72-HAS20 KING HAROLD GODWINSON WITH COMMANDO GROUP

The Battle of Hastings was fought in October 1066 in the south-west of England between the Norman prince William the Conqueror and King Harald II of England. The battle took place on the basis of William's claim to the English royal throne, who had "vacated" after the death of Edward the Confessor. The strength of the parties joining the battle is not entirely certain, but it is estimated that Wilhelm led about 7-8 thousand people. soldiers, while Harald - about 5-6 thousand. It is almost certain that the Norman prince had the upper hand. He also led an army that was probably better trained and armed than that of the enemy. Harald, on the other hand, a dozen or so days earlier (at the end of September 1066) won the Battle of Stamford Bridge with the Vikings led by Harald Hardraad, inflicting heavy losses on his opponent. Undoubtedly, this victory had a very positive effect on the morale of the troops that Harald II led to the Battle of Hastings. It is worth adding, however, that these troops consisted of both well-trained and presenting high combat value huscarls, as well as a common move called Ford, with a lower value than the huscarls. Harald II at Hastings took a decidedly defensive stance, but carefully chose the site of the battle and deployed his troops on a small hill that made cavalry operations difficult and definitely favoring defense. Thus, he forced William to attack his positions. The battle began with gunfire of Harald's troops by Norman archers and crossbowmen, and attacks by Norman infantry and cavalry. It is assumed that during the first hours of the battle, the Norman attacks were ineffective and did not break the enemy's formation. The breakthrough in the battle came when William ordered a mock retreat, perhaps planned before the battle. Harold's troops fell for this ruse, abandoned their great defensive position and set out in a pursuit, which, however, quickly turned into their slaughter. After this stage of the battle, Harold remained in the center, defended by a large squad of huscarls. This unit, however, was subjected to a massive, one would like to say, shelling by Norman archers, which led to the death of King Harold. The battle ended with the undisputed victory of William the Conqueror, who initiated the rule of the Norman dynasty in England. Without a doubt, the Battle of Hastings is one of the most important battles in the history of the British Isles.The Sasi (English: Saxons, German: Sachsen) is a Germanic tribe that in the late antiquity and early medieval period inhabited the territory of today's northern Germany at the mouth of the Elbe, and which in the 5th and 6th centuries, along with the tribes of Angola and Jutes, invaded Britain, establishing three kingdoms there: Wessex, Sussex and Essex. Probably at the same time, already in Britain, the tribes of the Saxons and Angles came into close interaction with each other, creating the Anglo-Saxons. In the early phase of their history, the Saxons were primarily foot units, whose warriors were armed with spears, shields, helmets, and the Saxon-specific one-handed and single-edged swords (sometimes classified as knives) called saks. It is worth adding that there are often two types of saxes: skramasaks (with a blade length of 30 to 70 cm) and langsax (with a blade length of up to 1 meter). In the Anglo-Saxon period (from the 5th-6th centuries), the military evolved in Great Britain. When King Harald joined the Battle of Hastings in 1066 in his army, one can indicate both selected units of huscarls, recruited mainly from the Scandinavians, as well as from the fyrd, i.e. soldiers of the mass movement of much less combat value.