Harold Godwinson: "Worst. Brothers. Ever." Gyrth and Leofwine: "Sorry, bro." Harold: "How can you be sorry?! Thanks to you two, I've got an arrow in my eye!"
I hold that Admiral Horatio Nelson should have been one of these Stupid Deaths. "Name? Admiral Horatio Nelson." "Nelson? Nelson? You mean, The Nelson?" "Yes." "Turn a blind eye Nelson? Battle Of The Nile, England Expects, That Nelson?" "Me, Me, and Me." "This should be good. Now come on, tell us how you died." "Well . . . It was at the Battle Of Trafalgar . . ." "Yes yes, we know, went to school, read the textbooks, saw the Column, go on." "Well, at the height of the battle I appeared on the foredeck of my ship, Victory . . ." "Not the poopdeck?" "No, not the poopdeck." "Pity, could have had a good laugh there, anyway, there you were on the foredeck . ." "In my full Admiral's uniform, all nice and natty-poo." "Ah ha! I knew there's be a poo there! . . . sorree, do go on." "And a French sharpshooter in the rigging of a French ship nearby saw me . . ." "This is getting good." "Took aim . . ." "Yes yes . . ." "Fired and wounded me, and I died." "Ha ha ha ha . . . no wait, not really getting the joke here . . ." "Well see, I showed up in my dress uniform . . ." "Yes, we've established that." "To inspire my men . . ." "Yes . . ." "So I really stood out from everybody else on the foredeck, so I made myself a target for the French sharpshooter . . ." "Yes, well, bit silly but not really that stupid . . . I mean, officers get shot all the time . . ." "How about the fact going into the battle I knew the French would be putting sharpshooters in their rigging just looking for officers to shoot?.." "Now we're getting someplace...." "And that when it was suggested we British do the same . . ." "Oh ho this is getting good...." "I said No!" "Ha ha ha ha ha! So you stood out on the foredeck, making yourself a target . . ."."Yes." "And rather than have sharpshooters in the rigging of your own ships to shoot at the French sharpshooters in theirs . . ." "Yes." "You said No." "Yes." "HA HA HA HA HA! Oh, that's good! You're through to the afterlife, Admiral!"
Wasn't it Sun Tsu who wrote something along the lines of make your enemy think you are strong when you are weak and when you are strong appear weak to your enemies?
I think it would have been an even stupider death if they had also tripped while running down the hill and got impaled by their own swords. Now THAT would be stupid.
Well if the enemy is actually running away, it's strategically sound (assuming diplomacy is no longer a possibility) to ensure as many of them die in the process as possible. Thus the enemy has less troops to attack you with next time (or to defend themselves during your attack). (Bonus points for getting the survivors to desert because they're so scared of you.) Problem is, they have to actually be running away, and not baiting you.
That's the thing. Sun Tzu advises *against* attacking fleeing enemies, since in their breaking ranks, YOU have to break ranks as well to pursue. If a rout remains organized, it means the fleeing enemy still has a chance to find a better position. Letting your emotions take over your strategic mind is the worst thing you can do. Or, to quote one of Murphy's laws of warfare: If an attack is going well, you're walking into a trap.
Untrue, depending on the offensive and defensive taken it may be sound, in this case, it was not. Plus in this circumstance, the only way of retreat was back on ships to France. Afterwhich invasions would most likely cease effectiveness, the amount killed mattered far less than certain victory. They acted brashly by compulsion. Thirty-six Strategems: In order to capture, one must let loose (欲擒故縱／欲擒故纵, Yù qín gù zòng) Cornered prey will often mount a final desperate attack. To prevent this you let the enemy believe he still has a chance for freedom. His will to fight is thus dampened by his desire to escape. When in the end the freedom is proven a falsehood the enemy's morale will be defeated and he will surrender without a fight. Shut the door to catch the thief (關門捉賊／关门捉贼, Guān mén zhuō zéi) To capture your enemy, or more generally in fighting wars, to deliver the final blow to your enemy, you must plan prudently if you want to succeed. Do not rush into action. Before you "move in for the kill", first cut off your enemy's escape routes, and cut off any routes through which outside help can reach them.
@@IAsimov Well tbf Harold Godwinson knew that well and stood his ground. You can understand the soldiers getting excited but these two should have known better.
Three problems: 1.When you have the high ground, and especially if you are manning even crude earthworks, you need to maintain your advantage. This is especially true for a tired force, as Harold's was said to be, and for a native force who has a greater chance of support and reinforcement from the land than the invaders. Harold didn't need to wipe out William - just contain him. 2.An orderly pursuit might make sense in some contexts, so long as you protect your flanks as your advance. That didn't happen here. 3.An all-infantry army pursuing an army with cavalry in it isn't going to have a lot of success in their pursuit, and that cavalry has chance to regroup once out of range of the pursuit.
You need to read more. In this case, either Sun Tzu's Art of War or Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince. Both are treatisies on how to be an extremely effective leader (Sun Tzu is more military specialized, Machiavelli is more political). Both works also completely ignore normal concepts of morality and decency. But both would say the entire point of war is to take away the enemy's will to fight, their ability to fight, or both. Annihilation of the enemy's army achieves this quite effectively.
Perhaps you've forgotten some of the chapters in the Art of War? Therefore, the art of war lies in: never face a high mountain, never retreat from a down hill, never follow an enemy army faking defeat, never attack an elite enemy army, never bite a shark-bait, *never chase after a retreating enemy army, leave opening for a surrounded enemy army, never pressure a desperate enemy army.* This is the art of war. -The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Chapter Army Conflict
What is barely ever mentioned is that king Harold and his Saxon army fought another battle in a different part of the country shortly before the Norman invasion, so they were tired and had already lost a lot of soldiers.
If Harold"s brothers had not made this mistake and Harold had won? Well there may well have never been a united British state, no British Empire, no modern, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, no British rule in India etc etc. In fact the whole history of the following millennium across much of the globe could have been very different. A graphic histortical illustration of the butterfly effect don"t you think?
@@ferdinandvonschill4512 We had 3 kings named Richard, 8 named Henry and 3 named Charles. I was pinpointing the bit where Death tried to pronounce the Anglo-Saxon names.
@@carlbirtles4518 I know what you meant, old chap 😊 no problem. And I know your kings . All Richards and most of the "Henri" were "de Plantagenêt et Anjou" and Charles is also a french version of your name, Carl. The first english king since 1066 who spoke English as his mother toung was Henry IV. My point was, that the joke of misspronoucing wounden't work, if the Saxons had won, because then their names were most likely still common. The name "Edward" survived only, because "Henri" III. explicitly wanted an english name for his heir and not a french one. Alfred also survived, but no more Æthelred, Æthelstan, Odda, Egbert (still used in Germany in the 20th century) or Cenwulf. And that is a pity.
It's as if he could get the same leverage, "stupid deaths, stupid deaths, so stupid 'cause they're true" could take off the same way, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay, I sleep all night and work all day" did. Maybe if the tune were longer, but it really is just a bumper tune, which it mocks, so it can't be too long, but his voice, the minimum of words, the subject, "hope next time it's not you" all come across the same way, as well as then the skits, but this tune has definitely clicked with me and if someone else tried to do it, it would not be the same.
Are Leofwine and Gyrth realy stupid names? If the Saxons had won, that would be normal english names, like the norman (frankish) names Richard, Henry or Charles. At last the names Edward and Alfred had survived.
Well, they're unusual names that might be hard to make out properly when spoken aloud, because they're unfamiliar. And like... since kids in particular often struggle to pick up on new, unusual words, and HH is a kids' show, I don't see the harm in adding an acknowledgement that the names are tricky to make out - it keeps the sketch on a level accessible to the children the show is made for.
@@AMinibot Yes of course! I didn't mean it seriously. I just want to point out the irony of history, that old english names sound so strange to Englishman today, just because of the norman conquest.
Okay...its been like three hours now and im still watching "Horrible Histories"
(will never grow old...)
I used to watch these all the time as a kid, glad it’s still good
boomgoesblitzhound I think about 10 years ago
@boomgoesblitzhound 2009-2013
@@TM-tm5bd they revived it in 2015 and is still doing new episodes, sadly the original cast left after the very first season of the revival.
"Fair play to them" LOL - very fair guys
So....these two were the cause of the Norman succes, and the end of Anglo-Saxon England?
That's sad xD
Harold Godwinson: "Worst. Brothers. Ever."
Gyrth and Leofwine: "Sorry, bro."
Harold: "How can you be sorry?! Thanks to you two, I've got an arrow in my eye!"
Fair play to the Normans
I hold that Admiral Horatio Nelson should have been one of these Stupid Deaths.
"Name? Admiral Horatio Nelson."
"Nelson? Nelson? You mean, The Nelson?"
"Yes."
"Turn a blind eye Nelson? Battle Of The Nile, England Expects, That Nelson?"
"Me, Me, and Me."
"This should be good. Now come on, tell us how you died."
"Well . . . It was at the Battle Of Trafalgar . . ."
"Yes yes, we know, went to school, read the textbooks, saw the Column, go on."
"Well, at the height of the battle I appeared on the foredeck of my ship, Victory . . ."
"Not the poopdeck?"
"No, not the poopdeck."
"Pity, could have had a good laugh there, anyway, there you were on the foredeck . ."
"In my full Admiral's uniform, all nice and natty-poo."
"Ah ha! I knew there's be a poo there! . . . sorree, do go on."
"And a French sharpshooter in the rigging of a French ship nearby saw me . . ."
"This is getting good."
"Took aim . . ."
"Yes yes . . ."
"Fired and wounded me, and I died."
"Ha ha ha ha . . . no wait, not really getting the joke here . . ."
"Well see, I showed up in my dress uniform . . ."
"Yes, we've established that."
"To inspire my men . . ."
"Yes . . ."
"So I really stood out from everybody else on the foredeck, so I made myself a target for the French sharpshooter . . ."
"Yes, well, bit silly but not really that stupid . . . I mean, officers get shot all the time . . ."
"How about the fact going into the battle I knew the French would be putting sharpshooters in their rigging just looking for officers to shoot?.."
"Now we're getting someplace...."
"And that when it was suggested we British do the same . . ."
"Oh ho this is getting good...."
"I said No!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha! So you stood out on the foredeck, making yourself a target . . ."."Yes."
"And rather than have sharpshooters in the rigging of your own ships to shoot at the French sharpshooters in theirs . . ."
"Yes."
"You said No."
"Yes."
"HA HA HA HA HA! Oh, that's good! You're through to the afterlife, Admiral!"
And his last words were asking his second in command for a kiss!
After Nelson died, the men shoved him in a barrel of brandy to preserve his body so when he got home, Nelson could have a proper funeral.
@@ew6483 he actually said kismet hardy. Why would he say kiss me fucking idiotic. Kismet means destiny.
@@animelife4882 People on their deathbed tend to confess their secrets. Don’t know if he did love Hardy but it’s certainly plausible.
Nice work
Suddenly Tostig doesn't seem so much like the disappointment of the family.
Horrible histories will always be great, no matter how old I am.
Yessss
Battle of Hastings Disaster... Confidence vs Feigned retreat
Also, they got too confident from killing Harald III Hardrada
Wasn't it Sun Tsu who wrote something along the lines of make your enemy think you are strong when you are weak and when you are strong appear weak to your enemies?
@@Quinntus79 Guess I had to re-read the Art of war.
I could watch these all day.
I think it would have been an even stupider death if they had also tripped while running down the hill and got impaled by their own swords. Now THAT would be stupid.
wow. they lost even when they had the high ground.
obi-wan would be very dissapointed
1:07 - best ''yeah'' ever!!!!!!!!!!!!
...and I think 1:04 is: SHIELD WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Holds-up shields) .
Well if the enemy is actually running away, it's strategically sound (assuming diplomacy is no longer a possibility) to ensure as many of them die in the process as possible. Thus the enemy has less troops to attack you with next time (or to defend themselves during your attack). (Bonus points for getting the survivors to desert because they're so scared of you.) Problem is, they have to actually be running away, and not baiting you.
That's the thing. Sun Tzu advises *against* attacking fleeing enemies, since in their breaking ranks, YOU have to break ranks as well to pursue. If a rout remains organized, it means the fleeing enemy still has a chance to find a better position. Letting your emotions take over your strategic mind is the worst thing you can do.
Or, to quote one of Murphy's laws of warfare: If an attack is going well, you're walking into a trap.
Untrue, depending on the offensive and defensive taken it may be sound, in this case, it was not. Plus in this circumstance, the only way of retreat was back on ships to France. Afterwhich invasions would most likely cease effectiveness, the amount killed mattered far less than certain victory. They acted brashly by compulsion.
Thirty-six Strategems:
In order to capture, one must let loose
(欲擒故縱／欲擒故纵, Yù qín gù zòng)
Cornered prey will often mount a final desperate attack. To prevent this you let the enemy believe he still has a chance for freedom. His will to fight is thus dampened by his desire to escape. When in the end the freedom is proven a falsehood the enemy's morale will be defeated and he will surrender without a fight.
Shut the door to catch the thief
(關門捉賊／关门捉贼, Guān mén zhuō zéi)
To capture your enemy, or more generally in fighting wars, to deliver the final blow to your enemy, you must plan prudently if you want to succeed. Do not rush into action. Before you "move in for the kill", first cut off your enemy's escape routes, and cut off any routes through which outside help can reach them.
@@IAsimov Well tbf Harold Godwinson knew that well and stood his ground. You can understand the soldiers getting excited but these two should have known better.
Three problems:
1.When you have the high ground, and especially if you are manning even crude earthworks, you need to maintain your advantage. This is especially true for a tired force, as Harold's was said to be, and for a native force who has a greater chance of support and reinforcement from the land than the invaders. Harold didn't need to wipe out William - just contain him.
2.An orderly pursuit might make sense in some contexts, so long as you protect your flanks as your advance. That didn't happen here.
3.An all-infantry army pursuing an army with cavalry in it isn't going to have a lot of success in their pursuit, and that cavalry has chance to regroup once out of range of the pursuit.
You need to read more. In this case, either Sun Tzu's Art of War or Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince. Both are treatisies on how to be an extremely effective leader (Sun Tzu is more military specialized, Machiavelli is more political). Both works also completely ignore normal concepts of morality and decency. But both would say the entire point of war is to take away the enemy's will to fight, their ability to fight, or both. Annihilation of the enemy's army achieves this quite effectively.
Perhaps you've forgotten some of the chapters in the Art of War?
Therefore, the art of war lies in: never face a high mountain, never retreat from a down hill, never follow an enemy army faking defeat, never attack an elite enemy army, never bite a shark-bait, *never chase after a retreating enemy army, leave opening for a surrounded enemy army, never pressure a desperate enemy army.* This is the art of war.
-The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Chapter Army Conflict
LMAO! At least, they were honorable warriors.... :D
Yeah, nobody likes a sore loser!
We remember that the Huscarls did not break at Hastings.
those shields look like the ones used in the spartan skits
couldn't bother making viking roundshields i guess
Can we have a big shout-out to all the historical people who died stupid deaths for our enjoyment?
What is barely ever mentioned is that king Harold and his Saxon army fought another battle in a different part of the country shortly before the Norman invasion, so they were tired and had already lost a lot of soldiers.
I was wondering if you could upload Stupid Deaths: Diodorus, so that I can see it.
I love Horrible Histories always 💙
This is intresting
If Harold"s brothers had not made this mistake and Harold had won? Well there may well have never been a united British state, no British Empire, no modern, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, no British rule in India etc etc. In fact the whole history of the following millennium across much of the globe could have been very different.
A graphic histortical illustration of the butterfly effect don"t you think?
XD bets death ever loving the mummy too
3,2,1 SHIELD WALL!!!!
1066
SOS, Norman NORMAN NorNorNorNor SOS. Finnish! Turn Round And NorroN SOS.
In A Nutshell…
New Swimming Is About To Finnish!
This is just genius!
Love love love
William the Conqueror fooled them!
HEE HEE NOT HOO HOO!!!!
Funny
Earl Godwin died of a stroke; he probably learned what happened to his kids.
I will add that they disobeyed their brother and King's order to hold their ground when they charged down the hill.
and funny
Are those Hoplite shields?
They are also no where near as large and have not rim or oak base.
yeh but it would be funny ;) !
1:03 to 1:05 for 3,2,1 SHIELD WALL! 😅
wow what a pair of plonkers
Lol
0:47 Death: "So, Leofwine and Gyrth are in charge of the fyrdmen?"
Anglo-Saxon names shouldn't be that hard to pronounce, should they?
If the Saxons had won, that would be normal english names, like the norman (frankish) names Richard, Henry or Charles.
@@ferdinandvonschill4512 We had 3 kings named Richard, 8 named Henry and 3 named Charles.
I was pinpointing the bit where Death tried to pronounce the Anglo-Saxon names.
@@carlbirtles4518 I know what you meant, old chap 😊 no problem.
And I know your kings . All Richards and most of the "Henri" were "de Plantagenêt et Anjou" and Charles is also a french version of your name, Carl. The first english king since 1066 who spoke English as his mother toung was Henry IV.
My point was, that the joke of misspronoucing wounden't work, if the Saxons had won, because then their names were most likely still common.
The name "Edward" survived only, because "Henri" III. explicitly wanted an english name for his heir and not a french one. Alfred also survived, but no more Æthelred, Æthelstan, Odda, Egbert (still used in Germany in the 20th century) or Cenwulf. And that is a pity.
this is not a total war game.
Who was he talking about at the end? Noose women?
It's as if he could get the same leverage, "stupid deaths, stupid deaths, so stupid 'cause they're true" could take off the same way, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay, I sleep all night and work all day" did.
Maybe if the tune were longer, but it really is just a bumper tune, which it mocks, so it can't be too long, but his voice, the minimum of words, the subject, "hope next time it's not you" all come across the same way, as well as then the skits, but this tune has definitely clicked with me and if someone else tried to do it, it would not be the same.
who act as death?
Are Leofwine and Gyrth realy stupid names? If the Saxons had won, that would be normal english names, like the norman (frankish) names Richard, Henry or Charles. At last the names Edward and Alfred had survived.
Well, they're unusual names that might be hard to make out properly when spoken aloud, because they're unfamiliar. And like... since kids in particular often struggle to pick up on new, unusual words, and HH is a kids' show, I don't see the harm in adding an acknowledgement that the names are tricky to make out - it keeps the sketch on a level accessible to the children the show is made for.
@@AMinibot Yes of course! I didn't mean it seriously. I just want to point out the irony of history, that old english names sound so strange to Englishman today, just because of the norman conquest.
Who charges cavalry, anyway?
To be fair, they probably didn't. They probably charged the infantry, and then the cavalry charged them.
Swiss pikemen didn’t think twice about it and always won
I'll take gertid!!!!! 😍😍😍 he's so HAWT
Forgive me, but it's spelt Gyrth.
@@carlbirtles4518 oh thank you! My bad haha 😁
@@lindathetford3776 That's ok.
Anglo-Saxon names aren't easy to spell.
@@carlbirtles4518 nope apparantly not haha!
Not really stupid death.
what do you mean not stupid? they literally caused the end of an entire historic era. if that's not stupid, i don't know what is