06/11/2012

Cyngard Egbert

Journal of Cyngard Egbert
Early September 1066

       Today King Harold ran out of money to feed us.  He sent us home.  We have been waiting for William to invade from France, but the seas are rough and he has not come.  Cooked carrots and mashed potatoes, here I come!  My wife will be so pleased to see me.  She is the best cook in the world.  But I have a long walk home first-if I’m lucky I can hire a cart once I get near the towns.  I’ll have to get my things together first- I think Wilston stole my underwear.  He was saying he had run out of clean ones just yesterday. 

September 1066
A few days later

       I have enjoyed the hospitality of my wife, Beornwyn, but I have just received news that Harald Hadraada has invaded England.  King Harold is in a sticky mess now.  But I’d better pack now.  I’ll put a checklist of what I need below, so that I don’t forget anything. 

Clothes (5 outfits)
Spare underwear (1 pair)
A cooking pot
A pan
Hard-boiled eggs (as many as will fit in a sock)
Carrots (10)
2 blankets
A pillow
2 quills and ink
This journal

I think I’ve covered everything.  I’ll tick them off as I go along, but I need to go now, Beornwyn’s calling for supper. 

23 September 1066
A few days later

I asked Beornwyn the date before I left.  I have been walking for a couple days now with the rest of the army.  We’re all tired and hungry, so we have a well-earned rest, only about 2 minutes, though.  Time to keep walking now. 

24 September 1066

There is a rumor that we will get to Stamford Bridge tomorrow.  We are planning to ambush Harald Hadraada’s army.  They are not expecting us for several days.  I am trying to write as I walk, but Wilston is teasing me.  Soldiers don’t keep diaries, he says.  I have just told him soldiers don’t lose their underwear, either.  That shut him up. 

25 September 1066

We’ve ambushed Harald!  He wasn’t ready at all, and neither was his army.  They were relaxing in front of the river, not even armed.  We couldn’t believe our luck!  He put half of his army in front of the river when he saw us, and half in the back, behind the river, getting a shield wall ready.  But this plan failed.  Hadraada’s army was forced backward into the river.  They drowned.  But there is a single Viking keeping everyone from crossing the bridge.  Pathetic, that we are letting one man kill so many of us.  Now I am hiding under a bush, writing.  Here I have a clear view of the battle.  Wait a moment-there is a washtub.  It looks as if Caedhart Dormand-another soldier has seen it too.  Funny-his last name means dear, beloved.  He’s not much of a lover at all-quite a rough man in fact.  He has tugged it over to the river…  he is using it as a boat!  And-what’s he doing?  He’s going under the bridge…  there’s that Viking killing another brave warrior who dared try to cross the bridge.  And he’s lifting his sword-ouch!  Right up between his legs!  I hate thinking how much that would hurt!  I must go now-we are all crossing the bridge, thanks to Caedhart. 

26 September 1066

       Wow.  We are all having a rest.  Not in the battlefield.  Such an unpleasant rest that would be, with all the dead bodies around.  Anyway, here’s what happened. 
       After we crossed the bridge, we tried to get through the shield wall. We tried and tried, but such a tough wall we never encountered.  It was like trying to get through dry clay-very hard clay.  Finally, Harold ordered us to retreat, so we did.  Then, as we were crossing the bridge, harald’s army broke the shield wall and came after us!  Oh, no!  But Harold seemed to have a plan.  He turned around and went after them!  Some soldiers got around and attacked from behind!  I ended up fighting an ugly soldier-scratch that, Harald’s soldiers are all ugly-an exceptionally ugly soldier with a scrunched up, dirty face.  He was winning, he got y leg injured, but then another one of Harold's soldiers came and stabbed Harald’s soldier from behind, killing him!  I was just starting to fight a second soldier when one of his friends said something that I couldn’t hear.  Anyway, they abandoned me and ran away.  Then Eldnoth Allington-one of my friends who agreed to come fight for Harold with me-came and told me that Harald had been killed!  Naturally, I asked him how, and he said he got an arrow in his throat-he had just seen it happen!  Hurrah!  We had won!  Harald’s former army retreated, and we lay down to rest. 

18 April 1068

         Today I found Cungard’s old diary from his days as a soldier, with some of his things.  This is his wife, Beornyn, writing.  Cyngard died about a year ago.  But I must start at the beginning.  Harold and his army lost against William.  It didn’t come as much of a surprise, as they were tired from the battle against Harald Hadraada, and they had a long march to the south coast.  Anyway, William gained control of England, and he was cruel.  We heard that he burned the food, starved everyone who was against him, and was cruel to anyone who might cause trouble for him.  Of course, we had suspected this from the beginning.  So, as soon as Cyngard came home, we took the first boat across the channel to Europe.  Sadly, the plague came round about a year later, and Cyngard passed away.  I went away to where there is no plague, so I would not catch it.  I have started a new life here and I am happy enough-at least happier than I would be in Britain, where terrible things are happening.  Here all is safe from harm. 

 (Emily MS)

05/11/2012

Son of Sir Seinford of Le Man




Dear Journal,                                                      22.June.1066


The King of England Edward the Confessor has died and William Duke of Normandy has his eye on being King of England. My father, Sir Seinford of Le Man has decided that I should go to the battle with William Duke Of Normandy to fight for the right of William to be King. After all, my father is a Knight and I will take his spot one day. I think that this battle is going to give me a good chance to get my father’s approval and that he will know I am able to hold his position with power and loyalty.

On the bad side, I may not come back alive and who will bury me? I hope that I will live and that we will not lose for the stakes are for me and my country.

I have decided to take my horse Feu et Vent (Fire and Wind) as she is very strong, powerful horse who could carry me to victory. My chainmail is heavy and my lance long so she needs to be fit enough to take me. She has been trained to bite and kick other people and I am the only one that she does not kick and bite. I also trust her to do me well. 

Dear Journal,                                                     1.July.1066



Today is the day that I will be going to the docks were we will go off to England. But by the looks of the weather we will probably be not sailing as there is no wind.

Once I got to the docks I found I was right. The wind is down and we are not sailing today. We have been given accommodations for the night and very strict rules on not to get into trouble, not to break a woman’s heart and to not be caught drunk and many more. 

The food is great, I wish that we never have to go to England. Us Knights, every night have a big feast. Roast Lamb is my favorite, with a drizzle of grave. Mmmmm, delicious.

I wonder what we are missing in England? Has someone already taken the crown? Whats Happening!


Dear  journal,                                                 10.October.1066 


Today we are finally going to England. We are going to get this over with. I am dreading it. At the moment I am packing my stuff and loading my horse on to the boat. We are ready to set sail early in the morning, the wind has picked up and what better weather could we wish for to go and sail today.

We have been sailing through the night and the ship in front has spotted land. We are all starting to prepare ourselves to fight the Englishmen from the moment we land. I was dreading seeing blood and death all around me, but surprisingly once we had got to shore, there was no one there. No one guarding the coastline. So William decided we would have a feast. Tomorrow we will start to head inland. We have no idea what is in store for us.

Dear Journal                                                  13.October.1066


Over the last few days, since there has been no sign of Harold Godwinson and his army. William made us go into villages along the way and kill the villagers, burn their houses and take their crops to get the attention of the Englishmen.It was a terrible scene all around me, I didn’t want to kill these people as they were not fighting us, instead they were just trying to run away, helpless. We were killing them like flies. It was a dreadful sight to see.

We are starting to hear word that Godwinson is coming with his army and gathering men from each village he passes, I fear this will be a long and tiring battle.I feel like this battle will be soon and will be bloody.

Dear Journal                                   14.october.1066

I fear that this may be my last entry,this morning every soldier has been given benediction. We are ready to fight.
My horse is ready and she is very fiery, and seems to know that today is the day of our battle.

William has split us into three groups, archers at the front, foot soldiers in the middle and us, the calvary, at the back. We are facing Harold Goodwinson, who is at the top of the hill, with hundreds of men making a wall of shields and waving their swords up high, trying and succeeding to intimidate us. I think that we are more prepared although it will be difficult for the arrowmen to shoot up the hill, we do not have the advantage and with the moors behind us, some men have already been injured falling.

Our archers are trying to break the wall, by shooting up into the sky, but only a few have penetrated. It has had little effect on the shield wall. The archers have moved back and the soldiers are moving to the front.The battle has started. Us Normans, are racing towards the Saxons, once we get to the wall, the soldiers are hacking with their swords, but not making much ground. We are watching and ordered by William to move forward.

The soldiers have made a gap in the wall and so we, the calvary, rode into this space. A few of the horses fell on top of their riders, killing them, but I managed to calm my horse and move back a little.All of a sudden, William ordered one group of soldiers to pretend to surrender and move back. This worked! The shield wall broke and the Saxons started chasing them down the hill, leaving us still in front of the rest of the soldiers. They attacked us.

My horse reared flipping back onto me, breaking my back, leaving me helpless and unable to defend myself or run away. There are many injured and dying soldiers around me, it feels as if my life is slowly ending. I see Godwinson hit by an arrow through his eye and one through his chin, men rush to his side as he dies. For this I am thankful, but not for long, as I see a sword above me.........

(Alexandra)

30/10/2012

The Saxons- Senlac Hill


The Battle of Hastings
The Saxons- Senlac Hill

26th of September 1066
I am so exhausted from the battle we had yesterday, it was very challenging but I am happy we won the battle. This morning I woke up and had some bread for breakfast and it was very nice. My friends and I went out and gathered all our supplies from the battle that were still useable and went back to our place and relaxed. Today I am having a rest day I will read some books and have conversations with my friends about some prodigious moments of the battle. Yesterday evening I was very tired so I went to bed early to get some good night sleep.

10th of October 1066
T0day we had to practise for our battle. We had to practise for the whole day and we had to use such heavy shields and arrows. It was very weary and it was also very early in the morning, we had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. in the morning. We are now more prepared for our battle that will take place sometime soon at Senlac Hill. I am really looking forward towards this battle and we will win this easily because William does not have very good tactics. Harold is going to be the new king of England!

14th of October 1066
At around 9:00 a.m. the trumpets sounded and the battle began. The first person who attacked was William. The archers fired waves of arrows towards us, we held our long shields close together to form a shield wall. Many arrows fell short, others came stuck in our shields. The arrow attack lasted just a few minutes, and then it faded away as the Norman archers ran out of ammunition. Our troop stood firm on the bridge. By midday the Norman army was very tired. Suddenly, the cavalry and foot soldiers fled back down the hill and got chased by our (the Saxons) soldiers. Then a wild rumour spread among the troops that William had been killed. It was a dangerous moment for the invaders, when panic could easily have set in. Instead what happened, William raised his helmet and showed his face to his troops. When his army saw he was alive his army rallied again. By the early afternoon our and Williams army had both lost many men but I was still alive (luckily)! William realised to win the battle he had to find a way to break into our shield-wall. Remembering how we earlier had broken rank to chase his men down the hill, he ordered his cavalry to charge, then turn and flee. It was a very clever tactic, and it worked. We thought that the Normans were retreating, so we chased after them but we got tricked. Norman arches then showered arrows on to the ridge, breaking holes in our line. The battle was turning into Williams favour.  At some point Harold was killed, he got an arrow in his eye. As he fell back, a Norman warrior on horseback hacked at him with his sword. I looked behind when Harold got a arrow in his eye and at the point I looked back I saw the arrow coming towards me.........................

(Rosanne)

A Norman Archer


Battle Of Hastings
Journal Of A Norman Archer

10/10/1066

Today we (the Normans), have landed on the beach off the south coast of England (Bayeux tapestry). The Saxons do not know that we are here, but I don’t think they will want to fight us with all our equipment, such as our bows and swords and our horses…  I will have to be getting some sleep now, I have a feeling I will be needing some sleep!
George
11/10/1066

We are burning the houses here on the south coast… I bet you Harold is getting very angry all right (Battle Of Hastings)! We are resting most of the time, mainly because we are waiting for Harold to come and fight us. Because I am resting today, I will have time to explain everything. When we get to the battlefield at Hastings we will be lining up our defenses, with the archers at the front and the men and the horses behind us. The army will be split up into three sections: The Normans are going to be in the middle, the Bretons were on the right and the Europeans will on the left. The archers are going to be put in front of the three groups. Hopefully we win this battle! A bow is made of wood, the body, and the string used to fire the bow is made of hemp, which is a very reliable and strong material. Long bodkins are used for piercing chainmail armor, while short bodkins are used for piercing armor plate. The bows can fire up to an area of 275 feet, which would make great defense. A maker of bows, arrows, and extra equipment for bows, such as arrows, was called an Artillator (Medieval Bow and Arrow).

George
13/10/1066

Harold is really close to Hastings. We marched up a little bit to Hastings and started to get our gear prepared (Battle Of Hastings). We had a big feast last night for our energy we were going to use the next day. We will easily defeat them.
George
14/10/1066: Dawn

We are about to fight the Saxons… the battle plan has been set up as said before, and we look a lot stronger than they do. They don’t have any horses or archers, they only have soldiers and these men I believe are called Housecarls, as they say. We are getting our arrows fired up, so I will have to put the book down. I wonder how the battle will go.
George.
14/10/1066 Noon

I am hiding behind a tree, this will have to be as quick as possible. Our arrows did not affect the Saxons at all. Some of our men are being chased down to a marsh ahead, and they are chasing down our Bretons like a pack of dogs. Axes, sword, bows, all of these weapons were spilling guts and livers out of the Normans and Saxons… its such a bloody mess out here! William, our leader, will have to think of something soon or we might lose the battle! We are both getting weaker, and somebody will have to go down (hopefully not us!)

14/10/1066 Sunset

We are still fighting those Saxons… they are slaughtering us and they still haven’t broken their shield wall!!! It is starting to get hard to write, using my bow again and again. Our horses have gone past the gap where the Saxons started chasing our Bretons, and they have killed a handful of Saxons, but they haven’t made much of a difference. Oh, William has got a magnificent idea! We should fire our arrows into the air and then when they land they will go on top of the Saxons so that we can easily win the battle! We launched them into the air and they started falling. (Bayeux tapestry). The shield wall slowly retreated and the Saxons were running in random directions. Our soldiers ran in and just slaughtered and beat them to death. The arrows either killed or severely injured most of the Saxons, and this is how we won the battle.
George
17/10/1066

We are celebrating with a feast and in about 2 months time William will become King Of England. I am sure he will make Britain a great place… I will now have a good job and plenty of food. I am happy I joined the army! I am slowly turning old, and I think I will no longer be in the army.
George
24/06/1779
I decided to go back to the Battlefield where the Battle Of Hastings was fought… I found this diary of my dear brother, George. It is an old diary and |I will keep this safe for my life. The battle was very brutal, according to George. George passed away 2 years ago, and I will keep this forever.
Oliver


Robert Bound


The Battle of Hastings 1066

31 September 1066
Last week was the battle of Stamford Bridge. Today we Saxons, left to travel down south to meet the Normans. I am scared, but I’m a soldier and shouldn’t be. You see a couple months ago, I along with other peasants in my village we were told that we must join the Saxon Army. I was worried because all I know is how to farm. I had absolute no experience as a soldier. Today we walked 30 miles. This journey will be long and hard. I am lucky I’m not a Housecarl because then I would have to carrying 50 pounds of chain mail! I am part of the Fyrd, men who are forced to fight even with absolute lack of experience. I carry an axe and shield. Now and then, I did get to use a sling for firing stones in the battlefield. We have no chainmail, which can be good for walking but terrible for fighting. Luckily, I always end up at the back of the army so I am less likely to get killed. The journey has been very long and my feet feel like they were going to fall off. The king hardly lets us stop to rest. Harold Godwineson is determined to beat the Normans more then he was determined to beat the Vikings in the recent battle. I know I am a soldier and should be brave but I’m terrified. I wish I could go back to my small village and farm. I absolutely hate being a soldier. King Harold let us stop for a few hours to rest but I was so tense the whole time. I couldn’t even think straight because I was so nervous. I hate the Housecarls; there are so bossy and loud. The king is frightening and seems very stressed. I feel dirty and my stomach rarely gets full. My shield and axe are tremendously heavy. During the rest, I barely close my eyes because soon enough the king hurries us up and we’re back to marching. We are not even close to Sussex where the Normans were said to be. How can we win this battle? What would England be like if we lost this battle? I can’t stand all the blood and gruesomeness. I can’t kill someone without flinching. Oh how I wish England could be a peaceful place again!

Signed,
Robert Bound, Saxon Soldier, Member of the Fyrd
The Battle Of Hastings

16th October 1066
The battle of Hastings happened 2 days ago on the 14th of October 1066. It started at 9:00 in the morning. We could all feel the tension and the nervous energy. I was scared out of my wits but stood strong. We were stood on top of Senlac Hill, which gave us a slight advantage. We were packed together so tightly I couldn’t feel my arms. Our shields were pressed together. Our shield wall was our best defence because when layered together side by side, we created a huge, strong wall that we knew nobody could break. We waited for the Normans to make a move first and they did. The Norman archers shot their arrows towards us but failed and fell short. Most of them just stuck to our shields. Then a few minutes later William ordered his soldiers to charge uphill and that’s when we starting pelting them with arrows, spears and sling stones. Unfortunately, many Normans survived and started fighting hand on hand with swords. But still, they did not break our shield wall. When William realized his army was not getting anywhere he ordered his Calvary, which were the men on horseback. We fought on them too and they also could not break our shield wall. At about midday, the Normans fled down the hill chased by some of our English soldiers. But this ruined our shield wall. Now there was a huge gap! William chased after our broken up soldiers and soon enough, both sides had lost many men. We closed the gap quickly and stood firm on the ridge. Then suddenly William ordered the Calvary to charge. They charged but then turned around and fled. We believed that the Normans had retreated so almost all of us chased after them. This was a huge mistake because it had broken up the shield wall! The Normans pelleted us with arrows and soon everyone in our army was pretty much dead. The Normans were scary and fierce. When the arrows pelted us, I got hit on the arm. Blood was pouring out but I had to keep fighting. I also got one on my leg but the wound wasn’t as deep. I could hear screams of pain and the death cry of soldiers. They said King Harold had died with an arrow in his eye but I am not entirely sure. This symbolized that Anglo-Saxon England was gone and we had lost the battle. I was lucky I didn’t get killed but I am deeply wounded. The Normans have taken charge now. All the survivors must go home and live a new way of life. Never will life be the same again.

Signed,
Robert Bound
Anglo-Saxon soldier
Member of the Fyrd

(By: Mia)