Great Commanders

[Steel God]

Hi Peter...no apologies required, I've come to know you as a gentleman these past few months, I knew you must have been unable to respond.

As for the debate....is it the event more than the man? Could be, but if that were the case, would not the luck of Hastings turned into the incompetence and downfall of his new Kingdom? It did not. His leadership after Hastings, not what happened that day, are the foundation stones upon which the whole of modern English history has been built. Or do you propose that William was lucky his entire life?

Do I think that had William fallen and his brother Odo assumed command, would that have made him great? No. If William falls at Hastings it's end of story for the Norman control of England. It never happens and events develop along a different line than the history you and I know. Harold could be argued to have been as great as William, but he had the misfortune to die. Luck, or more importantly, what you do with it, is a part of greatness. For me greatness can be, and is, potentially in everyone. It's what you do with the chances you are given that determine whether or not you are remembered as Great or not.

Duke William of Normandy, aka William the Bastard, aka William the Conqueror, took the opportunity presented him by the events of history and through his actions created a nation whose history in the following 800 years not only mattered upon the world stage, but helped define the world stage. Did he exhibit tactical brilliance at Hastings? No. But that does not lessen the greatness of his achievements. So am I judging the event and not the man? In my opinion in this case, you can't have one without the other. so if the even is great, so must be the man who mastered it.