{"id":12254,"date":"2018-01-26T16:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.factstoryhub.com\/?p=12254"},"modified":"2025-02-20T13:38:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T13:38:28","slug":"battle-of-hastings-facts","status":"publish","type":[],"link":"https:\/\/www.factstoryhub.com\/battle-of-hastings-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"30 Facts About The Battle of Hastings For Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
One of the most important battles in English history remains to be the Battle of Hastings.\n
This battle was when the last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold, fell to William the Conqueror during his conquest of England.\n
Even though it took place almost 1,000 years ago, it changed the future of England forever.\n But how much do you know about this important fight?\n Check out these 30 facts about the Battle of Hastings that will surprise you!\n The power struggle over the English throne happened when King Edward, the previous King of England, died without having any children to be his successors.\n 10 years before King Edward died, he promised his cousin, William, that he would be the successor to the throne.\n While King Edward was on his death bed, he ended up granting the kingdom to Harold who was the head of the most powerful noble family in England. William immediately disputed the claim but did not invade England until 9 months after Edward\u2019s death.\n The Battle of Hastings was fought on October 14, 1066, between the Norman-French army, and the English army. This battle started the Norman conquest of England.\n The Battle of Hastings didn\u2019t take place in Hastings \u2013 it took place about 7 miles northwest of Hastings in a town now named \u201cBattle.\u201d\n Taillefer, one of William the Conqueror\u2019s jesters, was the first to shed blood in the battle. Before the battle commenced, Taillefer juggled his sword while singing at the English troops. As the tale goes, he was challenged by an English soldier, who he struck down before leading the charge into battle. \n Both of the sides took a break for lunch. Though there was no official break, there was most likely a lull in the battle during which point, both sides regrouped to discuss their tactics and had lunch.\n The battle was unusually long for a medieval fight, lasting from 9 A.M. until dusk.\n Genealogists have found that about 25% of the English population is descended from William the Conqueror.\n The French soldiers used an ancient method called \u201cfeigned flight\u201d which entailed the Normans pretending to flee from the opposing English soldiers. This mislead the English forces to break formation and make themselves vulnerable to attack.\n It is a common myth that King Harold died from getting shot in the eye with an arrow. However, historians are confident that he died by being beaten to death.\n The Anglo-Saxons were vastly outnumbered by the Normans. William\u2019s army from Normandy totaled to 15,000 men while Harold only had about 5,000 men.\n Most of the Anglo-Saxons continued fighting even after Harold was killed. They had made a promise to fight until the very last man was killed, though some of them did flee.\n There are many factors behind why King Harold lost, one of the main reasons being that William was a more experienced military leader.\n It wasn\u2019t until around 200 years after King William\u2019s death that he actually started being called \u201cWilliam the Conqueror.\u201d\n The location of King Harold\u2019s body remains unknown to this day. There is an alleged gravesite at Waltham Abbey, but the precise whereabouts of his body is still disputed today.\n In order to reach Hastings, the Normans sailed about 700 ships across the English Channel.\n