All day the Normans throw themselves at the Saxon shieldwall, but to no avail. Arrow nor horse-spear can break through it. In our timeline the Normans retreated partially, feigned or not, possibly due to a misinterpretation that William had been killed, but in this scenario that information is correct. With William dead, the possibly feigned retreat is genuine, and eager for victory, the English army descends from the hill and cuts through the fleeing Normans.

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What would a victory at Hastings mean for the English? How would its relationship to Continental Europe or France change? And would England even be in a position to become a great power in this timeline? Or remain a relatively insignificant rainy island in the North-west of Europe, populated by less civilized peoples, as some historians have claimed?