Battle of Hastings

The main primary sources in which the battle and the events preceding it are described are messages of medieval chroniclers ^[1] . Most of the sources that have survived to our time were already written much later than the Norman conquest of England, but their authors used earlier documents, including those that are now lost ^[2] .

The Norman point of view on the conquest of England is represented by the following chronicles ^[2] :

• “ Song of the Battle of Hastings ” ( Latin Carmen de Hastingae Proelio ) ^[3] . This is an epic poem created by Bishop Guy Amiensky (d. 1075). The Song was written for Matilda of Flanders , the wife of William the Conqueror, of which Guy was the chaplain for a while. The main advantage of this source is that it was created within one and a half years after the battle ^[1] .
• " Acts of the Dukes of Normandy " ( lat. "Gesta Normannorum Ducum" ) ^[4] . The author is a monk, Guillaume of Jumiez . "Acts", the author of which the first of the medieval chroniclers began to assert the legitimacy of the rights of William the Conqueror to the English throne, was completed around 1070 ^[1] .
• " Acts of Wilhelm, Duke of the Normans and King of Angles " ( Latin: "Gesta Willelmi, ducis Normannorum et regis Anglorum" ) ^[4] . The author is Guillaume from Poitiers , chaplain of William the Conqueror. "Acts" completed in 1073 or 1074. Since Guillaume of Poitiers was a supporter of William the Conqueror, his work is apologetic in nature, often silent or distorting the facts that are disadvantageous for Wilhelm. The last part of “Acts” is lost ^[1] .

The Tapestry from Bayeux , a tapestry embroidered on a linen canvas 50 cm by 70 m, is a valuable source of information about the battle and the events that preceded the battle. It depicts the preparation of the Norman Conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings. It was created by 1077, possibly commissioned by Bishop Baye Odo , the half-brother of William the Conqueror. A tapestry from Bayeux expresses the Norman view of the conquest of England. Part of the tapestry, which probably depicted events after the battle of Hastings and the coronation of William, is now lost ^[1] .

A detailed account of the Norman Conquest of England is contained in the so-called “D” manuscript of 1066 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ^[5] . This source reflects the Anglo-Saxon view of the 1066 conquest ^[2] .

The story of the battle is also contained in the writings of later British historians, who used both the well-known in the original and the unrepaired documents and chronicles:

• The History of the English Kings ( Latin Gesta regum Anglorum ) is a monumental work, the author of which was the English historian William of Malmesberi . "History" was completed by 1125, the third book is devoted to the reign of Wilhelm. William of Malmesbury used both the works of his predecessors and the surviving oral legends ^[1] .
• "Church history" ( lat. "Historia Ecclesiasticae" ). Its author was Order Vitaly , who completed the History around 1140 . In describing the events of the Norman conquest of England, Order Vitaly recited the messages of Guillome of Jumiez and Guillaume of Poitiers, including the concluding chapters of the Acts of Wilhelm of Guillaume of Poitiers ^[1] that had not reached our time.
• “A novel about Rollo ” ( fr. “Roman de Rou” ) is a poetic exposition of the history of Normandy, written in the 2nd half of the 12th century by Norman Robert Was in French on the order of the King of England Henry II ^[1] .

There are many more recent studies about the battle. The description of the battle and the events preceding it is contained in biographical studies on William the Conqueror ^[6] :

• Zamthor P. Guillaume le Conquerant. ^[7]
• Douglas David C. William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England. ^[eight]
• M. de Boüard. Guillaume le Conquérant. ^[9]

There are studies dedicated to the battle itself ^[6] :

• Spatz W. Die Schlacht von Hastings. ^[ten]
• Lemmon Ch. H. The Battle of Hastings. ^[eleven]
• Körner Sten. The Battle of Hastings. England and Europe 1035-1066. ^[12]
• Jäschke KV Wilhelm der Eroberer. Sein doppelter Herrschaftsantritt im Jahre 1066. ^[13]
• Morillo S. The Battle of Hastings: Sources and Interpretations. ^[14]

Since 1978, the annual conference “The Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies” has been held, dedicated to English and Norman medieval history and culture. Until 2009, the conference was held at Paik House, the house located directly at the site of the Battle of Hastings ^[15] . In the published collections of this conference, many articles were published on the battle and on the preparation for it ^[6] .

Before coming to the throne in 1042 , the English king Edward the Confessor spent 28 years in Normandy with his uncle, Duke Richard II . Having no children, Edward, apparently, in 1051 , in gratitude for the asylum given to him by the rulers of Normandy, promised the English throne to his maternal relative, Duke Wilhelm II ^{[К 1]} . However, on January 6, 1066, the day after the death of Edward ^[5] , the English Witenhemoth elected new King Harold, the brother of his wife Edward. According to English chroniclers, the king’s death testament was the basis for this ^{[K 2]} . Harold was crowned with the blessing of the church. The coronation was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Stigand , who, however, had not yet received pallium from the pope, that is, was not officially recognized by the papal curia. This circumstance gave an additional trump card to Harold's opponents ^[16] .

The Norman version of the event that preceded the conquest of England is set forth, for example, in The Acts of Duke William, Guillaume de Poitiers, and tells the story of what happened: Wilhelm swore allegiance to Wilhelm as heir to the English throne. However, on the way Harold was captured by Count Guy I de Pontier , from where Wilhelm freed him. After that, Harold voluntarily swore on the holy relics in the presence of witnesses, recognizing William the heir to the English crown and pledged to take all measures to support him. These events are depicted on the famous Tapestry of Bayeux . However, later British historians strongly doubted the authenticity of these news, considering the fact that Harold had come to Wilhelm, an unlucky accident, and also pointing to the extreme doubtfulness of both the terms of the contract and the alleged Harmod ommazh . Unfortunately, no other descriptions of this event are known. But this oath was later justified by the actions of Wilhelm ^[17] .

Upon learning of the election of Harold, Wilhelm refused to recognize him king and declared his own claims to the English throne. Harold's oath, committed on holy relics during a trip to Normandy, was betrayed to wide European publicity, and it was also announced that Edward had recognized Wilhelm as his heir ^[18] .

The new king of England, Harold II, was caught between two fires: on the one hand, Wilhelm put forward his claims to the throne, and on the other, the army of King Harald Severe of Norway, another contender for the English crown, supported by his brother Harold Tostig, invaded the country. But Harold managed to cope with one of his rivals - the Anglo-Saxon troops of Harold utterly routed the Norwegians in the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25 , with King Harald and Tostig killed. After that, Harold returned to York , where he received the news of the landing of William of Normandy's army on the coast of England ^[16] .

Wilhelm's Army

Organization troops

In Normandy there was a huge mass of small knights, over whom the dukes before Wilhelm did not have effective power and whose belligerence found access to the campaigns to Italy , where the Norman county of Aversa and the duchy of Apulia had already been formed. Wilhelm was able to collect and bring to his service these knights. In addition, he was well acquainted with all aspects of modern military art and enjoyed the reputation of an excellent knight and commander, which attracted the human resources of the whole of Northern France ^[19] .

Having conceived the invasion, Wilhelm enlisted the support of the barons of his duchy, and his fame as a commander ensured the influx of a large number of knights from neighboring North French principalities into his army. The Normans had a solid experience of military operations by small cavalry detachments from fortress castles, which were quickly erected on the territory to be seized as supporting bases for the purpose of its further control. The wars with the kings of France and the Counts of Anjou allowed the Normans to improve tactics against large enemy formations and to establish a clear interaction between the branches of the armed forces ^[20] .

The Norman Duke was able to form a large army of more than 7,000 men, which was mainly feudal knightly troops, based on a military-military system that provided professionalism and good armament of the soldiers. The core of the army was the highly efficient Norman cavalry, and also included archers and lightly armed infantry. To transport people across the English Channel, Wilhelm organized the mass construction of ships; besides, in one step he requisitioned and hired as many ships as possible ^{[18] [21]} .

The Norman invasion of Britain was also supported by Pope Alexander II , who sought to extend the Cluny reform to England and displace the archbishop of Stigand . The blessing of the pope provided an influx to Wilhelm of small knights from European states counting on land ownership in England ^[18] .

Normans were no more than a third of the army of Wilhelm, the rest of the warriors came from different French regions - Maine , Aquitaine , Flanders , Brittany , Picardy , Artois , as well as mercenaries from other European states ^[18] .

Wilhelm Warlords and Allies

The chief commander was Wilhelm himself. However, the chronicles are very poorly called actors. Based on a study of sources, primarily the “Gobelin from Bayeux,” historians managed to establish a number of names ^{[22] [23]} :

• Odo , Bishop Bayeux , half-brother of William the Conqueror. He took part in the formation of the fleet. Before the battle as a bishop admonished the army.
• Robert , Earl of Morten , half-brother of William the Conqueror, one of the closest associates of the duke.
• Hugh de Granmesnil , Norman knight, one of the commanders of the Norman cavalry.
• Wilhelm de Varenne , Norman knight, one of the advisers of William the Conqueror
• Gauthier (Walter) Giffard , Norman knight, relative and one of the advisers of William the Conqueror
• Eustachius II , Count of Boulogne . He was wounded in battle.
• Wilhelm , Earl of Evreux , William the Conqueror's second cousin.
• Raul II de Tosni , half-brother of Wilhelm d'Evreux.
• Hugh de Montfort , Norman Knight
• Heinrich de Ferrier , Norman Knight
• William Fitz-Osburn , a relative of William the Conqueror, seneschal of Normandy
• Tustin Fitz-Row , the standard bearer of William the Conqueror
• Ralph de Mortimer , Norman knight, relative of William the Conqueror
• Emery IV de Tuar , Viscount
• Robert de Beaumont , Norman Knight, commanded a squad of infantry on the right flank of the Norman troops
• Alain Red , Breton knight, commanded one of the armies of William the Conqueror

Later, most of them received significant land ownership confiscated from the Anglo-Saxon nobility ^[23] .

Harold's Army

Organization troops

The military resources of the Anglo-Saxon state were rather large, but poorly organized. At the end of 1066 at the disposal of King Harold there was not even a permanent fleet, except for a small number of ships provided by the ports of the southeast coast. Although it was possible to collect a significant number of vessels by requisitioning and traditionally collecting by counties, it was impossible to organize a large fleet in a short time and maintain it in a state of alert ^[24] . The core of the land forces were the Khuskerla of the king and the earls . By the middle of the XI century, there were about 3000 royal Huskerls, the squadron of a large Earl consisted of 400-500 soldiers. In addition to them, Harold had detachments of military-service nobles ( thews ) and the national militia of the peasants — a firm . At full strength, the Anglo-Saxon army was probably the largest army in Western Europe ^[25] . The main problems of the armed forces of England were the difficulty of concentrating the soldiers in the required place, the impossibility of maintaining the army for a long time in combat readiness, the underdevelopment of the castle system as a basic unit of the defensive structure, poor acquaintance with modern methods of warfare in Europe, and inattention to such combat arms as cavalry and archers ^[26] .

In a clash with the Normans, Harold could only count on an army from his Wessex county, since most of the Tans refused to support him. Chronicler John of Worcester claims that Harold managed to gather about 8 thousand people. In terms of numbers, the British army was approximately the same as the Norman army, but it differed qualitatively in composition and combat characteristics. In other chronicles there are remarks about the numerical superiority of the British ^[27] .

In the Anglo-Saxon army, cavalry did not exist as a kind of troops: although the Anglo-Saxons moved on horseback trips, they dismounted to participate in the battle. Only the khuskarly and teny were well armed, who had two-handed swords , battle axes of the Vikings, spears and chain mail, while the Fyrd militia was armed only with clubs, forks, axes and “stones tied to sticks”, that is, what was at hand. The British had practically no archers, which were an important part of the fighting power of the Norman army. The recent battles with the Norwegians and the quick march through the whole country also dramatically depleted the English.

According to the images on the Tapestry from Bayeux, the opposing knights practically did not differ in appearance. This also confirms the remark of the chronicler: “ Everyone had distinctive badges by which they recognized their people, so that Norman could not hit the Norman, the franc-franc ” ^[28] .

Harold Warlords and Allies

Little is known about who fought in King Harold’s army. He refused to support the Earls Edwin and Morcar . Chronists mention several relatives of the king who participated in the battle ^[29] :

• Geert , Earl Kent , brother of King Harold, one of the main commanders of the English army.
• Leofvin , Earl of Essex , brother of King Harold, one of the main commanders of the English army.
• Garcon, King Harold's nephew
• Elwig, uncle of King Harold, Abbot of Winchester
• Leofric, Abbot Peterborough
• Godric, Sheriff Fayfeld
• Elfric, Huntingdonshire Tang
• Brem
• Esegar, sheriff Middlesex
• Turksil from Berkshire

Army maneuvers before the battle

On September 27, 1066, the army of Wilhelm plunged into ships at the mouth of the Somme and, crossing the English Channel on a thousand ships, landed on September 28 on the English coast near the town of Pevensey . She then moved to the Hastings area, east of the Pevensey swamps. In Hastings, William's carpenters assembled a wooden castle, which had been felled in advance in Normandy, and the soldiers set up camp ^[30] .

Harold learned about the Norman landing at York , where he was after the victory over the Norwegian troops, on October 3 or 4, after which he immediately went south with his army and was in London already on October 11 . Harold’s swift march did not allow additional English county troops to join the king’s army. When his troops left London on October 12 , they consisted mainly of combatants who remained in the ranks against the Norwegians and the peasant militia of the environs of London ^{[27] [30]} .

On October 13, Harold's army reached Hastings. Probably, Harold managed to cover up an army under cover of the forest or at night and take a very advantageous position on a hill that now bears the name of Battle Hill, whose summit is located at a height of about 85 meters above sea level. The road to Hastings passed through it. In the south-east of the hill there was a rather steep descent. From the north and south of the hill there was a marsh ^[31] .

William's camp was located in the vicinity of Hastings - to the north of it. Learning from the scouts about the approach of the enemy, William, at about 6 o'clock on October 14, gave an order to speak. The bishops who were in the army had pre-served a mass ^[31] .

The location of the troops before the battle

The British army took up a position on an elevation 11 km north-west of Hastings, however, the relief did not allow the full deployment of troops in battle formation. The Normans were just below the English - near the foot of the hill at a height of about 70 meters above sea level ^[31] . The distance between the fronts of the armies was about 200 meters ^[32] .

According to reports of the chroniclers, Wilhelm divided his army into three parts. The right wing, which is located in the northeast, were the French and Flemish under the command of Guillaume Fitz-Osbern, Eustachius of Boulogne and the young Robert de Beaumont. The Normans, commanded by Wilhelm himself, settled in the center of the army, and two brothers-in-law, Count Robert de Morten and Bishop Baye Odo , helped him. The left wing, located in the south-west, was made up of Bretons, commanded by Alain Red , son of Ed I de Pentevre . Before each of the three armies, William set up archers (mostly mercenaries), as well as crossbowmen. In the second line, infantrymen in chain mail, armed with spears and darts, were stationed. The third line consisted of knights. The number of knights, historians estimate at 2 - 2.5 thousand, infantrymen - at 4 thousand, archers and crossbowmen - about a thousand. Wilhelm himself was located on the hillside directly behind his troops ^[32] .

The Anglo-Saxon army traditionally lined up in the following way: in front were the heavily-armed Khuskerly on foot, armed with large axes and swords. Before the battles, they tightly overlapped the shields, forming the so-called “wall of shields”. Their number is estimated at 2 thousand. Lightly armed infantry of about 6 thousand men was stationed behind their closed shields. The British had practically no archers ^[32] .

According to "The Carmen de Hastingae Proelio" about the battle of Hastings, the Norman knight-bard Tayefer began the battle, who, with a battle song about Roland, summoned the knight from the ranks of Harold, killed him and cut off his head as a trophy. Later chronicles of the 12th century report that Thayefer attacked a line of Englishmen and killed several knights before he himself heroically fell ^[32] .

Apparently, the Norman attack was unexpected for the Anglo-Saxons. This is evidenced by Florence Worcestersky . Later authors report that Harold managed to build a palisade in front of his positions.

The general battle began shelling the British ranks with Norman archers and crossbowmen, but the Anglo-Saxons felt safe enough behind a solid wall of large shields. In addition, the target of the archers was higher. Archers began to shoot arrows almost vertically, then “ many Englishmen were wounded in the head and face, lost their eyes, so everyone began to fear to lift them and leave their faces open ” ^[28] .

However, in general, the actions of archers were ineffective, the British military formations suffered little. And after the stock of arrows came to an end, heavy infantry went on the attack. Throwing weapons also proved ineffective. In this case, the infantry had to climb up the slope, which went down to the south-west. Because of this, the Bretons were the first to reach the enemy, the Normans fell behind, which was why the Bretons had a bare flank. The British took advantage of this, trying to surround the enemy. Fearing encirclement, the Bretons were forced to retreat under a hail of throwing weapons, and the retreat was an escape. Due to the fact that the flank was naked, the Normans were forced to retreat, and behind them the French with the Flemings ^[32] .

In an effort to restore order among the Normans, Wilhelm, along with several colleagues, including Odo from Bayeux and Eustachius Boulogne left their stake. According to the testimony of the chronicler Guy Amiensky , a horse was killed near Wilhelm. Those who saw the duke fall down shouted that Wilhelm was murdered. But the duke got up and found another horse. The Tapestry from Bayeux depicts the moment when Wilhelm, refuting the news of his death, took off his helmet, and Eustachus of Boulogne pointed to his face. This episode is also reported by the chronicler Guillaume of Poitiers . In this way, the panic flight of infantry was avoided ^[32] .

The Norman knightly cavalry went on the attack, but under the hail of horses for the horses, which were let out by the British, it was not possible to achieve a dense system of huskler. In addition, according to contemporaries, " Danish axes " (heavy blade on the handle with a length of up to 1.5 m) cut through the knight and his horse with one blow. The attacking Normans shouted: “ Dex аїе !” (With God's help), the British answered with shouts: “ Olicrosse !” (Holy cross) and “Ut, ut!” (Won, out). Several attacks were unsuccessful. As a result, the knights were forced to retreat ^[32] .

For the retreating Norman cavalry, the Anglo-Saxons rushed, leaving the position, which had previously been impregnable. Historians argue whether this attack was a manifestation of the indiscipline of the British, or whether King Harold himself gave the order, hoping for victory. The unprepared counterattack upset the British own ranks and became fatal for them, since the squad of pursuers, having left the elevation, found themselves surrounded by the blow of the enemy. The chronists, Guillaume of Poitiers and Guy Amiens, and after them several generations of English historians, considered the retreat to be false. In their opinion, Wilhelm tried to lure the enemy in this way. However, modern historians consider this version unlikely. In any case, William took advantage of the mistake of the enemy, deploying his knights and killing most of his pursuers ^[32] .

Subsequently, the tactic of “false retreat” was already deliberately applied by Wilhelm: the Norman detachments, attacking the British positions, depicted retreat, “pulling” small subdivisions from the closed Anglo-Saxon ranks, and then unfolding and smashed them on the plain. By that time, Harold’s army had already lost two main military leaders — the brothers Harold Geert and Leofvin . According to the chronology depicted on the Tapestry from Bayeux, they died in the morning ^[32] .

The successive attacks of the Normans weakened the English, but their resistance continued. By the end of the day, the center of the Anglo-Saxon army maintained combat positions and held defenses. William of Malmesbury describes what is happening ^[33] :

“ They fought fiercely for most of the day, and neither side was inferior. Convinced of this, William gave the signal for an imaginary escape from the battlefield. As a result of this cunning, the battle ranks of the Angles were upset, seeking to destroy the randomly retreating enemy, and thus their own death was accelerated; for the Normans, turning round sharply, attacked the severed enemies, and turned them to flight. So, deceived by cunning, they accepted a glorious death, avenging their homeland. But still they have revenge for themselves with a vengeance, and, stubbornly resisting, left piles of people killed from their pursuers. Having taken possession of the hill, they dumped Normans into the hollow when they, enveloped in flames [of battle], stubbornly climbed to a height, and exterminated everyone to the last, without any effort letting the arrows approach from below and rolling stones on them . ”

The fate of the battle was finally decided by the death of King Harold. There are two versions of his death.

The version that modern historians consider to be the most plausible is given in Guy Amiensky's source song, written shortly after the battle. According to her, at the end of the day, the Normans reached Harold's headquarters, which was defended by the Huskerles who had gone to her. Seeing that there was a fierce battle going on, William, accompanied by Eustachius Boulogne, Guy de Pontier and one of the sons of Gauthier Giffard, galloped for help. With a spear blow, one of the Norman knights struck Harold’s shield and hit him in the chest, another knight cut off the king’s head, a third thrust a spear into his stomach, and the fourth cut his thigh ^[34] .

According to the poem by Bodri de Burgey (written more than 30 years after the battle), Harold was killed by an accidental arrow in the eye. This version is also reported by William of Malmesbury: " ... fell from the arrow that pierced his brain ." It is likely that this version goes back to the scene depicted on a tapestry from Bayeux, where a pedestrian English warrior with a spear and sword is trying to allegedly pull an arrow out of his eye ^[35] . Nearby is the Norman knight, who with a sword kills another warrior armed with a big ax. Above them is an inscription in Latin: " King Harold was killed here ." Baudry de Burgey was familiar with the Bayeux Tapestry and, perhaps, mistakenly interpreted this scene as the death of King Harold by an arrow ^[32] .

The chronicle “Roman de Rou” combines both versions. She reports that King Harold was wounded by an arrow in the eye, but he pulled out an arrow and continued to fight until he fell under the blows of the Norman knights ^[28] .

The news of the death of the king quickly spread. Left without leaders, the Anglo-Saxon army hit the road, although the king’s squad continued to fight around the body of its overlord to the last. Wilhelm's victory was complete. Several thousand Anglo-Saxons left to lie on the battlefield. Next to Harold, they found the bodies of his brothers. According to William of Malmesbury, King Harold William’s hacked body was later given to his mother Gita for burial ^[32] .

The Battle of Hastings is one of the few battles that drastically changed the course of history. Although the battle was won with a slight margin, but victory opened up before William England. King Harold and his two brothers were killed; there was no leader left in the country who could organize resistance to the Normans. The battle of Hastings was a turning point in the history of England ^[36] . After a short resistance, London conquered, and the surviving Anglo-Saxon aristocracy recognized William’s rights to the English throne ^[37] .

On December 25, 1066, William was crowned king of Westminster Abbey . As a result of the Norman conquest , an ancient Anglo-Saxon state was destroyed, which was replaced by a centralized feudal monarchy with a strong royal power, based on European knightly culture and vassalism. The development of the country was given a new impetus, which allowed England in a short time to turn into one of the strongest powers of Europe. The lands of the Saxons were confiscated and distributed to the soldiers of the invading army ^[38] . Some of the Saxons fled to Byzantium , where they entered the service in the Imperial Guard ^[39] .

The heirs of the barons and knights of Wilhelm still form the basis of the English aristocracy .

The abbey of Battle was founded at the site of the Battle of Hastings, and the altar of the main church of the monastery was located right on the site of King Harold’s death ^[40] . Later, a small town called Battle grew up around the monastery.

В литературе

Битве при Гастингсе посвящён ряд произведений:

• Алексей Константинович Толстой . Три побоища . — 1869 год.
• Генрих Гейне . После битвы при Гастингсе / Гастингское поле ( нем. Schlachtfeld bei Hastings ). — 1857 год.

В музыке

Итальянская пауэр-метал группа Thy Majestie выпустила в 2002 году концептуальный альбом Hastings 1066 , посвященный этой битве. Альбом состоит из 12 треков.

В кино

Битве при Гастингсе посвящено 2 художественных фильма:

• 1066 — режиссёр Джастина Харди ( Великобритания , 2009 год) ^[41] .
• 1066 — режиссёр Робин Джейкоб ( Великобритания , 2012 год) ^[42] .

С октября 2006 года на месте битвы регулярно проводится реконструкция битвы ^[43] .

Notes

Сноски

Primary sources

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle / Trans. with dr.-eng. Z. Yu. Metlitskaya. - SPb. : Eurasia, 2010. - 288 p. - 500 copies - ISBN 978-5-91852-013-0 .
• Heinrich Huntingdon . History of Angles / Trans. from the latte S. G. Mereminsky. - M .: Russian Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Science, Dmitry Pozharsky University, 2015. - 608 p. - Series "Historical sources." - ISBN 978-5-91244-046-5

Research

• Barlow F. Wilhelm I and the Norman Conquest of England / Trans. from English by ed. kf n S.V. Ivanova. - SPb. : Eurasia, 2007. - 320 p. - 1000 copies - ISBN 978-5-8071-0240-1 .
• Boyard Michel de. William the Conqueror / Trans. from French E. A. Proninoy. - SPb. : Eurasia, 2012. - 368 p. - 3000 copies - ISBN 978-5-91852-019-2 .
• Brooke K. Saxon and Norman kings. 450-1,154 / Trans. from English L.A. Karpova. - M .: CJSC Publishing House Centropoligraph, 2011. - 255 p. - 3000 copies - ISBN 978-5-227-02590-6 .
• Donets I. Battle of Hastings (1066) // Soldier. Military historical almanac. - Artyomovsk: Artyomovsky military-historical club "Veteran", 2000. - № 64 . - S. 2-24 .
• Donets I. Battle of Hastings (1066) // Soldier. Military historical almanac. - Artyomovsk: Artyomovsky military history club "Veteran", 2000. - № 65 . - p . 2-25 .
• Juett S. O. The conquest of England by the Normans. - Minsk: Harvest, 2003. - 304 p. - (Historical library).
• Douglas D. William the Conqueror. Viking on the English throne / Trans. from English L. Igorevsky. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2005. - 431 p. - 7 000 copies - ISBN 5-9524-1736-1 .
• Douglas D.C. The Normans: From Conquest to Achievement. 1050-1100 years / Per. from English E.S. Marnicina. - SPb. : Eurasia, 2003. - 416 p. - 2000 copies - ISBN 5-8071-0126-X .
• Zyumtor P. William the Conqueror / Trans. with fr. V. D. Balakin; entry Art. V.V. Ehrlichman. - M .: Young Guard, 2010. - 309 [11] with. - ( Life of wonderful people : ser. Biogr .; Issue 1221 (1421)). - 5000 copies - ISBN 978-5-235-03305-4 .
• Normann A.V. B. Medieval warrior. Arms of the time of Charlemagne and the Crusades / Trans. from English L. A. Igorevsky. - M .: CJSC “ Tsentrpoligraf ”, 2008. - 288 pp., Ill. - ISBN 978-5-9524-3336-6 .
• Rex P. 1066. A New History of the Norman Conquest. - SPb .; M .: Eurasia; Clio, 2014. - 336 p. - (Clio).
• Peter Frankopan . First Crusade. Call from the East = Peter Frankopan. The First Crusade: The Call from the East. - M .: Alpina Non-fiction, 2018. - ISBN 978-5-91671-774-7 .

• Battle of Hastings. Reconstruction of the battle (eng.) . The appeal date is August 11, 2012. Archived August 17, 2012.
• Battle of Hastings (Eng.) . The appeal date is August 11, 2012. Archived August 17, 2012.
• The Conqueror and His Companions . The appeal date is August 11, 2012. Archived August 17, 2012.