How the Battle of Hastings was lost
Shortly after Harold II became King of England in January 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, declared war on Harold to depose him. In March 1066, the pope allied himself with William, and the war became a holy war. Harold was now a heretic who lost the possibility of having his soul saved, or an after...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2006
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| In: |
Mental health, religion & culture
Year: 2006, Volume: 9, Issue: 2, Pages: 141-154 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Shortly after Harold II became King of England in January 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, declared war on Harold to depose him. In March 1066, the pope allied himself with William, and the war became a holy war. Harold was now a heretic who lost the possibility of having his soul saved, or an afterlife in heaven. With the pope's blessing, the crusade against Harold brought other rulers to support William. In contrast to his past behavior as an able administrator as the under king to King Edward the Confessor for 13 years, and more than 20 years as a successful military leader, he was inept against William in strategy, tactics, initiative, and leadership. This suggests that Harold felt helpless and hopeless due to being a heretic fighting against the pope and God, and that his markedly different behavior in his war against William was symptomatic of a major depression due to religious feelings about loss of his soul. It seems that this led to his defeat at the Battle of Hastings 6 months later. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-9737 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Mental health, religion & culture
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13694670500116904 |