As I explored in my last post, Edward’s death in January 1066 left three individuals in contention for the throne: William of Normandy, Harold Godwinson and Harald Hardrada. Each had their own arguments for why they should be the next King of England, not least because Edward had supposedly promised the crown to more than one heir.
William of Normandy
- William of Normandy was also known as William the Bastard due to his illegitimate lineage, born in 1027 to Robert of Normandy and his mistress Herleva.
- William claimed that Harold Godwinson had been sent by Edward to promise him the throne in 1064. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts Harold swearing the oath over religious relics, therefore representing Harold as breaking a sacred oath.
- Whilst this is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, it is important to emphasise that the tapestry is a piece of artistic political propaganda which, produced following William’s victory at the Battle of Hastings, intended to portray him as the rightful and just heir to the English throne.
- Furthering his strength of claim, the Pope agreed to support William’s campaign.
- As a relation to Edward (they were distant cousins), William felt his claim was legitimate.
Harold Godwinson
- Harold Godwinson was the brother of Edward’s wife Edith and an extremely influential political figure.
- He was the Earl of Wessex and thus had significant influence amongst the nobility.
- Harold was crowned King of England on the 6th January 1066 by the Witan, who viewed him as the natural heir to Edward, having been his close advisor.
- Anglo-Saxon sources state that Edward bequeathed Harold the throne upon his death-bed, although the evidence for this is weak.
Harald Hardrada
- Harald Hardrada was the King of Norway.
- In 1064, he defeated King Swein of Denmark at the Battle of Nissa, proving his power and blood-lust.
- As the heir of King Cnut, Hardrada saw the opportunity to attack England and reclaim the throne following the death of Edward I.
- Hardrada was persuaded to invade England by Tostig, Harold Godwinson’s estranged brother.
This would be a great opportunity in which to involve the whole class in an activity. I think that it would be interesting to create an ‘Apprentice’ style debate in the classroom in which three pupils, each representing a different claimant, state the case for why they should be the next King of England. The class could then vote to decide who they think should prevail based on the reasons they provide and then discover whether history did, in fact, follow this course.
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