some news from a fellow warrior. He said that Harald is dead. We were all demoralized, and the smell of dead bodies didn’t help it either they infiltrated our wall and started eating us up from the inside. I desperately retreated to avoid being killed by the angry Saxon fighters that now surrounded me. Me and some other Vikings ran for our life, quite literally. After they finished us off they celebrated between their king and started running back into the horizon, just like as they came. Few ships were left undamaged so the remaining Vikings and me sailed back to our lands, feeling sick and frustrated. Our villages back home won’t be happy at all with the devastating news of failure. We reeked of it.
Alas, the Viking golden age has come to a close leaving the throne of England to be debated by the Saxons and the Normans.
September 29
We arrived back to Norway to resume our normal lives. That was when I travelled back to 2009.
The end
By Alex Anagnostopoulos
Battle of Hastings: Norman Perspective
Hi, my name is Jonas Frumkin and I will be your guide to the Norman side of the battle of Hastings. We recently developed the means to go back in time and decided to go back to the battle of Hastings to try it out. I will be Hugh de Montfort a Norman Noble and a friend of William. To prevent changing the future I will not say I’m from the future nor mention the future at all in my journal. I hope you find my journal interesting and educational.
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12 January 1066:
Edward is dead! Harold is King! Can you believe it Edward has just died and that atrocious Harold Godwinson has already crowned himself
king. That backstabbing liar I fought with him in Brittany and never thought he could be this sinful. Anyway I expect William shall decide to invade and claim what is rightfully his.
15 January 1066:
A messenger from William just arrived he says William has decided to invade and is going to Italy to get the Pope’s support.
7 March 1066:
William has returned from Italy not only with the Pope’s blessing but also with many Italian nobles willing to help the Normans in the Invasion of Britain.
9 March 1066:
Another messenger from William came today. This time he is requesting (ordering), that I provide the materials for 50 ships and 200 men + the supplies to feed them. He says without them the invasion would fail. Apparently he is being very persuasive because some of the other nobles don’t want to fight, even for the glory of Normandy. He also says it is my duty as a nobleman to help the greater cause of Normandy. Of course I agreed to his ‘request.’
18 March 1066:
I’ve gathered together the men William required and commandeered enough wood and carts to transport them to Dieppe where William is building the invasion fleet. When that is finished we will invade England.
23 March 1066:
I and my men arrived at the beach today. William, himself, greeted me and said “thank you providing the men to fight for the glory of your country.” He also told me that, “the building of the ships will commence immediately.”
8 August 1066:
The fleet was finished today. It was great news to the soldiers who had been getting very restless. But then the sea captain emerged from William’s tent and proclaimed that the wind was not blowing in the right direction and we could not set sail yet. It crushed the spirits of the soldiers and made them ever so more restless.
27 September 1066:
Amazing news! The wind has changed. We can set sail today. All the soldiers are forming a crush towards the boats and spirits are up. Hopefully, next time I write it will be in England.
28 September 1066:
We landed in England at about 10 in the morning. It surprised us all and made us happy that the English had left the beaches and we were completely unopposed. Although most of the men would have liked a fight as they spent most of the journey over the Channel firing themselves up for battle. Later, I found out that in a great bit of luck, our invasion had coincided with the invasion of the Vikings in the North and the English were occupied fighting them.
13 October 1066:
We have received word from our scouts that the English are storming down from the North after they defeated the Vikings at Stamford Bridge. Hopefully, t
hey will be very tired when they arrive. William gave a rousing speech in which he talked about the riches of England and how he had the Pope’s support, which means he must win. He also told
us toprepare for battle. My Stable boy immediately came over immediately and started to help me put on the leather shirt used for comfort, he then slid the ¾ length chain mail hauberk that split at the waist to below the knee to make for easy riding. On my left side he strapped on the baldric, and then handed me my sword which I twirled in the air before majestically slotting it into my baldric. He promptly tied the kite shaped shield to my left arm and finally slides my helmet onto my head and helped me onto my horse. Lastly he handed me my spear.
15 October 1066:
We won! It’s amazing nine long hours of fighting and finally we broke the English shield wall. It was amazing the feeling of relief it gave us, the Normans. The fact that we could finally use our position as cavalry to do something other than smash against the wall. I even advanced through the English and found Harold almost dead with an arrow in his eye. I and five other knights were responsible for making sure he was dead and mutilating him. The battle started of with both of us staring each other down them at the top of the hill and us at the bottom of the hill. In Hasting we used the proved and effective benchmark Norman tactics. Which proceeded as follows: Firstly we tried to soften them up with arrows but they just clashed into their shields or soared over their heads. Then the infantry charged but they couldn’t break the shield wall either. We tried to helped but charging the shield wall was suicide. Eventually we settled for just throw our spears into their ranks and then turning back for another. But then suddenly the Bretons turned and ran (we argued for hours after the battle about whether it was William’s brilliant tactics or the Bretons cowardice) the English sensing victory charged after them and rushed down the hill. But then William led some Normans around the back of the English and the Bretons inspired turned and slaughtered every last English pursuer. The gap in our lines was sealed up soon afterwards. William seeing the success of this false retreat ordered us to use this tactic to tempt the English out of the shield wall in small groups. We used this many times up and down the shield wall each time killing a fair number of English soldiers each time. Then William had another brilliant idea, he ordered the archers to fire their arrows up into the sky. This killed many an English soldier, including Harold himself. Most of the English seeing that Harold was dead ran from the battlefield apart from the loyal housecarls who fought to their death protecting Harold’s body. In the end Harold’s body was chopped up and thrown in the sea. The Normans had won the Battle of Hastings and changed the history of England for ever.
The End.
Battle of Hasting by LEVI!!!!
Dear Diary,
I’m walking from Tesco and while I'm walking, I think about the invasion of 1066. Then, BOOM!!!! I find myself in a boat without engines; the people around me stank and were stuffing themselves with the things I bought. Those guys spoke some sort of Latin. And are those the cloth that the normans use to paint called bayeux tapestry i studied about???
Early 27 September 1066, the English Channel
Dear Diary,
I can’t figure out where the heck I am. All I know is that it is very early in the morning and the soldiers are covered with armour, carrying spears and things like that. There is a very large fleet of ships. I think I am in the Norman Invasion of 1066 I was thinking about!!! We land in a place locals call Pevensey and we camped there.
14 October 1066, Seglac Lake Hill
Dear Diary,
Harold Godwinson has recently defeated the Norwegians and was marched 400 km in 15 days from York. The whole of the Saxon army was exhausted. Harold knew he had lost his best men at Stamford Bridge and yet he didn’t hesitate to meet us.
It was a misty morning and the two armies faced each other on Seglac Lake, meaning bloody lake. We were on the foot of the hill, so the enemy had an advantage over us. The Housecarls were there, about 3000 of them. They had heavy axes and these could split a man in two in one blow. Also they wore a chainmail they call a byrnie, their sleeves were left short to enable freedom in their arm movement literally meaning they would split up more soldiers.They wore a pointed helmet so it protects them against swords. .William ordered the infantry to move up to break the shield wall that the Saxons had made up. After that, the Archers were ordered to open fire against the Saxons. The arrow either harmlessly overshot the heads of the Saxons or even more harmlessly struck the ground meters away from their feet. The fight was so closely packed somebody stabbed the same Saxon soldiers about 15 times thinking that he was alive when he was actually dead; because he didn’t have the time to fall to the ground. That's just how closely packed the battle was. 
William fed up with that seemingly harmless attack noticed that the only way to win the Saxons was to break their shield wall. Then, all of a sudden, we watched the Britons simply turn around and run away down hill, exactly the way he wanted. The Saxons, not resisting the temptation, broke the shield wall of which by then had worked so well. The archers shot their arrows upwards and they nosedived on the Saxon army, killing Harold by the eye.Then the rest of our army ran down the hill, joining the rest of the Norman army to come back with a trap. Shortly afterwards the Saxons found them selves in a trap. The same trap they did at Stamford Bridge against the Vikings. They were quickly surrounded and slaughtered without mercy. We won the battle of Hastings!!!!
Suddenly something hit me in my head.
Dear Diary,
I found myself sitting on the road in front of my house. I ran as fast as I could to my house to tell my mum.
My mom said, “Why did you take so long? Don’t tell me you went back to 1066 to take part in the Battle of Hastings or you fought side-by-side William the Conqueror. That will be a dumb excuse.”
“Actually, yes, ” I say.
She won’t believe what I have just been through.
The Battle of Hastings
Daphné De C raecker, 7A
10.10.09
Journal
26th September 1066
I have finally arrived to Normandy in the medieval ages, 1066. I have come from the modern times to investigate the Battle of Hastings. I am in a tavern and have called myself Ozouf Dippery (Ozouf means ‘Gods Wolf’’ in Norman). The tavern is full of soldiers ready to go off to war. William has ordered all the soldiers to behave well and not loot all the villages around us. I can feel everybody getting irritated by having to stay in a village doing nothing, waiting hopefully that the wind will change so we can get on those ships and go invade ENGLAND!
27th September 1066
The winds have changed! I am very excited that the battle is coming up. We are all full of joy at the fact that we will finally fight the English. I don’t know which boat I’m supposed to be on. Oh, well I’ll just go into the far left one with the horses in them. In the battle I am in the Cavalry, so I take this time to have a look at the horse that I will ride. The Norman horses are fine horses they were warriors as well because they bit, kicked and head butted our enemies. As soon as everybody is on the ships we sail off. I look back and see the villagers are waving us good-bye from the shore. We wait in those ships reading ourselves for the battle approaching when we arrive onto the English shore. As I watch the sun sinking into the water, I decide to have an early night before the combat tomorrow.
28th September 1066
We are in England, we have unloaded everybody and everything, but nobody is on the beach it’s deserted. We were all expecting a battle and there is absolutely nothing here, but sand. What a let down, we were all expecting a huge battle. Even the King is wound up on how there is nothing here. William is very exasperated so he has sent a scout up ahead to find how far the closest village is. I wonder where the English are!
Later on, the scout said that there was a small village called Pevency. William decided to go attack the village and loot it. He did this to provoke Harold into an early battle. We had a go at raiding the few villages around Pevency as well.
14th October 1066
The Saxons have arrived! Finally. This is the day that will change the future. We met the English near a small slope or hill. The fight was near a village we call nowadays Battle, this village is 6 miles/10km inland from Hastings; this is where the name comes from. They had put themselves on top of the hill they were all standing there with their blockade of shields (facing front). We on the other hand were at the bottom of the slope/hill we were all formed like this:
William thought about what to do. He used the tactic he used to conquer other countries. He fired his archers onto the opposition’s shields to break their 1st lines, but to no avail. Then, William sent everybody to attack the shield wall. This didn’t help either. We kept on fighting and I was getting tired. The cavalry were useless for the moment while all the Infantry where fighting the English. There were a lot of men on foot, several thousand men. There were about 2000 men on horses, who were waiting to be ordered to do something. Then, on the left hand of the battlefield some men began to retreat, so the English feeling victory followed them.
William then told us to go behind the English that were chasing our men, and kill them. So, we galloped down to them and slaughtered them one by one. One of these Cavalry charges could be quite scary if you are a man just standing on the ground waiting for the heavy blow on your head. When, William saw what happened he told other men to pretend retreating again so the cavalry could charge those few men that followed our retreating men again and again. Still William saw that this was not breaking the shield wall. He ordered everyone back and said to the archers to shoot upwards. It worked! The arrows fell back down on the people behind the shields, who were defenceless. Harold got shot in the eye by one of those arrows.
When the English knew their King and his brothers were dead it became havoc the shield wall sagged and we charged right through them. When all the English had either fled or were dead we chopped up Harold and threw him into the sea. We had won the Battle of Hastings!
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