KS_outline_period4_military

Fyrd and Housecarls: The reason why England has fallen


Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We, the citizens of Kent, are very thankful that you let us come here today and debate. We believe the losing to the Battle of Hastings was the fault of the fyrds and housecarls. We believe this because of their lack of courage in the battle, the fact they had no agreement with each other and could not decide what to do, and the lack of loyalty to their own king, King Harold of Wessex. The fyrd and the housecarls showed lack of courage and discipline in the Battle of Hastings in the year of 1066.
 * Introduction/Thesis**

 A. The army had a disagreement in the night before the Battle of Hastings. I. The army had camped out to get some rest before the battle when some of the fyrd and housecarls got together to talk ;one man stating " I, to, have a bad feeling on this one, friend. We should have waited for Earl Edwin to join us with the army." II. With another man stating the following in disagreement "If any man can do it, Harold can. He is lifting the battle-ax for your sake." Then goes on to say " Better a man should die than live a cowards life" B. Overall the situation here would be the fact some of the army disagrees with Harold’s decisions and another half is disgusted with the way the "Disagreers" thought. Therefore, since they are disagreeing with each other they are not together (like one) as they need to be, to become a stable and strong army to overcome the Normans.
 * Lack of Agreement with each other: Page 224 + 225**

The fyrd and the housecarls were not disciplined in the Battle of Hastings. A. The Normans retreated terribly, and the fyrd attacked even though Harold tried to stop them. B. The next horrendous retreat was again attacked by the fyrd, despite King Harold's orders. I. When the fighters attacked, that left King Harold open to spears. II.One spear got him in the eye, killing him. This can be proved from page 245, when King Harold was giving commands and not looking at the sky during the flight of arrows flying through the sky, and crashing on the Englishs' sheild wall. III.The same thing happened to Gyrth, killing him also. This can be proved by on page 238, when Gyrth, was tired of his men not listening to King Harold, had stepped out of the shield wall. When Gyrth turned around, a Norman Spear shot him right in the back.
 * Lack of discipline: page 238**

A. The men of the English army only cared about thier own lives, not the country that they were fighting for. B. After the archers of the Norman side fired thier arrows from their own lines, the English had to lift thier shields over thier heads to protect themselves from the arrows. At this exact time, the first of the Norman soldiers had climbed Senlac Ridge and attacked the first line of the English Army. On page 245 of //The King's Shadow//, it reads, " Panic errupted within the English ranks as the men of the fyrd despaired and fled. The housecarls and those with strong hearts huddled in tight formation..." If those of the English ranks who fled had stayed with those with strong hearts, the English would have surely won. For the ones who stayed were much fewer than of the Norman side.
 * Lack of Courage and Loyalty: Page 245**
 * . This also shows how the fyrd and the housecarls did not all agree with each other.
 * . They were both not thinking the same idea or thing during the Battle of Hastings.

As you can see it is the fyrd and housecarls that are to blame because they did not cooperate with each other and with King Harold during the Battle of Hastings in the year 1066. Tostig is not to blame because he was just trying to be a good-quality ruler over the Northumbrians who never listened and acknowledged Tostig. King Edward is not to blame because he was sick and old before he died, leaving him little energy to make such important decisions. He could not help himself and he never planned to die or to put his country of England in danger. Harold is not to blame because in the Battle of Hastings, he tried his hardest and gave up his life to try and save his country, unlike the fyrd and housecarls who fled after Harold died. The citizens of Kent strongly believe that the culprit of this situation are the fyrd and housecarls of the English army, and they should be punished for their actions at the Battle of Hastings and for being taken over by the Normans.
 * Conclusion**