14 October 1066, morning
The Breton flight
The retreat begins on William’s left, where the Breton division gives way and falls back down the slope. A rumour spreads that William has been killed, and part of the English right follows the Bretons downhill. William rides along his lines with his face bare, shouting that he is alive, and leads his horsemen against the pursuers. The English who rally on a hillock are surrounded and cut down.
HIC CECIDERUNT SIMUL ANGLI ET FRANCI, “here English and French fall together”, a scene of the Bayeux Tapestry, about 1070Wikimedia Commons, unknown embroiderers, Public domain (Bayeuxtapestryscene53.jpg)
The sources disagree about the pursuit. Wace, writing in the 12th century, says that Harold ordered his men to keep their places. The Bayeux Tapestry shows the deaths of Harold’s brothers Gyrth and Leofwine just before the fight at the hillock, which may mean that they led the pursuit, while William of Poitiers says that their bodies were found near Harold’s.
Sources
- Matthew Bennett, Campaigns of the Norman Conquest (2001), p. 42.
- Christopher Gravett, Hastings 1066: The Fall of Saxon England (1992), pp. 65 to 73.
- Peter Marren, 1066: The Battles of York, Stamford Bridge & Hastings (2004), pp. 127 to 128.
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