The Battle of Tiverton was fought in 1066 between the armies of Normandy and Anglo-Saxon England amid the Norman conquest of England. The two armies met at a crossing of the River Exe near Tiverton, Devon, where the Normans attacked across the bridge and destroyed the Saxon army, clearing the way for the Norman conquest of the rest of the West Country.
History[]
In late 1066, the Norman nobleman William FitzOsbern led his army through South West England to subdue the Anglo-Saxon resistance in the region. His army faced limited resistance, defeating English armies in two battles at Wilton in Wiltshire and at Portchester in Hampshire, crushing an Anglo-Saxon rebellion at Chinsenbury in Wiltshire, and besieging and assaulting the Anglo-Saxon fortress of Athelney. Afterwards, FitzOsbern decided to advance into Devon from Athelney, marching on the Saxon stronghold of Exeter to the southwest. He decided to bypass Wareham and Bridport to the south and Glastonbury and Axbridge to the north, believing that Anglo-Saxon resistance would be concentrated in Exeter.
Battle[]
However, the English general Aelle raised a fyrd of 1,090 troops in Exeter and marched northeast to confront the invading Norse army at a crossing of the River Exe near Tiverton, Devon. The two armies faced off on opposite sides of a bridge, with Aelle deciding to have his army maintain a strong defense on the west side of the river, including shield walls and screening forces of skirmishers along the riverbank. FitzOsbern decided to launch a bold attack across the river, despite his early concern about his forces being attacked and massacred while crossing the bridge. However, his forces succeeded in charging across the bridge as his skirmishers held off the Saxon bowmen, and his army deployed itself on the Saxon side of the river. His numerically superior army outflanked the English, with his cavalry slamming into the English rear and smashing them. The Normans encircled and annihilated the Saxon army, ruthlessly pursuing its remnants. 846 Saxons were killed and 206 captured, and the Normans recruited the Anglo-Saxon captives into their army. The Saxon army's remaining soldiers disbanded and returned to their homes, enabling FitzOsbern's army to continue with its conquest of the West Country.
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