Eventually all six horses were coaxed down the narrow plank walkway, most with a blanket over their heads to prevent them being frightened and unmanageable. The sea where the horses were being unloaded was chest-deep and nearly an hour passed before the last horse was led wet and shivering up the beach.
All around them was a scene of total confusion. Men were struggling onboard ships; men were struggling though the water and men milling about on the beach with no idea of what to do. Horses stood on the beach and in groups closer to the town. Hundreds of ships were drawn up on the beach, with their sterns still in the water. Dozens of ships had lost control, some crashing into and running afoul of other ships, locked together. Others were side-on to the waves and rolling viciously as the waves pounded them against the stony beach. Those ships that had unloaded were struggling to get off the beach and get a reasonable distance off-shore- which was no easy task when they were on a lee-shore with the wind trying to blow them back to the beach.
Fortunately there was no interference from the English navy. Even a dozen Saxon longboats, propelled by oars, would have wreaked devastation amongst the invasion fleet. There was also no sign of the English army; again even a small force would have been able to have mounted an effective defence against the disorganized rabble who were landing. Alan was please to find that the rumours of the English fleet and the native militia fyrd being dispersed because of the lateness of the season appeared to be accurate. After all, nobody in their right mind would start an invasion in late September.
By God’s good grace the Normans and their allies had received the one day of good weather and southerly winds that the expedition had required, and their leaders had held the army together long enough to make a crossing almost impossibly late in the season.
The few residents of Pevensey, a small town little more than a village, did their best to make themselves invisible.
The next day was 29th September- Michaelmas, the feast of St Michael. There was little in the way of feasting, although most of the contingent still had a few supplies that they had brought with them. Almost the whole army attended a series of outdoor Masses held that day- there was no shortage of Bishops and their entourages, as many had contributed armed forces towards the army.
Several days were spent by the men raising an earthen motte and erecting a castle by installing prefabricated wooden sections that had been brought to make the walls and keep. The tents of the army were erected on the high ground to the west of the town.
It was soon clear that the choice of landing place had been a poor one. Marshes dominated the landscape to the north and east. There was no usable road and the army stripped the countryside bare of fresh food within days. Perishable food had not been brought with the supplies on the ships, which were limited mainly to sacks of dried peas and beans, root vegetables, flour and oats- the latter for the horses.
Word passed around the army that they were to move further east along the coast to Hastings. While Hastings was only ten miles away ‘as the crow flies’, the journey would entail thirty miles of difficult slogging across swamps, sluggish tidal rivers and around Bulverhythe harbour. The foot-soldiers were ferried by boat around the worst of the land and marched along the coast; the cavalry rode the long way around. Nobody wanted to load and unload horses from ships ever again.
Hallisham and Hooe were laid waste by the cavalry. Ninefield and Catsfield were badly damaged and stripped bare. On the more southerly route the foot-soldiers devastated the four villages in their path; Bexhill, Crowhurst, Wilting and Filsham. Leaving two paths of death and destruction behind it, the army entered the land at Hastings belonging to the Abbey of Fecamp. There William and much of his army took Mass on 1st October and then spent several days constructing another pre-fabricated fort.
Alan was less than happy with the actions of the army. He’d marched with most of the cavalry on the northern route to Hastings. The devastation that an army on the march wreaked was distasteful to him. Any army, even if on friendly soil and well managed, wrought devastation and pillage as it moved. In enemy territory, even if unresisting, the situation was worse. Alan was sick to the stomach of seeing burnt-out farms, the dead bodies of men whose only crime was to seek to protect what was theirs, and the violated and dead corpses of their womenfolk.
“I may be inexperienced, but I like not the actions of our men towards the local populace,” commented Alan as they rode through the burnt ruin of the village of Wilting. A few trees were decorated with the bodies of those soldiers caught in flagrant breach of the ban imposed by William on such activities, but this had done little to control the excesses of many in the army, particularly the mercenaries.
The equally inexperience Robert sighed his agreement, but Hugh replied, “Mercenaries and foot-soldiers fight in the expectation of loot to supplement their meagre pay.”
“That may well be the case, but at least one of those bodies swinging in the breeze wore a tunic of reasonable quality- I would guess that man to have been a knight, although now stripped of his armour and weapons. How much plunder do they expect to find in a poor village where the serfs scrape a bare existence from the soil?”
“Perhaps something of worth from the manor houses of the local thegns, perhaps a hoard of silver or some plate,” replied Hugh. “A substantial part of the problem is the lack of fresh provisions for the army. An army on friendly soil can expect to receive supplies either bought or requisitioned from the local villages, or brought in by wagon from further away. An army on the march in enemy territory is expected to feed itself as it moves, meaning that it had to constantly keep moving, emptying the countryside of food like a plague of locusts. An army in enemy territory that stands still is at a severe disadvantage. Apart from the strategic implications of a stationary army losing any advantage of manoeuvre, within days it cannot feed itself.”
While the move from Pevensey to Hastings was an improvement, a few hours on horseback showed Alan that the situation was still unsuitable for an army. Hastings was effectively a small triangle of land with Bulverhythe harbour to the west. To the east were the marshy valleys of the Bede and Rother rivers. To the north a track led through the Andreas Forest on the way to London, some sixty miles away.
Alternatively, a route east led across the Bede and Rother rivers and the coastal route to London via Dover. Both routes placed William’s army at a disadvantage due to the ground being unsuitable for cavalry. The area was heavily wooded and contained few villages and little food. Some ships arrived with food and provisions, but these were few and made little impact on the situation for an army that would soon be slowly starving.
Within a week the area had been ravaged of all food. There was scarcely a chicken or pig within five miles. Haystacks were carried off to feed the warhorses. What little money or loot was available had long gone- stolen by the soldiers or hidden by owners who had fled.
And still nothing was heard of the English or their army.
CHAPTER THREE
CALDBEC HILL OCTOBER 1066
On 7th October a messenger rode in for Duke William from Robert fitzWymarc, a distant relative of the duke who had long lived in England after being given land by King Edward. FitzWymarc advised of Harold’s incredible march from London to York, his crushing victory over the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge and his rapid march back to London where both the professional troops who had been victorious at Stamford Bridge and the thegns and fyrd of East Anglia and Hertfordshire were being raised against William’s army- together with the men from Harold’s own lands of Kent, Middlesex and the lands of the West Saxons. Harold would soon possess an army of crushing strength.
“We can’t sit here, that’s for sure,” commented Alan on hearing this latest news. “Harold is coming, as we always knew he would. We’re penned up in a tiny pocket of land, where we’ll soon be starving. There’s no way we can winter here.”
“And Harold’s ships will soon be cutting off what little supplies and reinforcements we receive by sea
,” agreed Robert morosely. “Why do you think that William has ordered a harrying of the land around here? It’s been stripped pretty bare anyway but that’s just what happens when you have a hungry army with time on its hands, particularly when at least a third of the men are mercenaries. Now he wants everything torching except the abbey’s lands.”
Alan shook his head in mystification. “Harold seems to be able to move his army fifty or sixty miles a day. If he was in London two days ago, he could be here today.”
“But not in force,” replied Robert. “The longer he waits the stronger he will be when he arrives.”
“What of the pope’s threat of excommunication to any who oppose William? What effect do you think that will have?” asked Alan.
Hugh de Berniers, who had been listening, laughed sardonically. “I think it’ll mean little to the English. If Harold wins and we’re defeated, I’m sure that Harold will convince the pope that it’s all a mistake and no sentence of excommunication should be proclaimed. If he loses this battle and there’s a prolonged campaign, perhaps it’ll affect the English morale in the long term. Don’t forget they’re fighting for their homes against us foreign invaders. What another foreigner, however influential, says is likely to be of little consequence to them. After all, ‘The Bastard’ was in trouble with Pope Leo over his marriage to Matilda and that didn’t prevent him from getting what he wanted eventually- it just took some time and cost a lot of money to bribe the pope. I understand the cost was the building and endowment of two new abbeys. Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has been under anathema of excommunication for years- excommunicated by five successive Popes, and both Edward the Confessor and Harold retained him in the most influential ecclesiastical position in the land for political reasons. To me that indicates the English pay scant attention to the interdictions issued by the Holy Fathers in Rome.”
“Anyway, who’s to say the English even know of the interdict?” commented Robert. “We received news only a few weeks ago and few ships will have been able to sail against the wind to England in that time. I’m more interested in how many of the English huscarles and thegns were killed or wounded at Fulford Gate and Stamford Bridge, and how many march against us. One thing is for certain, it’s been a difficult few weeks for Harold and the English.”
“How did the duke get Pope Alexander’s Blessing for the expedition?” queried Alan.
“Politics!” replied Hugh. “The pope is Italian. We Normans are very influential in Italy and Sicily these days. There are a lot of us down there- and no Englishmen! Alexander received the duke’s embassy and didn’t even bother to send for the English to hear their side of the argument. William claimed Harold is an adulterer and forsworn. If that’s the worst he could come up with then Harold must have led a fairly blameless life!
“What Bishop Lanfranc offered the pope was a chance to bring the English church to heel. It’s been quite independent, even having the scriptures translated into English and Mass spoken in the local language- which most churchmen find offensive. The churchmen of Normandy and France claim the English church is full of corruption, with offices bought and sold or given as bribes- the crime of simony. Considering the situation of Odo, the Duke William’s half-brother and now Bishop of Bayeux, the pope must have found it hard to control his mirth on hearing that argument! Odo was appointed as bishop when he was still a child, has no learning and no knowledge of the scriptures. How many bishops put on armour and ride into battle as part of their religious duties? Several of the Norman bishops do!
“What tipped the balance was that Lanfranc offered that Duke William promised to hold England as the pope’s vassal, expanding the power of the Holy See. I’m sure that’s one promise that will be quietly forgotten! Still, it means that the duke has received a papal ring, the flag of St Peter and a written edict blessing him as king of England- and promising excommunication to all who oppose him. These are quite considerable weapons in the duke’s armoury!”
Nothing happened for several days, to the frustration of the Norman army. Then an English monk rode out of the trees and was taken to William’s camp. A few hours later scouts rode in and word passed around the camp that a large English army had been seen amongst the trees of the Andreswald some ten miles to the north. Matters appeared finally to be moving to some sort of a conclusion. The English monk, accompanied by a French monk and with several knights as an escort, rode out early the following day- Friday 13th October.
Although without formal instructions and little to go on other than gossip, the Normans spent the day in camp in final preparations for battle, many attending the several large outdoor Masses that were being celebrated, hoping to increase their chances of Redemption if matters went against them in the coming battle.
That night Alan sat with Robert and Hugh near a camp-fire. “There’s plenty of firewood, and the horses can crop the grass. It’s a pity that we don't have much to eat- we can’t eat grass! Thanks for providing the hare, Hugh,” commented Robert, as he carefully broke a small stale loaf of bread into three and handed a piece to Alan and to Hugh.
Hugh used his knife to turn the carcass of a small hare that was roasting on the fire. “There’s going to be barely a mouthful of meat each, and the damn thing cost me a denier! Praise be to God that one way or the other something will happen soon, otherwise next week we'll have to start eating the horses! Turning an expensive destrier into stew is not a good use of resources!”
“What do you think is going to happen?” asked Alan.
Hugh shrugged. “If Harold has moved south we have to go to meet him. The land nearby here isn’t suitable for the sort of battle we Normans prefer- we need space to manoeuvre. Hopefully we’ll find a suitable battlefield somewhere, although from what I hear the land is thick woods most of the way to London. In the end we’ll fight where we must- and we must fight soon! If Harold is clever he’ll simply sit between wherever we are and London and refuse battle. We're getting weaker, while his army will be getting stronger. Still, that’s for the nobles to resolve- we just carry our lance wherever we're told!”
The following morning there was a waning moon in the sky as dawn broke and instructions were given that the army would march at sunrise, which that day was at seven in the morning. Other than the nobles, the army marched dressed for battle in full armour and with lances held aloft.
From Hastings to Caldbec Hill was a distance of seven miles along a winding and rutted track. William’s army stretched for three miles along the track, with the Normans at the rear. Hugh de Berniers’s squadron was located about four-fifths of the way along the column. Their view ahead was obscured by Telham Hill and the dust raised by thousands of feet. The column suddenly halted and word flashed back that the English army was on the next hill, Caldbec Hill- just 800 yards from the Norman vanguard. The Norman army was deploying for battle.
The time was a little after eight in the morning.
The Norman forces inched forward, first to the top of Telham Hill, where Alan could make out something of the next major rise in the ground, in front of which the Norman army appeared to be deploying. However, the dust and the intervening small rise of Starr’s Green made it difficult to make out details. When they eventually reached the rise of Starr’s Green the battlefield was suddenly revealed and the reason for the slow deployment became obvious.
“Sweet Jesus!” muttered Hugh de Berniers “I’ve never seen such a battlefield. There’ll be many dead before the end of this day! This isn’t a battlefield, it’s a killing field!”
The terrain was shaped like the letter ‘T’ with the top formed by a nearly level hill on which the English were deployed in a shield-wall. The hill was perhaps 800 yards wide with both flanks protected by steep ground falling away from the ends of the line, and also with a thick forest on the west flank. The English had formed a shield-wall below the brow of the hill just above the ground that had been cultivated. They were there in their thousands. There were perhaps 800 or 1,000 men in the s
hield-wall, but with the ranks eight or ten deep behind them there were probably 8,000 armed men in all, slightly more than William’s army.
The leg of the ‘T’ was a low ridge along which the road ran towards the position occupied by the English. What had caused Hugh de Berniers’s comment, and the delay in deployment, was the fact that the ridge on which the road was located acted as a water-shed. Streams ran south-west and north-east away from the road and parallel to the hill occupied by the English. The low-lying land at the foot of the hill was soft and marshy, particularly to the west, with the streams only some 150 to 200 paces from the English line.
Usually an army would deploy from column to line at least 500 paces from the enemy. Had William done so, the bulk of his army would then have to cross the marshes as they assaulted the hill. Instead he had taken the risk of passing beyond the streams and then had the Bretons deploy to the left and the French and Flemish deploy to the right, with the Normans occupying the higher ground in the centre of the Norman line. This was done little more than 150 paces from the English line.
The slope uphill from the position where the Norman army had deployed to that where the English shield-wall stood varied across the battlefield, from a moderate slope of one in thirty on the western end and centre, becoming much more steep on the eastern flank up which the French and Flemings must attack- there perhaps as much as one in six. The lower slopes, even above the marshy ground near the streams, would be difficult to traverse even on foot. For cavalry to use that ground risked the horses becoming mired in mud and potentially suffering injury to their legs. To make matters worse the first part of the land across which the invaders would be attacking had recently been ploughed. Rain had made the ground wet- even on the more level land the slope of the hill in the ploughed field would make the approach a hard slog for the infantry and a proper coordinated charge by the cavalry very difficult.
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