- - - Chapter 4 - - -
- The Times: 1066-1100 -
William came from Normandy to conquer England. He claimed that the
former King, Edward, the Confessor, had promised the throne to him
when they were growing up together in Normandy, if Edward became
King of England and had no children. The Conquerer's men and
horses came in boats powered by oars and sails. The conquest did
not take long because of the superiority of his military expertise
to that of the English. He organized his army into three groups:
archers with bows and arrows, horsemen with swords and stirrups,
and footmen with hand weapons. Each group played a specific role
in a strategy planned in advance. The English army was only
composed of footmen with hand weapons such as spears and shields.
They fought in a line holding up their shields to overlap each
other ane form a shieldwall. The defeat of the English was thought
to have been presaged by a comet.
At Westminster, he made an oath to defend God's holy churches and
their rulers, to rule the whole people subject to him with
righteousness and royal providence, to enact and hold fast right
law, and to utterly forbid rapine and unrighteous judgments. This
was in keeping with the traditional oath of a new king.
Declaring the English who fought against him to be traitors, the
Conquerer declared their land confiscated.
Pages:
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112