Anglo Saxon History Home Background Landscape Changing Landscape and Language Sea Levels in AD400(Pevensey) Sea Levels in AD400(The Wash) Sea level changes last 2000 years Andredsweald and Anderida Where are the Roman Roads History of the Romney Marsh The Great Storm 1287AD List of Landscape Documents Local The Haestingas The Cinque Ports 914AD Alfred the Great's fort in Hastings Battle Museum Battle History Society Villagenet Local Gazeteer World War 2 Tank database Simon the Piman(Raspberry Pi) Tourist Guides for the area Romans First Invasion 55BC Second Invasion 43AD Roman roads in Britannia Ptolemy Geographica Tribes MAP-Margary Roman Roads MAP-Roman Roads South East MAP-Roman Roads South West MAP-Roman Roads Wales MAP-Roman Roads South Midlands MAP-Roman Roads South Yorkshire MAP-Roman Locations Norfolk MAP-Roman Locations Essex MAP-Wealden Roads/Bloomeries Wealden Bloomeries 1st Century Wealden Bloomeries 2nd Century Wealden Bloomeries 3rd Century Wealden Bloomeries 4th Century MAP-Antonine Itinery I Roman Industry in the Brede Valley Decline in Roman Wealden Ironworking The Gallic Empire 260AD - 274AD Types of Roman Fortification List of Roman Documents Saxon Chronicles 449AD Hengest & Horsa arrive 455AD Hengest & Horsa defeat Wurtgern 457AD Hengest & Horsa take over Kent 460AD Hæstinga Saxons arrive 477AD Cymensora 485AD Suth Saxons Mercredesburnan 491AD Suth Saxons Pevensey 914AD Burghal Hideage Locations - 449AD Ebbsfleet Locations - 455AD Agelesþrep Locations - 485AD Mearcredesburnan Stede Locations - 914AD Eorpeburnan List of Saxon Chronicles Documents 1066 Battle Documentary Evidence Available Documents  1 Anglo Saxon Chronicles  2 Battle Abbey Chronicles  3 Bayeux Tapestry  4 Carmen Guy d'Amiens  5 Florence of Worcester  6 Henry of Huntingdon  7 Master Wace  8 Orderic Vitalis(Gesta)  9 William of Jumièges(Gesta) 10 William of Malmesbury 11 Quedam Exceptiones Reference to Locations Phases of the Events Phases 1066AD  1 Background 1066AD  2 In Normandy 1066AD  3 Channel Crossing 1066AD  4 The Landing 1066AD  5 Feast after Landing 1066AD  6 Building the Forts 1066AD  7 Raiding the Area 1066AD  8 Warning to Harold 1066AD  9 Stamford Bridge 1066AD 10 Harold returns to London 1066AD 11 William is Alerted 1066AD 12 Exchange of Messages 1066AD 13 Defenses 1066AD 14 Harold Reconnoitres 1066AD 15 Preparations 1066AD 16 The Night Before 1066AD 17 The Battle 1066AD 18 Harold is Killed 1066AD 19 The English Rout 1066AD 20 After the Battle 1066AD 21 The Malfosse Warriors, Weapons & Snippets Saxon - Huscarl Saxon - Fyrd(Fyrð) Senlac Hill The Malfosse The Hoar Apple Tree The Shield Wall Salt Production near Hastings The Battle of Jengland 851AD William's Ship List Norman/Viking Ships and stuff Norman bows and crossbows Harold was NOT killed by an arrow The Time Team view of the Battle 1066AD Landscape Details 1066AD Sailing from Normandy 1066AD Norman Landing 1066AD Possible Fort 1066AD to Pevensey and Hastings 1066AD Manors Wasted 1066AD Manors All 1066AD Warning to Harold 1066AD Harold to Hastings  List of 1066AD Documents List of 1066AD Weapons 1086AD Domesday Boundary of Anderida Domesday Hursts Post Domesday Hursts Domesday Manors Wasted UK Norfolk Salt Production Salt Production near Hastings The Wash at 1086 The Humber estuary at 1086 Domesday County details B Bedfordshire Domesday Population Berkshire Domesday Population Buckinghamshire Domesday Population Domesday County details C Cambridgeshire Domesday Population Cheshire Domesday Population Cornwall Domesday Population Domesday County details D Derbyshire Domesday Population Devon Domesday Population Dorset Domesday Population Domesday County details E Essex Domesday Population Domesday County details G Gloucestershire Domesday Population Domesday County details H Hampshire Domesday Population Herefordshire Domesday Population Hertfordshire Domesday Population Huntingdonshire Domesday Population Domesday County details K Kent Domesday Population 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Villages containing HAM Villages containing TON Villages containing CASTLE Sussex Locations with ING Domesday Sussex with ING Kent Locations with ING Sussex Locations with HURST Loads of Village Translations Res Battle of Hastings 1066AD - Saxon Shield Wall - did it really exist?   Definition of the term   From Wikipedia A shield wall (scieldweall or bordweall in Old English, skjaldborg in Old Norse) is a military formation that was common in ancient and medieval warfare. There were many slight variations of this formation, but the common factor was soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder and holding their shields so that they would abut or overlap. Each soldier thus benefited from the protection of the shields of his neighbors and his own. The Saxon shieldwall is a term created in the 19th century to describe a way of fighting that the Saxons used in the Battles of Malvern, Hastings and others. Now an awkward question Was the Shield Wall an actual fighting formation or style, or is it the just the misinterpretation of Saxon poems and documents by early scholars? Lets look at the evidence.   Table of Contents   Definition of the term Roman Testudo(Tortoise) Documentary Evidence Research Conclusion   Roman Testudo(Tortoise) ▲   The concept of the Saxon Shield wall appears to have been derived by early historians from the historic evidence for a fighting formation of the Roman army. The Roman Testudo which translates to Tortoise was a Roman fighting formation used in Battles where the enemy had a large number of archers, slingers or other flying weapons, and or when beseiging enemy forts where the defenders were on higher ground than the Roman troops. Some Constraints to this formation To make the formation effective, all the shields must be a standard size so they can fit together without leaving gaps. A high level of training is required for the relevent troops to know whether their shield is in front, to the side or top. Any gaps in the wall leave the unit open to damage from weapons from above breaking into the troops inside and causing men to be killed which in turn quickly opens up the formation to further damage, unless the troops are trained to close the gaps. Fighting with the Testudo In this formation swords would have been used to stab the opposing troops in front of the shield wall, with perhaps a second rank using the Roman Pila(spear) to pass between the front rank and stab the enemy. This formation would have been very cumbersome and slow moving and would require a lot of skill and training to manouvre. At the Battle of Carrhae the Roman testudo were defeated by the use of Horse Archers to hold the testudo and then Heavy Cavalry to break into the formation. To get into this formation you need to first signal everyone to form it, then wait for at least a few dozen men to get the message and then follow the instructions, with others then getting into position behind. Once a gap appears in a testudo then the formation disintegrates very quickly.   Documentary Evidence ▲   The background to the Shield wall appears to have come from the translation of numerous Saxon and Viking Poems which describe the Saxons or Vikings using a 'Wall of Shields', but this could just mean a line of troops with shields. The only references to a 'Shield Wall' from Saxon or Norman sources are listed below: Some lines from 'The Battle of Maldon' translated by Douglas B. Killings The Original line: scyldburh tōbrocen: ābrēoðe his angin, This is translated as: the wall of shields breaking asunder. Shame on that action, Scyldburh actually means 'shield fort/defense' The Original line: hē bræc þone bordweall, and wið þā beornas feaht, This is translated as: He broke through that wall of shields and among the warriors fought, bordweall is actually 'board/plank wall or wall of boards/planks' The defensive term used by the Saxons is different between the two lines, implying that this is not a real term but a poetic phrase to describe a line of troops behind shields. A line from 'Anglo Saxon Chronicles for AD937' The Original line: ymbe Brunnanburh. Bordweal clufan, This is translated as: around Brunanburh. They split the shield-wall, bordweal is actually 'board/plank wall or wall of boards/planks' So this is similar to one of those from the 'Battle of Maldon' There are relatively few other references to a 'shield wall' unless you look to Viking Sagas that reference 'skjaldborg' meaning shield fort or defense, but again this could just refer to a line of close order infantry protected by shields.   Research ▲   It’s a widespread misunderstanding that the Vikings stood shield by shield and created a close formation in battle with their round shields, says archaeologist Rolf Warming, director of the Society for Combat Archaeology. Adorned in armour and helmet, Rolf Warming undertook an archaeological experiment with an authentic reconstruction of a Viking Age round shield. By letting a combat assistant attack him with a sharp replica of a Viking sword in simulated combat scenarios, Warming was able to test the effectiveness of different shield uses in terms of shield construction and durability. The results were not in favour of the shield wall. It showed that there must have been many more disadvantages than advantages since shield-wall conditions do not allow the defender to deflect incoming attacks, says Warming. His shield sustained more damage in the passive wall stance when compared to a strategy of using the shield actively to fend off the opponent’s sword. Click here for full article   Conclusion ▲   From the lack of documentary evidence for this formation, the experimental archaelogy and the lack of shield size standards for the troops, it would seem that a specific Shield Wall formation was very unlikely. This would mean that the Saxon defences would have just been a line of close order troops standing behind their shields. If this is true then this begs two additional questions: How did the lightly protected Saxon lines hold out against the spear throwing Breton cavalry who had defeated Charles the Bald and his well armed mercenaries at the battles of Ballon AD845 and Jengland 851AD How did the Saxon lines continue to defend for most of the day against Williams archers firing at their "shield wall" without loosing a great number of men. - Please refer to our Malfosse page for an alternate explanation Copyright saxonhistory.co.uk 2013 - 2024 Contact Simon Author Simon M - Last updated - 2024-05-06 10:23:28 All pages on our site (Sitemap)