Harold Godwinson

From Metapedia

Harold Godwinson, or Harold II (c. 1022 – October 14, 1066) was the last of the Anglo-Saxons to be crowned King of England - Edgar Ætheling (c. 1051 – c. 1126) was to be his successor after the Battle of Hastings, by the proclaimation of the Witan, but was not crowned. His reign was from January 5 to October 14, 1066. He was killed attempting to repel the Norman invaders, led by William the Conqueror, at the Battle of Hastings.

[edit] Lineage

Harold's father was Godwin, the powerful Earl of Wessex believed to be a son to Wulfnoth Cild, Thegn of west Sussex.

Godwin married twice, both times to Danish women of high rank. His first wife was the Danish princess Thyra Sveinsdóttir, a daughter of Sweyn I, who was King of Denmark and Norway. His second wife was Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, whose brother or cousin Ulf Jarl was the son-in-law of Sweyn I and the father of Sweyn II. Gytha and Ulf were allegedly grandchildren to the legendary Swedish Viking Styrbjörn the Strong (a disinherited prince of Sweden) and great-grandchildren to Harold Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway. This second marriage resulted in the birth of several children, notably two sons, Harold and Tostig Godwinson (who played a prominent role in 1066) and a daughter Edith of Wessex (1020–75), who was Queen consort of Edward the Confessor.

[edit] Reign as King

Edward the Confessor was on his deathbed and pointed to Harold. This sign was taken, by the other present noblemen, to mean that Edward chose Harold as his successor, though some say it was merely a curse. On January 5, 1066, the Witenagemot (the assembly of the kingdom's leading notables) approved him for coronation, which took place the following day. It was the first coronation in Westminster Abbey. Although later Norman sources point to the suddenness of this coronation, it is possible that it took place whilst all the nobles of the land were present at Westminster for the feast of Epiphany and not because of any usurpation of the throne on Harold's part.

England was then invaded by both Harald Hardrada of Norway and William, Duke of Normandy, both of whom claimed the English crown. William claimed that he had been promised the English crown by Edward, and that Harold had sworn to support his claim after having been shipwrecked in Ponthieu. Harald Hardrada formed an alliance with Harold's rebellious brother Tostig. Harold offered his brother a third of the kingdom if he joined him, and Tostig asked what Harold would offer the king of Norway. "Six feet of ground or as much more as he needs, as he is taller than most men," was Harold's response according to Henry of Huntingdon. It is, however, unknown whether this conversation ever took place.

Invading what is now Yorkshire in September 1066, Harald Hardrada and Tostig defeated the English earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria at the Battle of Fulford near York on (September 20). They were in turn defeated and slain by Harold's army five days later at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (September 25), Harold having led his army north on a forced march from London in four days and caught them by surprise.

Harold now again forced his army to march 241 miles (386 kilometres) to intercept William, who had landed perhaps 7000 men in Sussex, southern England three days later on September 28. Harold established his army in hastily built earthworks near Hastings. The two armies clashed at the Battle of Hastings, near the present town of Battle close by Hastings on October 14, where after a hard fight Harold was killed and his forces routed. His brothers Gyrth and Leofwine were also killed in the battle. According to tradition, Harold was killed by an arrow in the eye, but it is unclear if the victim depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry is intended to be Harold, or whether indeed the tapestry's scene depicts that particular type of wound. Whether he did, indeed, die in this manner (a death associated in the Middle Ages with perjurers[citation needed]), or was killed by the sword, will never be known. Harold's first wife, Edith Swanneck, was called to identify the body (the face being destroyed), which she did by the tattoos pricked into his chest which read "Edith" and "England".

Harold's body was buried in a grave of stones overlooking the shore, and was only given a proper funeral years later in his church of Waltham Holy Cross in Essex, which he had refounded in 1060.[1]

Harold's strong association with Bosham and the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon coffin in the church in the 1950s has led some to speculate that King Harold was buried there. A recent bid to exhume a grave in Bosham church was refused by the Diocese of Chichester in December 2004, the Chancellor ruling that the chances of establishing the identity of the body as Harold II were too slim to justify disturbing a burial place. A prior exhumation had revealed the remains of a middle-aged man lacking one leg, a description which fits the fate of the king according to certain chroniclers.