At an early age I was told that William beat Harald (1066) because William’s folk used stirrups and the Saxons did not. Much later during my fourth reread of the saga of Uhtred Ragnarson this moldy old concept came to mind. So what happened to all the Saxon stirrups between Uhtred and William? Did the Pope ban them as later the crossbows?

PS: I started with Sharpe and currently enjoy Uhtred’s books the most. Thank you!

Paul Keller