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How Edward the Confessor and Harold Godwinson Became the Last Anglo-Saxon Kings
Three kings of England are depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century tapestry depicting the events of 1066. Two of them are the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England: Edward the Confessor and Harold Godwinson. Their story, and the family and court intrigues that surrounded them, is one of the most compelling in history. More broadly, their downfall reflects the wave of cultural change that was creeping across Europe at the time.
The Making of Europe
A Norman castle being built at Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070. Source: Bayeux Museum
Europe in the 11th century was undergoing immense change. Although the Roman church had gradually managed to partially unify the various petty kingdoms that had replaced the Roman Empire, the continent was incredibly culturally diverse. England had historically been tied to the North Sea world through culture, war, and trade. The Anglo-Saxons had come from northern Germany and southern Denmark, and the Viking invasions over the centuries had strengthened those bonds. It was a distinct common culture, with common myths and traditions stretching back into pre-Christian times, best encapsulated in Beowulf, a story set in Scandinavia, with Germanic characters, written in English.
Change was coming. Robert Bartlett has described how a “Latin European” cultural identity was forming and spreading, rooted in the old empire of Charlemagne. Latin and French were the dominant languages. Societal structures, which would become crudely described as the “feudal system,” shaped everyday life and social hierarchy, in contrast to clan or tribe-based societies elsewhere. A reform movement was also sweeping through the church, homogenizing practices and squeezing out local “wrong” practices. Universities appeared and grew to produce a common clerical elite educated to a common set of standard texts. There was also a common way of making war, using knights, cavalry, and castles. This “European” culture could spread through peaceful assimilation, attraction through status and wealth, or through conquest. The lives of the last Anglo-Saxon kings represent resistance to the idea of Latin Europe.
The Battle for England
Earl Godwin betrays Alfred, Edward’s brother, from The Life of St Edward the Confessor, by Matthew Paris, c. 1250. Source: Cambridge University
Although we now know them as the last Anglo-Saxon kings, neither Harold nor Edward was “fully English.” Edward was the seventh son of King Aethelred the Unready and Emma, the daughter of the Duke of Normandy. He was not born into a peaceful realm. Although the descendants of Alfred the Great had stabilized and consolidated England following the invasion of the Great Heathen Army, the early 11th century brought fresh waves of Viking invasions, which culminated in Sweyn Forkbeard taking the throne in 1013, although Aethelred was invited back a year later upon Sweyn’s death.
When Aethelred died, a young Edward served alongside his uncle, Edmund Ironside, against Sweyn’s son, Cnut. When Cnut proved victorious, Edward fled into exile in Normandy. This likely meant he spent most of his formative teenage and young adult years in and around the Norman court. The Normans were of Viking descent, but they had become a full part of the Francophone “Latin” culture. Edward was indoctrinated into this culture.
Edward’s mother, on the other hand, stayed in England to marry Cnut and bore him a new son, Harthacnut. When Cnut died, Harthacnut was in Denmark, leaving his half-brother, Harold Harefoot, as regent. Edward and his brother Alfred came to England for unclear reasons. Alfred was captured by Godwin, the earl of Wessex, who handed him over to Harefoot, who blinded him. This began a power struggle between Godwin and Edward that would shape the future of the country.
Edward Seizes the Throne
The coronation of Edward the Confessor, from The Life of St Edward the Confessor, by Matthew Paris, c. 1250. Source: Cambridge University
Harefoot used Harthacnut’s absence to take the crown for himself. Emma fled to the continent and asked for Edward’s help for Harthacnut. Edward was unable to help but relinquished any interest in the throne, likely believing that the Danes would battle it out between themselves. In the event, Harefoot died in 1040. The following year, the childless Harthacnut invited Edward back to England and designated him as his heir. When he died in 1042, the nobles of England, including Godwin, supported Edward.
Edward had grown into the stereotype of a medieval king. He was tall, thin, and walked with his eyes down in a dignified way. He could be fearsome, but in a controlled way, not giving way to a temper. As he grew older, we are told, his hair and long beard turned milky white. His power was initially weak. He had spent many years out of the kingdom, more familiar with Norman and French customs than those of his own homeland. This must have been a noticeable contrast with an England very much tied into the North Sea Germanic world. He was dependent on the support of the culturally distinct Anglo-Danish nobility, including Godwin. He even married Godwin’s daughter, Edith, some sources say reluctantly. They never had children. Some say that Edward deliberately refused to impregnate his wife to prevent Godwin from capturing the throne. Although Godwin was English, he had married a Dane and his children had Scandinavian names, including his sons Harold and Tostig.
Edward Against the Godwins
Edward the Confessor, Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070. Source: Bayeux Museum
Edward built his authority carefully over time and eventually began to bring in favorites from Normandy and northern France. In 1051, Edward rejected a relative of Godwin as Archbishop of Canterbury to select a Norman instead, Robert of Jumièges. This was an affront to the Godwins and the rest of the English nobility. It was also significant as England had, so far, stayed aloof from the church reform movement. Edward’s appointment was a statement that England would be a part of it.
Edward continued to bring in Norman and French influences. One group of his friends got into an affray in Kent. Godwin was sent to punish the men of Kent who offended Edward’s guests, but instead, he sided with them. Edward seized on this disobedience. Archbishop Robert accused Godwin of plotting to kill the king, pointing to his role in the death of the king’s brother. Godwin and his sons, including the charismatic warrior Harold, attempted to raise a force to challenge the king, but this soon fell apart. The Godwins were persuaded to go into exile in Flanders and Ireland. One of Godwin’s sons, Wulfnoth, and his grandson Hakon, were taken as hostages to ensure his good behavior and sent to Normandy. Edith was sent to a nunnery.
Edward welcomed another Norman guest to his court, William, Duke of Normandy. It was probably at this point that Edward promised his friend and benefactor the throne, and William made his own pledge of loyalty. England seemed destined to join “Latin Europe.”
Edward challenges Earl Godwin in the Domesday Abbreviato, unknown artist, 1241. Source: National Archives
But the English were not willing to surrender in this clash of cultures. Edward’s favor for foreigners quickly became unpopular with the English magnates, and the prospect of a future king from a culture as alien as that of northern France began to turn opinion against him. The Godwins returned the following year with an army and a fleet, rallying the support of Leofric and Siward, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, who had previously sided against them. Edward and his loyal earls confronted the rebels. Cooler heads prevailed, as all sides knew that Magnus, king of Norway, wanted England. A civil war would leave the door open to invasion. The Godwins, including Edith, were restored to their positions. Robert and the other Norman and French favorites fled. The cultural revolution seems to have been reversed.
The Godwin Ascendancy
Harold meeting Edward, Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070. Source: Bayeux Museum
Edward ultimately lost his struggle with the Godwins. Over the rest of the decade, despite Godwin’s death in 1053, his family only grew in influence. Harold Godwinson became Earl of Wessex and family patriarch on his father’s death. Even hostile commentators acknowledged that he was tall, strong, well-mannered, and clever. Like most Englishmen of the time, he probably had a moustache, a mop-like haircut, and sported tattoos on his arms.
Although Harold Godwinson is known to posterity as the last Anglo-Saxon king, he was very much a product of Anglo-Scandinavian cultural synthesis. He had a Danish mother and married his lover, Edith Swanneck, in a Danish-style “hand-fasting” ceremony, one that was not recognized by the church. His sons also had a mix of English and Scandinavian names, such as Gunhild and Magnus, as well as Edmund and Godwin. Harold built on his father’s legacy. In due course, he secured Tostig as Earl of Northumbria on the incumbent Siward’s death in 1055 due to the young age of his son. Two other brothers, Gyrth and Leofwine, also received earldoms, meaning the family controlled all of England except for Mercia.
This is the point where, supposedly, Edward withdrew into a holy existence. As power over the state slipped away from him, he rededicated himself to his faith, becoming famous for feeding the poor and infirm at his own court. He had religious visions, performed miraculous cures, and (we are told) practiced chastity. He was particularly passionate about the building of his new abbey at Westminster, which was tellingly designed in a Romanesque, Norman style.
Westminster Abbey, Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070. Source: Bayeux Museum
This is not to say that this wasn’t a mutually beneficial relationship. As Edward retreated from the traditional warlike aspects of kingship, he leaned on Harold’s skills as a military leader against a rebellious earl of Mercia and to deliver a series of crushing victories against Gruffydd, the king of Wales. He would soon use him against another rebellious earl, with devastating consequences for Harold and the country.
The Trip to Normandy
Harold Godwinson swearing an oath to William of Normandy, Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070. Source: Bayeux Museum
In 1064, Harold was shipwrecked at Ponthieu in Picardy, France. No one is entirely sure why Harold was making the trip. Some Norman chroniclers later claimed it was to carry Edward’s promise of the English throne to William. More likely is that he was seeking to negotiate the release of Wulfnoth and Hakon, who were still being held at William’s court. Whatever the reason, Harold was captured by the local count. William, on hearing what happened, arrived in Ponthieu and demanded that he be released to his care.
Again, Harold showed all of his famous valor as a brave warrior. He joined William’s attack on his enemy, the duke of Brittany, and even rescued two of William’s knights from quicksand. In gratitude, William knighted him. It was at this time that Harold, according to the Bayeux Tapestry, swore an oath to William. Was this a pledge of loyalty? Or a pledge to support William’s claim to the English throne? Whatever the case, Harold was free to go back to England with his brother and nephew. Was he now thinking of his own designs on the throne, seeking to get his family out of the way of a vengeful rival? In any case, Harold travelled home, straight into another crisis.
Brother Against Brother
Harold fighting with Tostig at Edward’s court, from The Life of St Edward the Confessor, by Matthew Paris, c. 1250. Source: Cambridge University
In 1065, the people of Northumbria rebelled against Tostig due to his high taxation and general poor management. Harold rode out to meet the rebels and order them to disperse, but they and their massed army refused, demanding the appointment of a new earl: Morcar, the brother of Eadwine, earl of Mercia. Edward summoned a council, including Tostig and Harold. Tostig accused Harold of a conspiracy with the rebels, starting a heated argument in front of the king. Tostig demanded that the assembled nobles and the king crush the rebels, but there was no appetite to do so. Harold was forced to side with Edward. Tostig went into exile, no doubt cursing his brother and vowing revenge.
Why did Harold side against his brother? Partly, it was because it was clear that Tostig had lost control and respect in the north. Reimposing his rule would require a bloodbath and an unsustainable occupation. He had also proven himself incompetent, incapable of commanding loyalty, and had neglected the usual duties of an earl. The answer may also lie in the frame of the aging, childless king who sat at the head of the council table.
The Succession
Harold kneeling before Edward, from The Life of St Edward the Confessor, by Matthew Paris, c. 1250. Source: Cambridge University
No one knows what Edward had in mind for his succession as he went into the 1050s. His activities suggest a man trying to keep his options open. William certainly believed he had been promised the throne. Edward’s close emotional and cultural ties to the Norman court certainly make this possible. Perhaps, after he lost his confrontations with the Godwins, he realized that this was going to be too hard to stomach for the English elite. In 1056, Harold himself went to Europe to secure the return of Edward the Exile, the Confessor’s nephew, who had been at the Hungarian court since the reign of Cnut. It looked like the succession to another member of the House of Wessex was secure. But Edward the Exile died just a few days after his return to his homeland.
Eyes now turned to the Exile’s son, Edgar, who some sources started to call Atheling, the Saxon term for the next in line to the throne. He was even brought into the household of Edith. But he was a child, and still a teenager in 1066. This meant that the succession was still in flux. Anglo-Saxon England had no fixed rules on succession. The Witan, the royal council that elected the king, knew that there were covetous foreign eyes on the crown from Normandy and Norway. England needed a king who could command the loyalty of the kingdom and lead its armies.
Harold Godwinson, the leader of the most powerful family and earldom in the country, was the outstanding candidate. His siding with the magnates against his brother may have been influenced by his need to appear above family interest and maintain the respect of his fellow nobles. It may have been at this point that he secretly negotiated to marry Eadwine and Morcar’s sister to secure their future support. This was despite already being married to Edith Swanneck, but luckily for him, this marriage was not recognized by the church.
Harold Godwinson hunting, Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070. Source: Bayeux Museum
Edward, however, had been battling the Godwin family for 30 years. Harold had been one of the men who had stood against him in 1053, forced his Norman favorites into exile, and diminished his authority. Had their recent good relationship and the displays of loyalty from Harold been enough to mend the rift?
The Last Anglo-Saxon Kings
Harold Godwinson hunting, Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070. Source: Bayeux Museum
In December 1065, Edward finally dedicated Westminster Abbey, his life’s work. He then fell ill. A few days later, his wife, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Harold were gathered at his bedside. In his last moments, the king reached out to Harold. With a quivering voice, he entrusted him with the care of his wife and, it is said, his kingdom. The nobles decided that this was a sign that he was the nominated successor. Edgar Atheling’s prospects don’t seem to have held much sway in the circumstances. Harold was crowned swiftly on January 6th, probably in the Confessor’s Abbey.
This could have been a historic irony. The Confessor’s war with the most powerful Anglo-Scandinavian family had ended with a new Godwin dynasty crowned inside the cathedral that was his life’s work. But Harold’s ruthlessness in the service of his father’s work and the stability of the country, combined with Edward’s close ties to Normandy, would undo it all.
Tostig joined the invasion of Harald Hardrada, the king of Norway, who had inherited Magnus’ claim to the English crown. The Norsemen defeated an initial English resistance at Fulford. Harold, however, pulled off an outstanding feat. He rallied his dispersed army, marched northwards at breathtaking speed, and caught his brother and Harald completely off-guard at Stamford Bridge. It is said that Harold Godwinson himself rode out to meet his brother before his army, pleading with him to return to his side. Harald Hardrada, himself known as one of the most fearsome warriors in Europe, was impressed with his countenance. The final victory was crushing, ending forever the Viking threat to England. Godwinson buried his brother in York.
Harold Godwinson’s coronation, Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070. Source: Bayeux Museum
This should have been Harold’s triumph, but his race to Northumbria had left the door open for the Duke of Normandy’s huge invasion fleet. At Hastings, William claimed himself the true nominated heir of Edward the Confessor, standing under the papal banner as the agent of church reform against the oath-breaking Harold. Two visions of the future stood opposite each other: the cavalry and chain mail of the Francophone Normans, and the axe-wielding shieldwall of the English. It was on the ridge of Senlac Hill that Harold was finally killed with an arrow to the eye. The last Anglo-Saxon king fell to the earth, thanks to the machinations and cultural affinities of the predecessor to whom his destiny was tied.
Legacy
Plaque marking the spot where Harold Godwinson died on Senlac Hill, Battle Abbey, 2006. Source: Wikimedia Commons
The French-speaking Norman and Angevin kings who took over England following the Norman Conquest ran a propaganda campaign that besmirched Harold as a cunning and immoral traitor. William the Conqueror and his heirs were the true heirs of Edward the Confessor. Edward’s relationship with William legitimized the new dynasty, and as such, he soon became celebrated. The monks of Westminster Abbey supported this change in narrative, which saw Edward canonized as a saint in 1161.
Henry III (1216-1272) threw himself into the cult of Edward, rebuilding the Abbey and constructing a grand new tomb for his body. He also named his son after him, giving an English name to a king for the first time since 1066. Ironically, despite his name becoming synonymous with Englishness, Edward the Confessor had actually ensured that England would become far less culturally Anglo-Saxon English and far more culturally “European” than it might otherwise have been.
We don’t know for sure what happened to Harold’s body. Contemporary chroniclers said he was buried by the sea as a cruel joke by William, as he had failed to protect the coast in life. An Anglo-Saxon period coffin was found at the church in Bosham, a seaside village and Harold’s birthplace, in 1954, containing a relatively tall man for the time. Another tradition is that Harold’s body was identified by Edith Swanneck and was taken to Waltham Abbey, which he had refounded just six years earlier, and secretly buried under the altar. The Norman reputation stuck with him for a long time. Only recently has Harold begun to acquire a cult status among some, with commemorative flowers left at his supposed resting place at Waltham and on Senlac Hill.
Select Bibliography
Bartlett, R. (1993) The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonisation and Cultural Change, 950 – 1350, London.
Brown, R.A. (1984) The Norman Conquest of England: Sources and Documents, Woodbridge.
Chibnall, M. (1999) The Debate on the Norman Conquest, Manchester.
Forester, T. (ed.) (1884) Henry of Huntingdon – The History of England, London.
Golding, B. (1994) Conquest and Colonisation: The Normans in Britain, 1066-1100, London.
Morris, M. (2012) The Norman Conquest, London.
Paris, M. (c. 1250) The Life of St Edward the Confessor, Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.3.59.
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