Godwinson's England

If there was one battle that changed the world, that would be the Battle of Hastings. The English King, Harold Godwinson, had just fought the armed forces of Norwegian King, Harald Hardrada, in a victorious battle. When he heard of Norman Duke William the Conqueror's landing in Southern England, Harold was not hesitant to fight and he and his army traveled south. Although exhausted, Harold's troops managed to hold off the Norman invaders for hours.

The Battle of Hastings began with the Norman archers shooting uphill at the Anglo-Saxon shield wall, to little to no effect. The uphill angle meant that the arrows either bounced off the shields of the Anglo-Saxons or overshot their targets and flew over the top of the hill. The lack of Saxon archers hampered the Norman archers, as there were few Saxon arrows to be gathered up and reused for the fighting. After the attack from the archers, William sent the spearmen forward to attack the Anglo-Saxons. They were met with a barrage of missiles, which were spears, axes and stones due to the lack of arrows. The Norman infantry was unable to force openings in the shield wall, and the cavalry advanced in support. The cavalry also failed to make headway, and a general retreat began, blamed on the Breton division on the left of Duke William. A rumour started that the duke had been slaughtered in the fighting, which added to the chaos. The Anglo-Saxon forces began to pursue the fleeing Normans, but Duke William rode through his forces, showing his face and yelling that he was not dead. The duke then led a counter-attack against the pursuing English forces; some of the English rallied on a hillock before being overwhelmed. It is not known whether the English pursuit was ordered by King Harold or if it was spontaneous, but it was the fatal flaw that would bring an end to Anglo-Saxon England. Wace relates that Harold ordered his men to stay in their formations but no other account gives this detail. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the death of Harold's brothers Gyrth and Leofwine occurring just before the fight around the hillock. This may mean that the two brothers led the pursuit. The Carmen de Hastingae Proelio relates a different story for the death of Gyrth, stating that the duke slew Harold's brother in combat, perhaps thinking that Gyrth was Harold. William of Poitiers states that the bodies of Gyrth and Leofwine Godwinson were found near the corpse of King Harold, implying that they were slain late in the fight. It is possible that if the two brothers died early in the fighting their bodies were taken to the King, thus accounting for their being found near his body after the battle. Military historian Peter Marren believes that if Gyrth and Leofwine were killed early in the battle, that may have influenced King Harold to stand and fight to the end.

It is not known when of how Harold was slain at Hastings, but he had fought to the end. Most likely, King Harold was died thanks to an arrow to the eye. After Harold's death, Duke William rode to London and declared himself the King of England, and thus began a twenty year reign of terror. It can be said that the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of England perished when the arrow struck King Harold in his eye. Much of the characteristics of England changed drastically under the reign of King William, one example is the Harrying of the North, which modern scholars considered to be a genocide. What if King Harold Godwinson defeated the forces of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, how would England and the world look if Harold was victorious?