Why did William of Normandy win the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

The death of Edward the Confessor, from the Bayeux Tapestry - 11th ...
The Battle of Hastings was triggered when Edward the Confessor died on 5th January 1066, with no heir to the throne. There were many men for the job, but Harold Godwinson had himself crowned as soon as possible because he was the only one of those men in England at that time!  This made some certain people very angry and so in April of that same year William of Normandy prepared to invade England from France.

One reason why William won was because he was very prepared and he invested a lot of money into the battle.  For example William brought a mixture of foot-soldiers, archers and cavalry.  William was also a great commander of his troops.  This means that he was much stronger and had a better chance of winning.

The timing of William's arrival was pure luck for him.  William arrived in England when Harold was busy fighting off Harald  Hardrada (Viking leader and also one of the men who yearned for the throne of England) for the crown. Then celebrating his victory! This gave William enough time to build a makeshift castle and set up camp. The day Harold Godwinson found out was the 1st October 1066 only a few days after the battle with Harald Hardrada. The Battle of Hastings happened on the 14th October 1066. As a result, King Harold’s men were very tired.

One of Harold's biggest weakness was that he and his army were recently recovering from a previous battle.  A lot of Harold's best men had been killed in the battle against the Vikings. The remaining men were now very tired and weak, so weren’t ready to fight again. Also all of Harold Godwinson's men were only on foot and didn't have many weapons. And, as you can imagine, Harold just wasn't prepared enough for the battle ahead of him.

... the Battle of Hastings. Harold grasps the arrow lodged in his eye
Over all, William of Normandy won the battle of Hastings 1066 because he was more prepared and tactful. He seemed to think a lot more about what he was going to do. Him and his troops, were very advanced in technology compared to the English. Harold also had a lot of weaknesses. So really the Normans had a much better chance of winning the battle of  Hastings 1066! William, Duke of Normandy became King William I of England!

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