Biography of Edward the Confessor
The life and biography
of Edward the Confessor is important as it led to the Battle
of Hastings which forever changed the History of England.
King Edward the
Confessor was a pious King, hence his title of Edward the
Confessor (after his death was made a saint by the Church in
1116, with the title of "the Confessor". Edward did a great
deal during his reign to aid the cause of Christianity. He
rebuilt the ancient Westminster Abbey in London and erected
churches and monasteries throughout England.
He was also a very
weak king, influenced by various factions of his era,
especially the Normans. He made a vow of celibacy and did not
leave a direct heir to the throne of England which led to the
various claims to the English throne following his death in
1066.
Edward was the son of
King Ethelred II and Emma, the daughter
of Duke Richard of Normandy. He was half-brother to King Edmund Ironside and also half-brother to King
Hardicanute. Edward the Confessor was born in 1002 in
Oxfordshire in England but most of his life was spent living
in Normandy.
A series of Danish
Vikings had taken the throne of England. In 1016 the English
throne was taken by King Canute. It was briefly restored to
Alfred (son of Ethelred
II and Edward's brother) in 1035 but was taken by the
illegitimate son of King Canute, known as Harold
Harefoot, in 1036. Between 1040-1042 Hardicanute succeeded to the English throne.
Edward the Confessor then became the King of England. During
the era of the Viking Kings Edward lived in Normandy. Duke
Robert I of Normandy, an ally of the French King Henry I,
helped the sons of King Ethelred, Alfred and then Edward, to
regain the English throne from the Vikings.
On Hardicanute's
sudden death in 1042, Edward was called by acclamation to
the throne at the age of about forty, being welcomed even by
the Danish settlers owing to his gentle saintly character. Edward regained
the English throne in 1042. As he had lived so long in
Normandy Edward always seemed more of Norman birth than
English. He generally spoke the French and he chose Normans to
fill many of the highest offices in the kingdom. This
infuriated the English nobles and one of the most powerful
Nobles, Harold Godwinson (later King Harold II) applied so
much pressure on Edward the Confessor that his Norman advisors
were sent back to Normandy in 1052. Edward the Confessor was
also put under pressure to marry Edith, the only daughter of
Godwin of Wessex and Harold's sister. The marriage was a
sham - Edward had taken a vow of celibacy so there were no
children.
Edward's reign
was one of almost unbroken peace, the threatened invasion of
Canute's son, Sweyn of Norway, being averted by the opportune attack on him
by Sweyn of Denmark; and the internal difficulties occasioned by the
ambition of Earl Godwin and his sons being settled without bloodshed
by Edward's own gentleness and prudence.
He undertook no wars except
to repel an inroad of the Welsh, and to assist Malcolm III of
Scotland against Macbeth, the usurper of his throne. Being devoid of
personal ambition, Edward's one aim was the welfare of his people.
He remitted the odious "Danegelt", which had needlessly
continued to be levied; and though profuse in alms to the
poor and for religious purposes, he made his own royal
patrimony suffice without imposing taxes.
The Normans
claimed that Edward had named a Norman as his successor to the
English throne. Harold Godwinson claimed that on his death bed
Edward had named Harold as the next King of England. There is
no mention of Edward favouring the rightful heir to the
English throne, Edgar the Aethling. And to make matters even
more complicated the Viking King Hardrada also believed that
he had a claim to the English throne. These various claims led
to the defeat of the English at the Battle of Hastings.
Edward the
Confessor died in 1066, ironically he was buried in
Westminster Abbey which he had just had renovated.
Read the
fascinating Biographies of Harold Godwinson and William the
Conqueror:
Biography of King Harold
II Godwinson
Biography of William the
Conqueror
The Claims to
the Throne of England in 1066
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