Product Code Database
Senlac Hill or Senlac Ridge is generally accepted as the location in which Harold Godwinson deployed his army for the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. It is located near what is now the town of Battle, East Sussex. The name Senlac was popularised by Victorian era historian E. A. Freeman, based solely on a description of the battle by the Anglo-Norman chronicler Orderic Vitalis. Freeman went on to suggest that the Normans nicknamed the area Blood lake as a pun on the English Sand lake.
It is probable that Orderic would have known the English name for Senlac, as he spent his early life in England since he had been born to an English mother. His education towards the end of his time in England was from an English monk. However, Freeman's hypothesis has been criticised by other historians since it relies purely on the evidence from Orderic. Orderic was born nine years after the Battle of Hastings, and earlier chroniclers did not use the name Senlac.
Orderic was born in Atcham, Shropshire, England, the eldest son of a French priest, Odeler of Orléans and an English mother. When Orderic was five, his parents sent him to an English monk with the name of Siward, who kept a school in the Shrewsbury Abbey, at Shrewsbury. Although Orderic moved to a monastery in Normandy at age ten, he seems to have maintained his links with England. Freeman concludes that it was possible for Orderic to have known the English name of the ridge. The Chronicle of Battle Abbey describes what it calls Malfosse, a large ditch that opened up during the course of the battle (some sources say after the battle) in which many soldiers of both sides fell and were trampled to death, the result being "rivulets of blood as far as one could see".Searle. The Chronicle of Battle Abbey. pp. 38-41 In fact, there was a local legend that was maintained for centuries after the battle that the soil in the area turned red after a heavy rainfall.Seward. Sussex. p. 6
Freeman suggests that Senlac means Sand Lake in Old English, with the Norman conquerors calling it in French language Sanguelac. Freeman regards that use as a pun because the English translation of Sanguelac is "Blood Lake"..]] Several historians disagree with the Freeman analysis. J. Horace Round published his "Feudal England: Historical Studies on the XIth and XIIth Centuries" in 1895 in which he strongly criticises the Freeman view. He points out that Senlac was not an English word and was simply a fad, if not an invention of Orderic Vitalis.Round. Feudal England: Historical Studies on the XIth and XIIth Centuries pp. 333-340 Norman chroniclers William of Jumièges and William of Poitiers, who were contemporary with the battle, did not record the site of the battle as Senlac, and the Chronicle of Battle Abbey simply records the location in Latin as Bellum (Battle Abbey).Searle. The Chronicle of Battle Abbey. pp. 34-35 Later documents, however, indicate that the abbey had a tract of land known as Santlache (Sandlake) with the name Sandlake continuing for several centuries as a tithe in Battle.Harris. Battle: Historic Character Assessment Report. pp. 15-17Lower. The Chronicle of Battel Abbey. pp. 23-24Searle. The Chronicle of Battle Abbey. pp. 62-65
Freeman considered what Orderic Vitalis called the battlefield, Senlac, may have been a corruption of the original Anglo-Saxon name. Other scholars have suggested that the Anglo-Saxon form would have been scen-leag meaning "beautiful meadow".Stephen Charnock. On certain Geographical Names in the County of Sussex in Report of the forty second meeting British Association for the Advancement of Science. p. 177 Retrieved 23 November 2014 A further possibility of Senlac comes from the iron rich sandstone deposits within the local area and the local Wealden iron industry that started before the Roman invasion and carried until the late 18th century.Hodgkinson. The Wealden Iron Industry. pp. 88-89 Some have posited that the original Saxons name could have been Isen-Lacu, which means "iron pond". It is possible that the meaning was changed when translated into Latin. The argument goes that if the original name was Iron Pond, then the accepted location for Senlac Hill is wrong.Simon. Senlac Hill where is it and what does it mean
|
|
