2016 and all that...
950 years after Harold was slain, it’s kicking off in Hastings all over again
SWORDS clashed, arrows flew and the wounded cried out in agony… then everyone shook hands and went for a well-earned pint.
Unlike the bloody Battle of Hastings in 1066, yesterday’s 950th anniversary re-enactment of the momentous event was fought on more friendly terms.
More than 1,000 combatants dressed as Anglo-Saxons and Normans under King Harold and William the Conqueror gathered to simulate English history’s most defining battle.
Historical groups from across the UK and Europe enthusiastically took part in the re-enactment on the original site, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex.
Gerald Uhl, a 49-year-old research chemist from Bavaria, who was taking part with his family, joked: ‘We are here to bring you back to Europe.’
About 8,000 visitors watched the action. There were displays, lectures and living history camps at the event, which also runs today. Ahead of the re-enactment, a group of diehards marched for three weeks on foot and on horseback from York to Battle, echoing the journey Harold and his men had to make before fighting the Norman invaders.
Nigel Amos, who led the march, said: ‘I have been involved in re-enactments for many years and for me this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’
The re-enactment, organised by English Heritage, was part of a series of events marking the anniversary.
Roy Porter, English Heritage curator at the Battle site, claimed that Harold had not been killed by an arrow in the eye.
He said: ‘He had a lance through his chest, his head was cut off, part of his leg was hacked away, and his entrails were spread on the ground.’