-
Harold
Gowinson's claim to the throne of England was not based on a
strong blood tie
-
He had just a
kinship to Edward the Confessor, who had married Harold's
sister, Edith
-
But he was the
Earl of Wessex, one of the most powerful Nobles in England
-
He had been an
advisor to Edward the Confessor
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He had proved
himself to be a good leader and fighter
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His father and
family had dominated the Witan ( the English council
of ruling elders) who advised the king
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He was the
richest man in England
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Edward the
Confessor considered the Normans as friends, had employed
Normans as advisors and even designated a Norman should
succeed him to the English throne
-
The Anglo Saxons
resented Edward the Confessor's close ties with the Normans
and Harold Godwinson applied so much pressure on Edward the
Confessor that his Norman advisors were sent back to
Normandy.
-
Harold and his
family had established alliances with all the major nobles
of England
-
Harold deposed
his brother Tostig as Earl of Northumbia and replaced him
with Morcar
-
Edwin the Earl
of Mercia and Morcar the Earl of Northumbria, previous
enemies of Godwinson, had pledged to support Harold
Godwinson
-
Harold Godwinson asserted
that he had been chosen by Edward the Confessor to be the
next King of
England
-
When King Edward
the Confessor lay dying his wife Edith and Harold Godwinson
were at his bedside. According to Harold, King Edward's
dying words were:
"I commend my wife and
all my kingdom to your care"
-
Harold insisted
that he had been tricked into taking the sacred oath of
allegiance he had made to Duke William. And that he was not
told that he was swearing the pledge on sacred religious
relics - in his view he had been duped and owed the Norman
Duke no allegiance and refuted his claim to the English
throne
-
The rightful
heir to the throne of England was Edgar the Aetheling, the
grandson of Edmund Ironside but he was only a ten year old
boy and deemed too young to control the turbulent English
realm
-
Harold Godwinson
had forced Edward the Confessor's Norman advisors back to
Normandy
-
The Witan (a
council consisting of 60 of England's most powerful nobles)
offered the crown to Harold in preference to all other
contenders
-
Harold Godwinson
was an Anglo-Saxon!
