The Role of Religion at the Battle of Hastings
The Pope and the Peace of God Movement in 1066
Aug 21, 2009
Religion has often played a key role in historical happenings, and the series of events which led up to the Battle of Hastings are no exception. When Harold Godwinsson broke an oath sworn on Holy Relics to take the English crown, he handed his Norman opponents a vital weapon in their struggle to depose him.
The Involvement of the Pope in the Battle of Hastings
If there was one man in Europe guaranteed to be incensed by the retraction of a promise sworn on relics, that man was the Pope, therefore William was soon able to get the Papacy onside for his proposed conquest. With his power to offer absolution of sins to anyone who fought for him, the Bishop of Rome was a strong ally This meant that fighting for William was a win-win situation: should the conquest succeed, then earthly rewards could be reaped; but should you die in action, you would go in the knowledge that your soul, at least, was saved.
The Poor Habits of the English Clergy
The question of why the Pope decided to sponsor William is, like almost everything regarding the Norman Conquest, open to debate. Perhaps he really was persuaded that Harold was unfit to rule a Christian land; equally he may simply have been keen to extend his own influence of the English Church.
Even if we decide to believe that Papal expansion was the motive it need not necessarily be regarded with cynicism, for the English Church was not exactly covering itself in glory in the Eleventh Century, and some paternal interference was perhaps overdue. Simony was rife,
clergymen were keeping mistresses, or even openly marrying, and the guidance of the nation was slipping into the hands of irreligious and immoral guardians.
In effect then, England needed conquering for her own good, and the Norman Conquest has even been regarded as a ‘Proto-Crusade’, as William’s army carried a Papal Banner in a war against opponents who were scarcely more acceptable than Moors.
Of course, any criticism levelled at English churchmen by their counterparts on the continent must be witnessed with some caution. The idea that the English were any less devout than their neighbours prior to 1066 is certainly another message from the Norman propaganda machine.
The Illegal Invasion of England
William’s best claim to being a better Christian than Harold comes from his support of the Peace of God movement, begun by the Roman Catholic Church in France during the late Tenth Century as a damn against the flood of violence miring Christendom; for there was something of a crisis in the West around the end of the last millennia, as Europeans failed to reconcile the fundamental Christian doctrine of not killing one another with the equally fundamental aristocratic trait of territorial expansion by any means possible (and, with the possible exception of nuptial negotiations, ‘any means possible’ basically meant killing one another)
So bloodthirsty were the knightly classes that various Peace Councils felt the need to ban them from slaughtering clerics, pilgrims, merchants, women, animals and peasants during their squabbles; and they were even forbade to fight among themselves at the weekends, with warfare limited to between Monday morning and Wednesday night. Holy Days were also to be kept free from violence; and to make sure the Peace was maintained, oaths were sworn on... Holy Relics. Interestingly, William was not such a conscientious supporter of the Peace of God that he balked from sacking Sussex in 1066, nor from fighting the Battle of Hastings on a Saturday, which technically left him in contravention of the Peace Councils, and made his actions illegal.
Sources
The Enigma of Hastings (London, 1974) Edwin Tetlow
The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England (Book Club Assoc) Ed. Antonia Fraser
