Bayeux Tapestry

Bayeux Tapestry

Dear Family,

I am writing to assure you that I am alive and alright. I shall come back home soon. The battle is over and we came out victorious. My experience of this journey has been surreal, exciting and scary, simultaneously. I wanted to tell you all about it. The battle of Hastings has been the most memorable and successful battle that I've ever participated in as a Norman Solider. It was an honor to fight for Duke William; he deserved to be crowned as king. This war began when King Edward the Confessor died on January 5, 1066 without any heir to succeed him. He promised the English throne to William before he died. However, when he was on his deathbed, he changed his mind and by his own will appointed Harold of Wessex to succeed him (Morillo, 1996).Williams was of the idea that he should be the King since he was promised the throne first. So once he heard the news, he set out to gather himself an army.

He sought out the approval of the Pope, and around summer he assembled an army of noblemen and adventurers. He promised us land and titles under his new kingdom. There were around about 7,000 of in the troops that I was a part of (Lawson, 2007). Months had gone by since we volunteered to go to war with the English Saxons and we had been working hard in preparing the ships to sail across the Chanel. The air was filled up with the sounds of all of us men building and assembling the ships. You could smell the fresh wood being cut to make the boards, and hear the sounds of men hammering and gathering supplies. We worked day and night until the ships were done. We designed a fleet of around 1,000 vessels in the style of the Old Norse Dragon ship (Wood, 2009). It was 80 feet long with a single sail, and it was to be propelled by oars.

Duke of William announced that the day had finally come to invade England. We were all ready to cross the Chanel. We were all happy because we were stuck at the port for the entire summer because of the opposing winds. We were ready for battle. The ships set for sail. We passed the night confessing our sins and received the communion of the Lord's body by the morning. ...