What is the battle (on our soil) that has the most effect on England and the way we live today ...?

Question

a) Battle of Hastings (1066)

b) Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066)

c) Naseby (1645).

d) Marston Moor (1644).

Now I wanted to take my grandsons to b and d because they are where a and c were effectively decided and are in Yorkshire so it is *their* history and I doubt if they will learn about them in school these days.
I said "soil" because others might say "The Battle of Britain" and maybe that could be true.
BUT - without the need for Harold to march to Stamford Bridge William the Conquerer might not have been able to land in the South and Marston Moor brought Cromwell to the fore and secured the North.
This has affected our whole culture,language,political system and so much else so why aren't our children taught about it?
What do others think?

Very interesting and informative answers so far - and, Clive H : I never did like that Tolkein nonsense for the reasons you state - it is fake and even a child can see that.
And "lillypops" - yes I did have a very nice break thank you and from York I visited both Stamford Bridge (Fulford too) and Marston Moor but not the "Jorvic" Viking museum and so on because I refuse to pay to see our national history - I didn't pay to visit the Minster either - I attended evensong as I am entitled to.

Well I'm still learning History myself,Lettie but as you will see by other answers much is opinion which makes it interesting.
I am shocked to find that many children here aren't taught about *our* civil wars nor that for a period,under Cromwell,we were a republic - although some would dispute even that!
Don't start me on the so-called "Wars of the Roses" !

Answer 1

I think the Battle of Marston Moor - for all his faults, we owe much to Cromwell - much maligned and misunderstood man. l did not realise children were not taught these things. History was one of my favourite subjects at school lt is important each generation learns our history - how else can they make any sense of the present and their place in it. ln fact it is an excellent question - it has make me think - perhaps the lack of historical understanding adds to the rootlessness and general apathy of young people? They must feel they have just been dumped in time and space without any idea as to how they arrived there............... no wonder so many of them feel lost!

Answer 2

Battle of Hastings was easily one of the pivitol moments in English History. It was the last time a sucessful Invasion of this land was made by any power, a change of King, Goverment and Land Owning Class Structure, moved England from a Northern Link (The Kings where more attached to Scandinavia before than Europe) to a more Southern Link with the continent, brought us more into a Feudal state than every before, changed many of the Laws and traditions over the years and set up a long Dynasty Line of the Plantagenants that lasted 100's of years which ultimatley gave us our hatred and distrust of the French as a race until the early 20th Century.
The Battle of Stamford Bridge is Heavily linked to the Battle of Hastings and should be used at the same time as a cause and effect of the defeat and tactics used at both battles, Harold Goodwinson had to keep an eye on two camps and he knew that the Fied could not be kept in operation too long during the Autumn due to the Harvest and Saxon Law. It would have been interesting to see what would have happen if William had the wind and was able to land in July when he wanted too. Harolds full force could have replused William a lot easier. Same as if William had marched from his camp at Pevensey and marched quickly towards Canterbury and London.

Answer 3

Before 1066, England (and Wales, Scotland and Ireland for that matter) were influenced heavily by Scandinavia - the area of Danelaw in England still resonates today with Norse placenames and language elements. But all the hugely significant events of 1066 saw the focus turn suddenly and permanently towards Europe and the Norman-influenced areas of the Mediterranean - I deliberately emphasise all, because Stamford Bridge and Hastings can not be treated as if they were separate events. One battle had a direct and catastrophic impact on the other; if Stamford Bridge had not taken place, I for one am convinced that Harold would have repulsed William with enormous and crippling loss to the Norman side and the subsequent history of these islands is extremely interesting to consider.
With this sudden change of external influence, these battles taken together must be seen as more significant than any of the subsequent battles on English soil which were really only about different English factions contesting their supremacy.

Answer 4

I would say the battle of Hastings, because it affected the language, the legal system, land reform... the effects were huge.

As for Hastings being decided at Stamford Bridge, I'm not entirely sure about that. There were three weeks between the two, and while the march took place the days before, the forces were fairly evenly matched, numbers wise. What really gave William the battle was the counterattack. When the Saxons believed that William was dead, they broke ranks to rout the Normans. William took off his helmet to show he was alive, rallied his troops and massacred the Saxons. Harold and his troops could have won, as they were winning easily up until that point.

I have been to Battle Abbey, and it is a very interesting place to visit.

Answer 5

Hastings , If Harald Goodwinson had won that one we would be living in a very different world , if he had lost Stamford bridge we would still have had the same result , the vikings were under Williams control at any rate , The Crowellian battles were almost for nought in the end Chales the second took over with slightly reduced powers than his father but not much , and britain went on in the same old way almost as if nothing had happend

Answer 6

There is no doubt that the Battle of Hastings, Senlac Hill in 1066, had the most profound effect upon England and the English [Anglo Saxons].

From 1066 Anglo Saxon [English] culture, law and way of life was completely wiped out.

There is no connection between England today and the England of pre-1066.

The entire history from 1066 on was Norman [French] dominated. Anyone can check this out by doing this simple test. Visit any small village in Sussex, look at the houses and the church [Norman]. Now go to Normandy in France and spot the difference! There isn't any - the churches are the same and so to are the style of many of the houses.

Many of the Norman Kings of England from 1066 on are actually buried in France and Normandy.

Tolkien created a whole new mythological history for the English. They simply had no connection with their Saxon or Anglo Saxon past and this had to be re-created.

J. R. R. Tolkien - Wikipedia, Jump to: navigation, search. “Tolkien” redirects here. For other uses, see Tolkien (disambiguation). ...
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien

Answer 7

e)61AD- Battle of Watling St. where Suetonius defeated Boudica. If the Romans had lost, Nero would have removed his occupational garrisons and left the Celts to prosper or founder..
Stamford Bridge did not lose the subsequent battle of Hastings for Harald Godwineson.(The battle of Fulford preceding inflicted greater English casualties) Had he ignored the incursion Tostig G. would no doubt have consolidated his alliance with Malcolm Canmore and significant incursions into England from Scotland would have followed.
The real cause of the loss at sandlac hill nr Hastings was the dismissal or standing down of the English fleet from the coast for reasons of dissent and economy. Otherwise this English 'navy' would have scattered William's rag-taggle invasion fleet in the channel like sitting ducks.
Poor discipline and tactics at the battle put the tin lid on defeat, and poor Harold was stitched up in the famous tapestry!
Surely Naseby was significant for the case of treason against CharlesI As well as losing incriminating evidence was found in his baggage leading to the case for his execution. All these events were significant for CharlesII, who without the discomfiture of rebellion, would not have ruled so wisely and temperately on his restoration. I think both sides, monarchy and parliament learned tolerance, acceptance and accommodation from the civil war.

Answer 8

Depending upon one's point of view, all of them were equally significant.

Without Harold II's loss at Stamfordbridge, he could probably have beaten the Normans, so the conquest of England might not have happened.

Hastings obviously changed the history in many ways, the most obvious being the introduction of the feudal system which led to the class system which still has influence today.

And obviously different outcomes in the two Civil War battles would have possibly have meant no Cromwell and no execution of Charles I. Certainly all these battles have had an effect on our language, culture, political system, etc. but as to how different things would have been is open to endless speculation. And who is to say that other events might not have occurred which resulted in the same eventual outcome?

As a lifelong historian I like to deal with fact rather than opinion. It would behoove you to teach your grandsons the facts of these events and what resulted from them rather than try to guess what would have happened otherwise.

Answer 9

Unfortunately, English History is not taught in schools properly as it is not now decided to be "irrelevant". Some believe that history is "dead". Unfortunately, The English (British) are growing up to be totally ignorant of their heritage and the relevance of the different periods of history that saw us develop from the "Woad" to an important nation.

Our Englishness can be attributed to the (a) Romans (plenty of battles there/and our submission, the Vikings, the Normans - I think there were a people called the Jutes who were somehow tied up wiith the Angles and Saxons.

All of these have left their legacy and we have retained parts of their language. We have also taken language from the countries of our Empire - Bungalow (India), Jodhpurs (India) Cha ((India/Eygpt), the Romans left Latin, the Normans left a type of French and we the Brits adapted them all to our English and now the rest of the world benefit.

Back to the question of Battle on English soil - I think it was the Civil War - when democracy started to develop with the People's Charter of 1688. John Major tried to re-invent the wheel with his People's Charter of 1988 - I'm not sure what success that was - if any.

Anyway enough rambling - for me it is the English Civil War.

Answer 10

Bosworth Field

There are thousands of turning points in British history and there are more significant things than battles in history. It is ideas and technology that are really important.

It was inevitable the some catholic sponsored army would conquer England. If it wasn't William it would have been somebody else soon after. Fortunately the Tudors divorced us from papist tyrrany, once the country was strong enough.

We are a product of the Tudors more than anything. So therefore the most significant battle must be Bosworth Field.