Tying down the actual Battle site?
It's been a long time since I posted anything new on this blog. Partly, this is due to my absolute fascination with the computer game "No Man's Sky" ( I'm more than half way through my third galaxy with over 100,000,000 units in hand) and partly me thinking there was nothing new to add to our understanding of the Battle. How wrong I was!
Between my last post and this one I've been to Bayeux to look at the Tapestry first hand and to find out the received wisdom that was being promulgated. I wish I hadn't bothered. The Tapestry is hung in a very nice setting and one is given a commentary device which once started doesn't stop until you reach the end of the Tapestry - that gives you 20 mins to view the whole thing! One can go around again but if you listen to the commentary you have to move at the pace of the commentary and not at your own pace.
The Bayeux Museum also represents a moment of revelation to me. Never before did I feel able to question what I was being told but this visit revealed the "cracks in the plaster"! For instance, the Museum had a display inviting the viewer to guess who had the strongest claim to the throne of England on the death of Edward. Was it William, Harold or some Scandinavian geezer? It then laid out the bloodlines and posed the question "Who do you think...?" Well since Edward had no offspring etc, etc..... Wrong!!! The Norman idea of inheriting the throne DID NOT OPERATE in England at that time. At the death of the old King, the Witan ( a council of hereditary nobles) met together to decide who would make the best ruler for the Country. Sure, they would heed the "advice" of a previous occupant but not be governed by it ( On the death of Æthelred the Unready, Knut , King of the Danelaw area of England was asked to rule) So the Throne of England worked in the same way as the Roman Catholic papacy operates today - namely the person elected to office was elected for life.
Anyway, I'm getting distracted. Back to the matter in hand.
This is what I wrote in "Where's the Battle Site?" published on 22nd September 2015
"My preferred site for the battle is the end of the slice taken above at 56' 29.35"N 26' 53.11"E. This area seems to be on the old London Road, Also it is situated on the end of a east- west ridge which makes sense of Williams decision to split his force into three. The site is more or less undeveloped so there has been not so many unreported finds. A nearby spring could well have supplied the wet ground and remember hadn't there been a big storm within the last 3 weeks? The site also has a steep incline and a not so steep incline to take account of the many different reports we have of the battle."
I mentioned the nearby spring because casualties amongst William's cavalry was light and the battle lasted so long that Harold must have found a way to neutralise the effectiveness of these troops. I think the neutralisation of Williams cavalry is key in determining the actual battle site.
From what I've gleamed from that guy from the TV who is an expert on medieval weaponry is the mounted soldier has the height advantage when facing infantry. So if the ground was not firm beneath the horses hooves then the guy on the horse would have had half a brain figuring out where was safe to manoeuvre his horse while having only half his brain trying to kill the Saxon warrior that was trying to kill him!
Another way of neutralising cavalry is to overcome the height advantage. In other words, raise up the Saxon or make the cavalry unit fight from a lower elevation. The "official" battle site does this by having the Saxons on top of Senlac Ridge. My current choice of battle site does this too. However neither site is supported by the Bayeux Tapestry...
If we examine the Bayeux Tapestry on plate 55/56 we see William talking to his scouts ascertaining the whereabouts of Harold quite clearly on a "hill". In the next screen we have an English scout spotting the Normans and reporting back to Harold. Notice the depiction of the ground. The artist clearly saw the ground as being a little hilly. Is this an attempt to say that Telham Hill was at a higher elevation than where Harold was? ( As an aside the commentary on page 192 of David Wilson's book, says that Williams troops "saw " the English troops on Battle Ridge. This would only be possible if ALL obstructions higher than 7 metres (Approx 17 feet) had been cleared in what was considered to be a sparsely wooded area between Telham Hill Fort and Battle Ridge).
It is not until plate 65 b do we see any depiction in the change of terrain even though we've seen lots of fighting and dying. This change is a depiction of a "horse trap"which kills a number of horses ( and subsequently a number of their riders) being no match for the unarmoured Saxons fighting from ABOVE the incoming cavalry.
On plate 66 b/67 a we have the Saxons themselves on a substantial mound.In the commentary associated with this plate on page 193 ( The Bayeux Tapestry by David M Wilson) the author assigns this picture to the action that took place in a place known as "Malfosse" after the battle had been won. To my mind this looks suspiciously like a cross section of a prepared defence against the cavalry. Indeed, the defence was so good that it was as this point that the rumour of William's demise took hold and the troops were routing.
Anyway, I'm getting distracted. Back to the matter in hand.
This is what I wrote in "Where's the Battle Site?" published on 22nd September 2015
"My preferred site for the battle is the end of the slice taken above at 56' 29.35"N 26' 53.11"E. This area seems to be on the old London Road, Also it is situated on the end of a east- west ridge which makes sense of Williams decision to split his force into three. The site is more or less undeveloped so there has been not so many unreported finds. A nearby spring could well have supplied the wet ground and remember hadn't there been a big storm within the last 3 weeks? The site also has a steep incline and a not so steep incline to take account of the many different reports we have of the battle."
I mentioned the nearby spring because casualties amongst William's cavalry was light and the battle lasted so long that Harold must have found a way to neutralise the effectiveness of these troops. I think the neutralisation of Williams cavalry is key in determining the actual battle site.
From what I've gleamed from that guy from the TV who is an expert on medieval weaponry is the mounted soldier has the height advantage when facing infantry. So if the ground was not firm beneath the horses hooves then the guy on the horse would have had half a brain figuring out where was safe to manoeuvre his horse while having only half his brain trying to kill the Saxon warrior that was trying to kill him!
Another way of neutralising cavalry is to overcome the height advantage. In other words, raise up the Saxon or make the cavalry unit fight from a lower elevation. The "official" battle site does this by having the Saxons on top of Senlac Ridge. My current choice of battle site does this too. However neither site is supported by the Bayeux Tapestry...
If we examine the Bayeux Tapestry on plate 55/56 we see William talking to his scouts ascertaining the whereabouts of Harold quite clearly on a "hill". In the next screen we have an English scout spotting the Normans and reporting back to Harold. Notice the depiction of the ground. The artist clearly saw the ground as being a little hilly. Is this an attempt to say that Telham Hill was at a higher elevation than where Harold was? ( As an aside the commentary on page 192 of David Wilson's book, says that Williams troops "saw " the English troops on Battle Ridge. This would only be possible if ALL obstructions higher than 7 metres (Approx 17 feet) had been cleared in what was considered to be a sparsely wooded area between Telham Hill Fort and Battle Ridge).
It is not until plate 65 b do we see any depiction in the change of terrain even though we've seen lots of fighting and dying. This change is a depiction of a "horse trap"which kills a number of horses ( and subsequently a number of their riders) being no match for the unarmoured Saxons fighting from ABOVE the incoming cavalry.
On plate 66 b/67 a we have the Saxons themselves on a substantial mound.In the commentary associated with this plate on page 193 ( The Bayeux Tapestry by David M Wilson) the author assigns this picture to the action that took place in a place known as "Malfosse" after the battle had been won. To my mind this looks suspiciously like a cross section of a prepared defence against the cavalry. Indeed, the defence was so good that it was as this point that the rumour of William's demise took hold and the troops were routing.
So according to the Bayeux Tapestry we are looking for a site where Harold met his scouts, assembled his troops on reasonably flat ground, found a ridge and prepared anti-horse defences in front of it . He also managed to kill most of William's infantry ( not seen in the Tapestry other than as dead bodies in the lower margins). The site or area that can match these conditions lie in the area surrounding ...... remembering to obey all laws and regulations concerning metal detecting on important national sites of interest ..... is 50 N 55' 57" 0 E 27' 43".
The ridge is approx 130 metres away running on a bearing of 220 deg.
