Hostile Takeover of England - 1066
A comet was seen in the skies in April 1066. It was Halley's Comet, but to the people of England, it was a portent of ill tidings.
(This is part four of four about the Norman Conquest of England in 1066)
England was confronting multiple hostile takeover bids in 1066. Would defeat come from the Vikings in the north, the Normans in the south, or could the English hold onto their country?
King Harold Godwinson had been crowned king of England in January 1066 immediately after the former king died without an heir. He was the richest man in England, brother-in-law to the king, and the king had whispered in his ear that Harold should be the next king on his deathbed.
That was good enough for Harold Godwinson and most of the other English lords. There wasn’t a long discussion, just a quick power grab. Sometimes this works, but not this time. Two other claimants stepped forward to assert their right to rule England:
Duke William of Normandy said, no, the previous king of England had promised the crown to William after he died. Also, he had imprisoned Harold Godwinson until he also agreed to let William be the next king a couple years back. William’s honor was insulted, and he demanded satisfaction. And a crown. And a throne.
King Harald Hardrada of Norway thought he should be king because a previous king of Norway had made an agreement with a previous king of England that whoever died first could also be king of their other guy’s country. Also, he was a veteran Viking adventurer and taking over stuff is just kinda what they did.
Harold Godwinson knew there would be trouble, so he wasted no time getting his forces together to resist an invasion. He expected William to attack from France, so gathered his forces in the south of England.
But the invasion first came from the north. Harald Hardrada landed in Northumbria, winning a quick victory over the English. Harold Godwinson raced north with his army, only to find that his younger brother had joined the Vikings against him. Thanks, bro.
On September 25, the English caught the Scandinavian invaders by surprise, crushing them in the Battle of Stamford Bridge. The turncoat brother was killed, as was Harald Hardrada. Many historians see the death of Harald Hardrada as the end of the Viking Age. The invasion from the north was over, but things were just getting going in the south.
Duke William wanted to load his men and their horses onto boats in France back in August, but the winds were against them, and they couldn’t make the crossing to England. After an epic delay, they set sail on September 27, landing near Hastings in Sussex.
Harold Godwinson raced south to meet the new invaders. He arrived with only half his army, as his archers and cavalry had not yet caught up. On October 14, the English faced off against the Normans for the famous Battle of Hastings. The English formed a shield wall on the top of a hill in a good defensive position.
The Norman cavalry charged the shield wall repeatedly, but were getting nowhere fighting uphill. William's brother was a bishop, and churchmen were not supposed to draw blood. But he really wanted to join the battle so they gave him a mace and let him go at it.
William’s jester rode beside his lord, taunting the English by juggling his sword, but he was killed. There was a rumor that William also had died, and some of the Normans started to retreat. William bravely took off his helmet and raced up and down the lines to encourage his men to keep fighting.
Some of the English broke ranks and chased the Normans who were retreating, which broke the shield wall. Having lost the high ground and their tactical advantage, the battle went to the Normans. Harold Godwinson was killed, according to legend, shot by an arrow in the eye.
Some lament that history is just one dang thing after another. Sometimes it can feel like that, getting lost in a maze of names and dates. But 1066 really did wipe the whiteboard clean. It is a date to remember.
The Norman conquest of England in 1066 changed the map forever. Until then, you can think of England as a big island in the North Sea, highly interconnected with the Scandinavian countries in language, trade, and politics. After the conquest, England was a big island off the coast of France, fully integrated with happenings on the European continent, ruled by the Normans.
The French-speaking Normans would influence the English language so much that Old English is mostly unintelligible to modern English speakers today. Anglo-Saxon England had developed a distinct form of government with councils of lords sharing power and electing their kings. Conquest brought the top-down feudal system and exciting new taxes for the peasants.
It would take William a few more years to fully conquer the island, but he would keep at it to ensure the takeover held. Twenty years later the evidence of his conquest was laid out in the famous Domesday Book. England was on a new path, and that path would define the rest of its medieval history.
In the corporate world, a hostile takeover is when an investor tries to gain control over a company against the wishes of the company’s management team.
If the company’s stock is $10 a share, the investor might offer $13 per share, which means shareholders just made 30% on their investment overnight. Not bad for a day’s no work.
Why would the CEO refuse such a deal? Usually, the leadership team will say the offer undervalues the firm and is not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders. What corporate leaders don’t say as loudly is that if this deal goes through, they’ll all get fired.
As CEO of England, King Harold Godwinson thought he was doing a great job. Neither Harald Hardrada nor William initiated a proxy fight to take control; they gathered up troops and weapons and piled them on boats for their takeover.
If you’re a leader of a company that’s being taken over, relax. Yes, you’re probably going to get fired, but you’ll get a nice payout, and it will all be okay. The number of CEOs who are shot in the eye with an arrow during a hostile takeover is very, very low these days.
[Note: All images here are from the Bayeux Tapestry. You can see the whole 200+ foot long embroidered cloth here. Merci beaucoup to the Bayeux Museum for putting it online.]
