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 1022 - 1066 (44 years)
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| Name |
Harold II Godwineson |
| Title |
King of England |
| Birth |
1022 |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
14 Oct 1066 |
Battle of Hastings, Sussex, England  |
| Burial |
Waltham Abbey, Essex, England |
| Person ID |
I40341 |
Bob Juch's Tree |
| Last Modified |
31 Dec 2022 |
| Father |
Godwin, b. Abt 987, of Wessex, England d. 15 Apr 1053, Winchester Castle, Hampshire, England (Age 66 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Gytha Thorgilsdottir, b. Abt 1001, Halland, Sweden d. Aft Jun 1069, Flanders (Age > 68 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Marriage |
Abt 1019/20 |
| Family ID |
F14933 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 2 |
of Mercia Ealdgyth, b. Abt 1034, Mercia, England d. Aft 1086, France (Age > 53 years) |
| Marriage |
Abt 1052 |
York, England |
| Children |
| | 1. Princess of England Gytha, b. 1053, Wessex, England d. 2 May 1107 (Age 54 years) [natural] |
| | 2. Ulf, b. Dec 1066, Chester, England d. Aft 1087 (Age > 22 years) [natural] |
| | 3. Harold, b. Dec 1066, Chester, England d. Aft 1098, France (Age > 33 years) [natural] |
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| Family ID |
F14838 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
31 Dec 2022 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Burial - - Waltham Abbey, Essex, England |
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| Notes |
- Harold Godwineson, II was created Earl of East Anglia in c. 1045, and succeeded his father as Earl of Wessex on the 15th of April, 1053. He was created Earl of Hereford in 1058, and styled 'Duke of the English' from 1064. He succeeded Edward the Confessor as King of England on the 6th of January, 1066, having been chosen by the King as his successor with the support of the Witan. Harold II was crowned on the 6th of January, 1066, probably at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (some authorities state he was crowned at Westminster Abbey, but there is no evidence for this).
He was killed at the Battle of Hastings, Sussex, England. He was felled by an arrow between his eyes - this popular myth has been perpetrated by a misreading of the Bayeus tapestry. He was, in fact, struck down by a blow from a sword wielded by a mounted Norman knight. Harold was buried on the seashore at Hastings, or on the battlefield - the latter is more likely. A stone memorial marks the spot within the grounds of Battle Abbey. Later on, Harold's remains were removed to Waltham Abbey in Essex.
He was succeeded by William, Duke of Normandy, the victor of Hastings.
THE NORMAN KINGS OF ENGLAND
Harold II was the last of the Saxon Kings of England. His successor, William I, based his claim to the English throne upon a promise made to him more than a decade before 1066 by Edward the Confessor, who is said to have told William that he, Edward, would make him his successor.
In 1064, Earl Harold was shipwrecked upon the coast of Normandy. William kept him in honorable captivity until he had sworn upon he had sworn upon holy relics to do all in his power to enforce William's claim to the English throne. William knew very well that at that time it seemed that Harold, the most powerful man in England next to the king, would be designated Edward's successor, which was what in fact happened. When, in the autumn on 1065, Edward was seen to be dying, the Witan considered all claimants and decided that Harold, as the only man with the strength and maturity that befitted him to rule England, was the natural choice. Edward, on his deathbed, accordingly left his crown to Harold, who seized power in defiance of his oath to William.
William thereupon gathered an army, sailed to England, and defeated Harold on the 14th of October, 1066 at the battle of Hastings - it should actually be called the Battle of Senlac Ridge, as that was where it took place. Hastings is 11 miles away.
At that time, there was only one living male representative of the ancient line of the Kings of Wessex, and that was a child known as Edgar the Atheling. He was the grandson of Edmund II. The Witan in London set him up as king as soon as they received the news of William's victory at Hastings, but it quickly became obvious that Edgar's impeccable claim to the throne would be no match for William's determination to wear the crown of England. Edgar submitted to William within 6 weeks, and William was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066.
A new royal dynasty had been founded; the joining of England with Normandy brought England very much into the forefront of European affairs. William's followers received lands and honors, and thus founded aristocratic dynasties of their own in their new realm. A new order prevailed, England was feudalized, its Church overhauled, and its legal system; and all things Saxon were disdained by the conquering Normans.
William's claim to the English throne had very little basis in dynastic terms. His great-aunt Emma had been wife to both Ethelred II and Canute. William's wife Matilda was a descendent of King Alfred. And that was all. William's own ancestor, Rollo, who founded the duchy of Normandy in the 10th century, had been a Viking pirate. It was left to William's son, Henry I, to ally himself in blood to the ancient line of Cerdic; in 1100, he married Edith, the niece of Edgar the atheling, much to the disgust of his Norman barons, who sneeringly referred to the royal couple as 'Godric and Godgifu', old Saxon names now fallen into disrepute. Yet the marriage was popular with the common people, who were, after all, Saxon, and later Kings would acknowledge that it was fitting that the blood of Cerdic flowed in their veins.
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