18. Why were the English forces defeated in the Battle of Hastings? Why is it said that the Battle of Hastings changed the course of English history?

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the forces of King Harold II, King of England, and invading Norman army of William the Conqueror. Few weeks earlier, King Harold had been fighting against another invasion of Norwegian Vikings; though he won the Battle of Stamford Bridge (near York), Harold had to march 250 miles to the south, across the whole kingdom. On his way, Harold replenished the losses of this army with some fresh (and untrained) recruits, but his army was exhausted by the long march. At the Battle of Hastings, the English managed to establish a strong position on a hill and form a wall of shields that was very effective against the Norman attacks. When the Norman forces retired, the English broke this formation apart to pursue the fleeing enemy and were crushed by the following Norman charge. This battle is considered to be of a historical importance: having lost the decisive battle, the English lost the whole war, and England was conqured by the Normans. William the Conqueror replaced old Anglo-Saxon nobility with new Norman lords, introduced new laws and customs, interlinking the culture of England with that of France and the Continent. Speaking for linguistics, the Battle of Hastings made the English language what it is today, born from. Had William not been successful, England would probably became a part of the Scandinavian world, and its language would be absolutely different.

19. What marks the place of the Battle of Hastings?

After the Battle of Hastings, William 1 went on to conquer other important strongholds further north, such as London and York. But in 1070, his attention returned to the battlefield where it all began when, pressured by the Pope, he founded a Benedictine abbey to atone for the thousands of deaths on that field. The new foundation was dedicated to St. Martin, but it has been known almost ever since as Battle Abbey.

Battle Abbey was built right on the battlefield, with the church's altar positioned over the site where King Harold fell. Constructed in the Norman Romanesque style, with a round apse and ambulatory, the church was completed in 1094. It was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the presence of the Conqueror's son, William Rufus.

Both the battlefield and abbey are now administered by English Heritage.

20. What do you know about William the Conqueror?

William I was born in 1028. He was the illegitimate son of the sixth Duke of Normandy Robert I and his mistress Herleva, a daughter of a non-noble. Until the age of seven, William’s childhood was uneventful, but then everything changed. After his father’s death, William became Duke of Normandy in 1035. His childhood and adolescence were filled with conflicts: members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other for control of the child duke and for their own ends. When William reached maturity, he faced long years of constant war and had to struggle to survive. Finally, in the Battle of Mortemer in 1054, he succeeded in defeating all his enemies. The severity of his long struggle, which occupied his youth, influenced his character. William was a vigorous and determined man, who never lost a battle, and that is why he was titled as ‘The Conqueror’. He was physically strong, patient, charismatic, devout and faithful. Authors of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle described William as ‘a very wise and great man...mild to those good men who loved God, but severe beyond measure to those who withstood his will’, because he was very stern and wrathful. Due to his strong will and character, William became a good warrior, general and king. In 1066 he invaded England, defeated Harold II, his opponent in the war for the English throne, and was crowned king of the country. As an intelligent, capable and determined man, William provided stability and firm government in England, established a strongly personal monarchy. He changed the social, political, military structures, replacing the English nobility with French, strengthening his authority and introducing feudalism. William Iimposed Norman institutions and personnel both on the state and on the church, brought England into the continental development, and by his death in 1087, he had financially tied down many people with the Domesday Book.