How do you write a Norman soldier in 1066 writing a diary entry explaining the battle you have fought in?

Answer 1

Put yourself in his place. Think about the time, place, and how he was feeling. As a surf he was required by his Lord to serve in the army. He didn't have a choice. He was using farm tools as weapons, had no armour, or shield and was facing certain death. If he was wounded he usually died in pain where he fell. The wives and daughters of this man would have no support after his death and he may be thinking about this as he went into battle. Battle in 1066 was dirty, close, and very bloody. He would see friends, fathers, brothers killed around him. The weather didn't help either so he could be cold, wet or hungry. Think about the sounds and smells he would be around. He would hear the clang of metal and men hurt, in pain, or dying. He would smell death with a mixture of blood and earth. So much blood would be spilled in battles of this sort that it didn't soak into the ground or the streams would turn red with blood. There may be the sounds of animals dying. If the man happen to live through the battle he may live the rest of his days without a arm, leg, or other body parts. Get the idea? I would give an assignment like this to my history students to see how much they understood about what I was teaching so think out of the box on this assignment and what it would be like to be there. Watch Brave heart or a movie of that sort to get the "feeling" of this kind of battle.