Question

Explain how William of Normandy was able to conquer England

Answer 1

He kinda lucked out, i reckon!

Harold had just thumped the Norse at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, which was a long way away from the South Coast and then had to march all the way down to meet the Norman invasion.

At the battle itself, Harold had the high ground and was winning. However one Norman retreat showed that Harold's men were over eager, they broke ranks going in for the kill. So the Normans used this tactic repeatedly and eventually prevailed in the battle itself.

But that was it. One small battle between a relatively small number of people, in a rather underwhelming field, decided it!

I suspect that the fact William had some kinda claim to the throne (there was some promise made somewhere, i think) no doubt also mattered as he proceeded to stamp his authority over the other porcine leaders of the day :)