Harold Godwinson was a member of one of the most powerful noble families in England, his fatherGodwin having been madeearl of Wessex by KingCnut the Great. Harold, who served previously asearl of East Anglia, was appointed to his father's earldom on Godwin's death. After his brother-in-law, KingEdward the Confessor, died childless on 5 January 1066, theWitenagemot convened and chose Harold to succeed him; he was probably the first English monarch to be crowned inWestminster Abbey. In late September, he defeated an invasion by rival claimantHarald Hardrada of Norway in theBattle of Stamford Bridge nearYork before marching his army back south to meet William at Hastings two weeks later, where he was killed in battle.
Godwin remained an earl throughout the remainder of Cnut's reign, one of only two earls to survive to the end of that reign.[5] On Cnut's death in 1035, Godwin originally supportedHarthacnut instead of Cnut's initial successorHarold Harefoot, but managed to switch sides in 1037 – although not without becoming involved in the 1036 murder ofAlfred Aetheling, half-brother of Harthacnut and younger brother of the later KingEdward the Confessor.[6]
When Harold Harefoot died in 1040, Harthacnut ascended the English throne and Godwin's power was imperiled by his earlier involvement in Alfred's murder, but an oath and large gift secured the new king's favour for Godwin.[7] Harthacnut's death in 1042 probably involved Godwin in a role as kingmaker, helping to secure the English throne for Edward the Confessor. In 1045, Godwin reached the height of his power when the new king married Godwin's daughter Edith.[8]
Godwin and Gytha hadseveral children – six sons:Sweyn, Harold,Tostig,Gyrth,Leofwine andWulfnoth (in that order); and three daughters:Edith of Wessex (originally named Gytha but renamed Ealdgyth or Edith when she married King Edward the Confessor), Gunhild and Ælfgifu. The birthdates of the children are unknown.[9] Harold was aged about 25 in 1045, which makes his birth year around 1020.[10]
The manor of Bosham on the South coast of England had been acquired, originally from the Archbishop of Canterbury[a] as the family seat by Earl Godwin,[12] and was inherited by Harold. The Bayeux Tapestry has two representations of Harold's family residence.[b] The manor of Bosham is just one of four places, in England, named on the tapestry.[13]
Edith married Edward on 23 January 1045 and, around that time, Harold becameEarl of East Anglia. Harold is called "earl" when he appears as a witness in a will that may date to 1044; but, by 1045, Harold regularly appears as an earl in documents. One reason for his appointment to East Anglia may have been a need to defend against the threat from KingMagnus the Good of Norway. It is possible that Harold led some of the ships from his earldom that were sent toSandwich in 1045 against Magnus.[14] Sweyn, Harold's elder brother, had been named an earl in 1043.[15] It was also around the time that Harold was named an earl that he began a relationship withEdith the Fair, who appears to have been the heiress to lands inCambridgeshire,Suffolk andEssex, lands in Harold's new earldom.[16] The relationship was a form of marriage that was not blessed or sanctioned by the Church, known asMore danico, or "in the Danish manner", and was accepted by most laypeople in England at the time. Any children of such a union were considered legitimate. Harold probably entered the relationship in part to secure support in his new earldom.[17]
Harold's elder brother Sweyn was exiled in 1047 after abducting the abbess ofLeominster. Sweyn's lands were divided between Harold and a cousin,Beorn.[18] In 1049, Harold was in command of a ship or ships that were sent with a fleet to aidHenry III, Holy Roman Emperor againstBaldwin V, Count of Flanders, who was in revolt against Henry. During this campaign, Sweyn returned to England and attempted to secure a pardon from the king, but Harold and Beorn refused to return any of their lands, and Sweyn, after leaving the royal court, took Beorn hostage and later killed him.[19]
In 1051, Edward appointed an enemy of the Godwins asArchbishop of Canterbury and soon afterwards drove them into exile, but they raised an army which forced the king to restore them to their positions a year later. Earl Godwin died in 1053, and Harold succeeded him as Earl of Wessex, which made him the most powerful lay figure in England after the king.[20]
In 1055, Harold drove back the Welsh, who had burnedHereford.[21] Harold also becameEarl of Hereford in 1058, and replaced his late father as the focus of opposition to growingNorman influence in England under the restored monarchy (1042–1066) of Edward the Confessor, who had spent more than 25 years in exile inNormandy. He led a series of successful campaigns (1062–1063) againstGruffydd ap Llywelyn ofGwynedd, king ofWales. This conflict ended with Gruffydd's defeat and death in 1063.[22]
HAROLD SACRAMENTUM FECIT VVILLELMO DUCI ("Harold made an oath to Duke William"): theBayeux Tapestry shows Harold touching two altars at Bayeux as the duke watches.
In 1064, Harold was apparently shipwrecked atPonthieu. There is much speculation about this voyage. The earliest post-conquest Norman chroniclers state that King Edward had previously sentRobert of Jumièges, the archbishop of Canterbury, to appoint as his heir Edward's maternal kinsman, DukeWilliam II of Normandy, and that at this later date, Harold was sent to swearfealty.[23] Scholars disagree as to the reliability of this story. William, at least, seems to have believed he had been offered the succession, but some acts of Edward are inconsistent with his having made such a promise, such as his efforts to return his nephewEdward the Exile, son of KingEdmund Ironside, from Hungary in 1057.[c]
Later Norman chroniclers suggest alternative explanations for Harold's journey: that he was seeking the release of members of his family who had been held hostage since Godwin's exile in 1051, or even that he had simply been travelling along the English coast on a hunting and fishing expedition and had been driven across theEnglish Channel by an unexpected storm. There is general agreement that he left fromBosham, and was blown off course, landing at Ponthieu. He was captured by CountGuy I of Ponthieu, and was then taken as a hostage to the count's castle atBeaurain,[d] 24.5 km (15+1⁄4 mi) up theRiver Canche from its mouth at what is nowLe Touquet. William arrived soon afterward and ordered Guy to turn Harold over to him.[24]
Harold then apparently accompanied William to battle against William's enemy,Conan II, Duke of Brittany. While crossing intoBrittany past the fortified abbey ofMont Saint-Michel, Harold is recorded as rescuing two of William's soldiers fromquicksand. They pursued Conan fromDol-de-Bretagne toRennes, and finally toDinan, where he surrendered the fortress's keys at the point of alance. William presented Harold with weapons and arms, knighting him. TheBayeux Tapestry, and other Norman sources, state that Harold then swore an oath on sacred relics to William to support his claim to the English throne. After Edward's death, the Normans were quick to claim that in accepting the crown of England, Harold had broken this alleged oath.[25]
The chroniclerOrderic Vitalis wrote of Harold that he "was distinguished by his great size and strength of body, his polished manners, his firmness of mind and command of words, by a ready wit and a variety of excellent qualities. But what availed so many valuable gifts, when good faith, the foundation of all virtues, was wanting?"[26]
Due to a doubling of taxation by Tostig in 1065 that threatened to plunge England into civil war, Harold supportedNorthumbrian rebels against his brother, and replaced him withMorcar. This led to Harold's marriage alliance with the northern earls but fatally split his own family, driving Tostig into alliance with KingHarald Hardrada ("Hard Ruler") of Norway.[1]
HIC RESIDET HAROLD REX ANGLORUM. STIGANT ARCHIEP[ISCOPU]S. "Here sits Harold King of the English. Archbishop Stigand". Scene immediately after crowning of Harold by (according to the Norman tradition)Archbishop of CanterburyStigand (d. 1072). Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry.
At the end of 1065, King Edward the Confessor fell into a coma without clarifying his preference for the succession. He died on 5 January 1066, according to theVita Ædwardi Regis, but not before briefly regaining consciousness and commending his widow and the kingdom to Harold's "protection". The intent of this charge remains ambiguous, as is the Bayeux Tapestry, which simply depicts Edward pointing at a man thought to represent Harold.[e] When theWitan convened the next day they selected Harold to succeed,[f] and his coronation followed on 6 January, most likely held inWestminster Abbey, though limited but persuasive evidence from the time survives to confirm this, in the form of its depiction in the Bayeux Tapestry (shown above left).[28] Although later Norman sources point to the suddenness of this coronation, the reason may have been that all the nobles of the land were present at Westminster for the feast ofEpiphany, and not because of any usurpation of the throne on Harold's part.
In early January 1066, upon hearing of Harold's coronation, William began plans to invade England, building approximately 700 warships and transports atDives-sur-Mer on the Normandy coast. Initially, William struggled to gain support for his cause; however, after claiming that Harold had broken an oath sworn on sacred relics,Pope Alexander II formally declared William the rightful heir of the throne of England and nobles flocked to his cause.[29][30][31] In preparation of the invasion, Harold assembled his troops on theIsle of Wight, but the invasion fleet remained in port for almost seven months, perhaps due to unfavourable winds. On 8 September, with provisions running out, Harold disbanded his army and returned to London.[32] On the same day, the invasion force of Harald Hardrada,[g] accompanied by Tostig, landed at the mouth of theTyne.[33]
Coin of King Harold Godwinson
The invading forces of Hardrada and Tostig defeated the English earlsEdwin of Mercia andMorcar of Northumbria at theBattle of Fulford nearYork on 20 September 1066. Harold led his army north on a forced march from London, reached Yorkshire in four days, and caught Hardrada by surprise. On 25 September, in theBattle of Stamford Bridge, Harold defeated Hardrada and Tostig, who were both killed.[33]
According toSnorri Sturluson, in a story described byEdward Freeman as "plainly mythical",[34] before the battle a single man rode up alone to Harald Hardrada and Tostig. He gave no name, but spoke to Tostig, offering the return of his earldom if he would turn against Hardrada. Tostig asked what his brother Harold would be willing to give Hardrada for his trouble. The rider replied "Seven feet of English ground, as he is taller than other men." Then he rode back to the English host. Hardrada was impressed by the rider's boldness, and asked Tostig who he was. Tostig replied that the rider was Harold Godwinson himself.[35]
Gyrth and his brother's death at theBattle of Hastings,scene 52 of theBayeux Tapestry. HIC CECIDERUNT LEVVINE ET GYRÐ FRATRES HAROLDI REGIS (Here have fallen dead Leofwine and Gyrth, brothers of King Harold)
On 12 September 1066, William's fleet sailed from Normandy. Several ships sank in storms, which forced the fleet to take shelter atSaint-Valery-sur-Somme and to wait for the wind to change. On 27 September, the Norman fleet set sail for England, arriving the following day atPevensey on the coast of East Sussex. Harold's army marched 240 miles (390 kilometres) to intercept William, who had landed perhaps 7,000 men inSussex, southern England. Harold established his army in hastily builtearthworks nearHastings. The two armies clashed at the Battle of Hastings, atSenlac Hill (near the present town ofBattle) close by Hastings on 14 October, where after nine hours of hard fighting, Harold was killed and his forces defeated. His brothers Gyrth and Leofwine were also killed in the battle.[36][37][38]
The widely held belief that Harold died by an arrow to the eye is a subject of much scholarly debate. A Norman account of the battle,Carmen de Hastingae Proelio ("Song of the Battle of Hastings"), said to have been written shortly after the battle byGuy, Bishop of Amiens, says that Harold was lanced and his body dismembered by four knights, probably including Duke William. Twelfth-century Anglo-Norman histories, such asWilliam of Malmesbury'sGesta Regum Anglorum andHenry of Huntingdon'sHistoria Anglorum, recount that Harold died by an arrow wound to his head. An earlier source,Amatus of Montecassino'sL'Ystoire de li Normant ("History of the Normans"), written only twenty years after the battle of Hastings, contains a report of Harold being shot in the eye with an arrow, but this may be an early fourteenth-century addition.[39] The sources for how Harold met his death are contradictory, thus modern historians have not been able to produce a definitive story without finding something that will compromise any hypothesis.[40]
Harold's death depicted in theBayeux Tapestry, reflecting the tradition that Harold was killed by an arrow in the eye. Theannotation above states[Hic] Harold Rex interfectus est, "[Here] King Harold has been killed".
In the panel of the Bayeux Tapestry with the inscription "Hic Harold Rex Interfectus Est" ("Here King Harold is killed") a figure standing below the inscription is currently depicted gripping an arrow that has struck his eye. This, however, may have been a late 18th- or early 19th-century modification to the Tapestry.[41] Some historians have questioned whether this man is intended to be Harold or if the panel shows two instances of Harold in sequence of his death:[42] the figure standing to the left of the central figure commonly thought to be Harold, and then lying to the right, almost supine, being mutilated beneath a horse's hooves. Etchings made of the Tapestry in the 1730s show the standing figure with differing objects. Benoît's 1729 sketch shows only a dotted line indicating stitch marks which is longer than the currently shown arrow and without any indication of fletching, whereas all other arrows in the Tapestry are fletched.Bernard de Montfaucon's 1730 engraving has a solid line resembling a spear being held overhand matching the manner of the standing figure currently depicted with an arrow to the eye; while stitch marks for where such a spear may have been removed can be seen in the Tapestry.[42] In 1816,Charles Stothard was commissioned by theSociety of Antiquaries of London to make a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry. He included in his reproduction previously damaged or missing parts of the work with his own hypothesised depictions. This is when the arrow first appears. Stothard's is the first record of the Bayeux Tapestry after it was damaged during the French Revolution and before repairs were carried out in the 19th century.[43][42] It has been proposed that the supine figure once had an arrow added by over-enthusiastic 19th-century restorers that was later unstitched.[44] Many believe the figure with an arrow in his eye to be Harold as the name "Harold" is above him. This has been disputed by examining other examples from the Tapestry where the visual centre of a scene, not the location of the inscription, identifies named figures.[45] A further suggestion is that both accounts are accurate, and that Harold suffered first the eye wound, then the mutilation, and the Tapestry is depicting both in sequence.[46]
The account of the contemporary chroniclerWilliam of Poitiers states that the body of Harold was given toWilliam Malet for burial:
The two brothers of the King were found near him and Harold himself, stripped of all badges of honour, could not be identified by his face but only by certain marks on his body. His corpse was brought into the Duke's camp, and William gave it for burial to William, surnamed Malet, and not to Harold's mother, who offered for the body of her beloved son its weight in gold. For the Duke thought it unseemly to receive money for such merchandise, and equally he considered it wrong that Harold should be buried as his mother wished, since so many men lay unburied because of his avarice. They said in jest that he who had guarded the coast with such insensate zeal should be buried by the seashore.
Bosham Church inWest Sussex: the lower three storeys of the tower are pre-conquest, the top storey Norman
Another source states that Harold's widow,Edith the Fair,[h] was called to identify the body, which she did by some private mark known only to her. Harold's strong association withBosham, his birthplace, and the discovery in 1954 of an Anglo-Saxon coffin in the church there, has led some to suggest it as the place of King Harold's burial. A request to exhume a grave inBosham Church was refused by theDiocese of Chichester in December 2003, theChancellor having ruled that the chances of establishing the identity of the body as Harold's were too slim to justify disturbing a burial place.[47][48] The exhumation in 1954 had revealed the remains of a man in a coffin. "[It] was made of Horsham stone, magnificently finished, and contained the thigh and pelvic bones of a powerfully built man of about 5ft 6in[i] in height, aged over 60 years[j] and with traces of arthritis."[47] It was suggested that the contents of the coffin had been opened at a much earlier date and vandalised, as the skull was missing and the remaining bones damaged in a way that was inconsistent with decompositionpost mortem.[47] The description of the remains is not unlike the fate of the king, recorded in theCarmen de Hastingae Proeliormen, that says Harold was buried by the sea. The location of the grave, at Bosham Church, is also consistent with William of Poitiers' description as it is only a small distance fromChichester Harbour and in sight of theEnglish Channel.[48] There were legends of Harold's body being given a proper funeral years later inWaltham Abbey Church inEssex, which he had refounded in 1060.[50]
Several stories, including theVita Haroldi, suggested that Harold had not died at Hastings, but instead fled England or that he later ended his life as a hermit at Chester or Canterbury.[50]
Harold's son Ulf, along with Morcar and two others, were released from prison by King William as he lay dying in 1087. Ulf threw his lot in withRobert Curthose, who knighted him, and then disappeared from history. Two of Harold's other sons, Godwine and Edmund, invaded England in 1068 and 1069 with the aid ofDiarmait mac Máel na mBó (High King of Ireland) but were defeated at theBattle of Northam inDevon in 1069.[k] In 1068, Diarmait presented another Irish king with Harold's battle standard.[51]
13th-century version of Harold's crowning, from an anonymousLife of King Edward the Confessor inCambridge University Library
Harold was in amore danico marriage[l] with Edith the Fair[h] for approximately twenty years and had at least five children with her.[52]
There is a tradition that Edith the Fair took the broken body of her husband Harold Godwinson to the Church atWaltham Holy Cross to be buried. What happened to her after 1066, is not known. Also, after their defeat at the Battle of Northam the fate of the sons is unclear although some later sources suggest they took refuge at the Danish court with their grandmother, aunt and sister.[20][54][55]
In about January 1066, Harold marriedEaldgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar, and widow of the Welsh princeGruffydd ap Llywelyn. After her husband's death at the Battle of Hastings, the pregnant Ealdgyth had been collected from London by her brothers, the Northern earlsEdwin of Mercia andMorcar of Northumbria, and taken to Chester for safety. It is not known what happened to her thereafter.[56]
Some historians have suggested that Harold and Ealdgyth's union was childless,[56] others ascribe two children to Ealdgyth, namedHarold andWulf/Ulf.[57] Because of the chronology it is likely that the boys would have been twins and born after the demise of their father. Another possibility is that Ulf was the son of Edith the Fair.[57]
According toOrderic Vitalis, Harold was at some timebetrothed toAdeliza, a daughter of William the Conqueror; if so, the betrothal never led to marriage.[58]
^Eadsige was Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of Earl Godwine. Eadsige's relations with Christ Church, Canterbury may have been strained, as he seems to have been responsible for the disposal of Canterbury lands to Earl Godwine and his family.[11]
^A team of a archaeologists from Newcastle University, and the University of Exeter, claim to have uncovered evidence that a house in Bosham was Harold's family residence as represented on the Bayeux Tapestry.[13]
^Edward may not have been blameless in this situation, as at least one other man, Sweyn II of Denmark, also thought Edward had promised him the succession.[23]
^Frank Barlow points out that the author of theVita, who appears to have looked favourably on Harold, was writing after the Conquest and may have been intentionally vague.[27]
^This was in preference to Edward's great-nephew,Edgar the Ætheling, who had yet to reach maturity.
^Who also claimed the English crown through a succession pact concluded betweenHarthacnut, king of England and Denmark, andMagnus I of Norway, whereby the kingdoms of the first to die were to pass to the survivor. Magnus had thus gained a claim to Denmark on Harthacnut's death but had not pursued this other crown. Hardrada, uncle and heir of Magnus, now claimed England on this basis.
^Harold was thought to have been in his 40s at his death[49]
^Atmidsummer in 1069,Brian of Brittany andAlan the Black led a force that defeated a raid by Godwine and Edmund, sons of Harold Godwinson, who had sailed fromIreland with a fleet of 64 ships to the mouth of theRiver Taw inDevon. They had escaped to Leinster after theBattle of Hastings in 1066 where they were hosted byDiarmait. In 1068 and 1069, Diarmait lent them the fleet ofDublin for their attempted invasions of England.
^The pagan English had beenpolygynous. When the English were evangelised, although by church law concubinage would not have been legally ratified, it was largely acknowledged by custom. Edith's marriage was described asmore danico (in the Danish fashion) which means unblessed by the church.[52][53]
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^Keynes, Simon (2014). "Appendix I: Rulers of the English, c.450–1066". InLapidge, Michael (ed.).The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-0-470-65632-7.
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