The Battle of Hastings, 1066 (review)

It is testimony to the importance of the battle of Hastings that it continues to generate scholarship and controversy after almost 950 years. The controversy, however, is also testimony to the number and nature of the sources we have for the battle: plentiful enough that we know more about Hastings than about almost any other early and most high medieval battles, yet limited and problematic enough that there is no way to answer definitively all the questions the battle generates. The greatest of the many strengths of M. K. Lawson's careful and thorough study of the battle is the close attention he gives to source criticism. For in the end, his aim is not to offer definitive answers but to open up questions and possibilities, including about some surprising areas where consensus has long reigned. The result is a very valuable book not just about the battle itself, but about the historical process.

After a first chapter that briefly narrates the campaign up to the battle, the next two chapters consider all the sources for the battle in detail, first English and then French, starting with the battlefield itself, which Lawson has walked many times with students. His careful attention to the geography and geology of the area, correlated as much as possible with the written sources and the Bayeux Tapestry, are the foundation of his central attack on dogma, for he shows that the possibilities for where the fighting took place are more open (and leave more room for larger forces) than historical consensus has allowed. He opens further possibilities by questioning near contemporary sources more than some commentators have, and conversely rehabilitating some later sources. His reconsiderations point to exactly how new archaeological discoveries could expand our knowledge of what happened on 14 October 1066.

Two chapters on the two armies extend his argument that both could have been significantly larger than is commonly assumed. This reviewer is unconvinced that they were, but Lawson makes the best possible case that the matter must at least remain open. Here and in the chapter on the battle itself, Lawson makes informed, judicious judgments about all the various episodes that have raised controversy, again with an emphasis on raising possibilities rather than seeking final answers.

Extensively illustrated from contemporary sources and the author's own photos of the site, thoroughly documented, and clearly written, this must remain the definitive book on this famous battle until more evidence comes to light. It will be of value to specialists, would make a marvelous text for classes in medieval military history and historiography, and will interest general readers.