I think most of us know that famous date in English History – 1066 and the Battle of Hastings where England’s rightful King, Harold Godwineson, was defeated by Duke William of Normandy at a site now known as Battle, seven or so miles from Hastings on England’s south coast.
There’s a lot more to Harold than just this one disastrous (for the English) battle though. Earl Harold of Wessex, as he was before the year 1066, had been King Edward’s (later called the Confessor) trusted advisor and second-in-command for many years. He was a capable, experienced military commander and was elected King of England when Edward died on the 5th/6th January 1066.
Yes, elected... It was usual during Anglo-Saxon times for the Æthling (often the king’s first-born son, but not always,) to become the next king because he’d been trained for the job. Edward had no children, no son to follow him. It was known that Duke William, across the Channel in Normandy, had an eye on the English Throne for himself, claiming that right through his Great Aunt, Emma of Normandy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_of_Normandy) who had been Queen of England twice when married to Cnut of Denmark (he of Turning the Tide fame), and prior to that to Æthelred (the Unready) by whom she’d given birth to Edward. William also claimed that Edward had promised him the throne way back in 1052/1053. Which Æthelred might have done, but had no right to do, because the choice of a successor was not the outgoing king’s prerogative, it was for the Witan, the Council to decide. Which is what happened on 6th January 1066 at Westminster in London when the elderly Edward died. He had a nephew who could have been chosen, but he was young and inexperienced. Harold was the eldest of the Godwine brothers – his sister, Edyth, was also the, now widowed, Queen. He was the best man for the job. Naturally, when he found out, Duke William didn’t agree. He sited several objections. (Fake, Conspiracy Theory News and Political Propaganda is nothing new!) One was the promise Edward had made, another was that Harold had agreed, under God’s Oath, to support William’s claim. A third was that the Pope backed William.
A few years before, Harold had travelled to Normandy on some sort of diplomatic mission. We know this because of the Bayeux Tapestry, (which is actually an embroidery, not a tapestry). The Tapestry shows the events that led to the Norman Conquest and the battle itself. Much of it, we think, is accurate although as much of it we don’t understand as explanatory detail is minimal. It shows Harold going to church at Bosham, where he had his main estate (say it ‘Bozzum’ by the way,) and then feasting with family and friends, before setting sail with a small retinue of men and gifts for the Duke. For anyone who knows Bosham, these scenes are remarkably accurate – the church doorway has been shown by local historian, the late John Pollock, to have originally been twice the width it is now, and those steps into the rising tide? Shoreline houses today still have them.
Something went awry, a storm perhaps, because Harold landed in the wrong place and had to be rescued by William. There followed a congenial camaraderie between the two men, where Harold even went on military campaign into Brittany with William. But it soon became apparent that William was not quite the hospitable host he was pretending to be. There came the annual ‘swearing of homage’, probably at the Rouen Christmas or Easter Court, where all William’s nobles had to re-swear their loyalty. To his horror, Harold was also made to pledge that he would support William’s bid for the English Throne. The real Game of Thrones had begun.
What choice did Harold have? Swear or never see his freedom again? Swear or risk his men being killed? Swear or not achieve the probable reason for his visit – the release of two hostages who had been held since 1053, his youngest brother, Wulfnoth, and his nephew, Hakon. He knew he would, eventually have to break that enforced oath, but what was less honourable – to willingly perjure yourself or be responsible for the deaths of men in your care? In fact, Hakon returned to England with Harold – he later died at Battle, but Wulfnoth never saw his freedom again.
After 1066, Duke William was to make much of this oath, and as for the Pope, I firmly believe that he did not sanction William’s claim until after the final outcome. England was a wealthy country, which is why William wanted it. Normandy, before the Conquest was basically just a dukedom – on the rise to power, but not yet there. The Pope, I am certain, sat firmly on the fence.
There are several feasts shown in the Tapestry, that one in Bosham before Harold set sail and there’s a scene of a banquet held by Duke William for his barons soon after they had landed in Sussex. Here, we see food being prepared, similar to a modern-day barbecue. When ready, a servant summons the guests by blowing on a horn. Another servant carries a bowl and towel for the washing of fingers and hands. The Latin text reads: Here the food has been served ... here they made a meal and the bishop blesses the food and drink.
Duke William's feast for his barons (© Wikimedia public domain)
Drinks were regarded as important as the food. Ale, beer made from Bog-Myrtle, honey meads and wines. Table etiquette was important for the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans. The order of seating was essential, nobles at the top, lesser men lower down. (Much as a modern Wedding Feast seating plan, with Bride, Groom and their parents on the Top Table.) Napkins and tablecloths had to be clean, nor was it polite to pick up dropped food and eat it without first blessing it and laying it to one side. (Presumably to then be given to the poor.) Nor was it polite to touch food with a hand that had been picking your nose or scratching your bottom!
Anglo-Saxon women, in earlier times, were usually not seated beside the men, and even the lord’s wife and daughters would be ‘cupbearers’, serving food and drink to the most honoured guests. This had changed by the eleventh century, when women of rank were accepted at table.
Battle, where it is thought Harold's shield wall stood defending England against the Normans (© the author)
Diet depended on what was seasonally available, what could be efficiently preserved and how rich or poor you were. Food would have been boiled or roasted over an open fire. Pigs were plentiful for eating as one sow would produce many offspring. There was also beef, chicken, mutton and goat, although beef was for wealthier people. Cattle were primarily used for their milk to drink and to make cheeses, as were goats. Sheep were kept for their wool, chickens for eggs, with animals only slaughtered when necessary or before winter set in. Fish, shellfish, oysters, eels, crabs and such were consumed in quantity by those who lived near the sea, rivers or lakes, with monasteries having their own fish pools: fish was essential for holy days.
Fruit and vegetables were grown, depending on the seasons: onions, garlic, cabbage, turnips, mushrooms, beetroot, parsnips, carrots (purple or white, not our familiar orange!) Peas, beans, and anything that could be foraged such as berries, nuts and apples, pears, plums. Salt was widely used, with imported spices, again only for the rich. Honey was abundant for nearly everyone would have kept bees, and it did not need preserving. Barley, rye and oats, with some wheat, were grown, milled and baked where needed into bread. No potatoes, tomatoes or maize (corn on the cob)! They wouldn’t be eaten until much later, when the New World was discovered in the 1400s.
My friend James, sitting on some Bosham harbour steps (© the author)
As for King Harold, had he been victorious that fateful day in October 1066, the Norman Conquest would not have happened. Much changed because of it, but, fortunately, the enjoyment of a good feast has stayed the same from then until now!
Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Helen!
OfHistoryandKings.blogspot.com
First accepted for traditional
publication in 1993, Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her
historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the
UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am The Chosen King)
being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in
1066. Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the
Arthurian legend, and she writes a nautical adventure/supernatural series, The
Sea Witch Voyages. She has also branched out into the quick read novella,
'Cosy Mystery' genre with her Jan Christopher Mysteries, set in the
1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her,
often hilarious, memories of working as a library assistant. The fifth in the
series, A Memory Of Murder, was published in May 2024, with more to
follow!
Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. Latest on her writing list is a book about the ghosts of North Devon, and Jamaica Gold the seventh Sea Witch Voyage.
She lives with her family in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon with their dogs and cats, while on the farm there are showjumper horses, fat Exmoor ponies, an elderly Welsh pony, geese, ducks and hens. And several resident ghosts.
