His/Herstory!: January 2016

Nearly 1000 years later this is still seen as one of the most important events in English/British history - although the huge Bayeaux Tapestry, which kept a record of the events, perhaps helps to explain that!

There are many great resources online to help you investigate this event.

KEY BATTLES + EVENTS BEFORE + AFTER HASTINGS

YOUR NEWS REPORT WOULD FEATURE...
THE MAJOR PLAYERS AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT FOLK:

Harold Godwinson - the home team?! Maybe some of his fyrd or housecarls?
Harald Hardrada - the naughty nautical Norwegian who swiftly seized York.
Hardrada defeated Edwin the Earl of Mercia and Morcar the Earl of Northumbria
William the Conqueror (as he became) - genius or very lucky man?
Edward the Confessor - the man who caused all this mess?

There might be a weather forecast; the winds across the English Channel were very important.

A military strategist to comment on the tactics and weapons used (archers v axemen; shields v calvary and knights...) and why the high ground failed to work.

Did Harold make a mistake by joining his army?

What logistics issues were there for each army?

Who had the best claim for the throne?

I'll start with 3 videos:

VIDEO 1; AUSTRALIAN TEACHER'S ANIMATED GUIDE (11:29)
Designed for his primary students, but still a good, quite detailed overview. (skip 0-0:23)

VIDEO 2: HORRIBLE HISTORIES (4:48)
This might give the impression that William was lucky to win ... and luck did play a huge part in this! The video doesn't cover this, but William didn't set sail until a huge storm, which would prove a key factor in the outcome of the battle...

VIDEO 3: BBC DOCUMENTARY (7:26)
Yes, its less fun, but it features recreations and provides a useful overview.

WEBSITES

battle1066.com - not so well presented, but you can find guides to specific aspects of the history - the screenshot below shows how some of this is laid out