He had been in exile for many years in Normandy but would return to England as king
Edward the Confessor now had to face the duties of being king would he
lead England into a golden age or set England into crisis
hey guys it's Hilbert just letting you all know that I uploaded the first part
of this series up on my channel looking at the rise and fall of the North Sea
Empire so don't forget to check it out if you're interested in the first steps
on the road to 1066 but that's enough for me and I'll give you all back to
carry on with the rest of the story of Edward the Confessor thanks Hilbert how
did he get through that window after the death of the previous king Harthcanute
Edward arrived in England in 1042 and was proclaimed king with the help of a
powerful English Earl Godwin it's not to say Godwin and Edward were friends as
Godwin had previously betrayed Edwards brother Alfred by blinding him and
shortly afterwards he died Edward was reluctant to accept Godwin's
help and succeed into the throne but he had a lack of knowledge of England and
virtually no power base Edward was crowned in 10:43 but loyalty
to the ancient house of Wessex had been eroded by the period of Danish rule so
effective role meant keeping on good terms of leading Earl's the structure of
anglo-saxon England society placed the king at the top above everyone else
below him were anglo-saxon Earl's who owned Odom's and they had great
influence below Earls came vanes who protected the Earl's lands and Howard
landed their own by Royal Charter at the bottom of the hierarchy were peasants
and even worse were serfs or slaves who had no rights at all in helping Edward
succeed to the throne Godwin and his family gained even greater power Edward
had to marry Godwin's daughter Edith and many others within the Godwin family
gained Odom's they held great power but in the north there was a distinct Anglo
Scandinavian culture there were two earldoms in the north
Mircea which was ruled by layeth reck and Northumbria which was brought by
seaward a new threat had emerged from Norway and it came from King Magnus
bayens outer brothers Swain ii of denmark was hoping for help in his
battle with magnus for control of denmark edward rejected Godwin's demands
they sent aid Swain but still commanded a fleet just in case it was only
Magnus's death that saved England from attack and allowed Swain to take the
Danish throne in the Middle Ages religion played a very important role in
people's lives and a king was often seen as chosen by
God so Edward had a lot of say in the appointing of bishops and archbishops in
1050 the Archbishop of Canterbury adzick died and had to be replaced
Afric a relative of Godwin was chosen by the monks of Canterbury to succeed him
however Edward instead appointed his clothes Norman friend Roberts of jhoom
eh Edward invited his former brother-in-law Eustace the second count
of Boulogne as a guest in 1051 upon his arrival in
Dover his men got into a quarrel with the locals and some people were killed
it should be noted Eustace in Godwin were on shaky terms as Godwin had
recently married his son toasting to the daughter of useless his rival the counts
of Flanders Edward ordered Godwin as Earl of Wessex to punish the townspeople
by hurrying but Godwin refused as he did not want to destroy his own land and get
unpopular with his people Godwin raised an army against the King
and Robert of zoomy age convinced Edward Godwin was plotting to kill him Edward
summoned his two northern Earl's Siward and Leia Frick for support but neither
side was willing to fight him risk civil war
Godwin's army was not willing to fight the king and his family's position was
weakened when called upon by the King for his actions he fled to Ireland
while other members of his family fled to Flanders however Godwin returned the
next year he attacked the Isle of Wight with a fleet and sailed up the Thames he
gained a lot of support and demanded the re-establishment of his Oldham for him
and his family he also ordered the banishment of Archbishop Robert and most
Norman's at court crucially Edward's army refused two fights in the northern
Earl's gave him no backing so Edward had to accept Godwin's demands Godwin was
declared innocent of all charges and the fleeing French were outlawed a man named
stigand became Archbishop to replace Robert who was accepted by all parties
Godwin was restored as Earl of Wessex Harold gained East Anglia and Edith was
brought back to court Godwin did not live long to see his
success as he died of a stroke while dining with the king 1053 Harold
Godwinson was then given the autumn of Wessex and Alf gar the son of layoff
Rick was given East Anglia in 1054 c-word went to war against the
Scottish King Macbeth this was possibly ordered by Edward or Seward's own choice
Siward died a year later and his surviving son was only a boy so toss
stick Godwin son was given Northumbria in addition Alf gar was outlawed and
East Anglia was given to gear Godwin's fourth son of God could be
considered as a rather wild character after losing his Oldham he allied
himself with the ruler of Wales Gruffudd at Llewellyn they led an army
into the earldom of Hereford defeated Ralph of Mons in battle and sacked the
city in 10:57 ralph of Manson Mayor Frick died and Alf Garr returned and
took Murcia by force Harold soon took Ralph and Lance lands
for his own and Godwin's youngest son was given an Oldham in the southwest the
death of key northern Earl's and lack of suitable replacements meant that Edward
was increasingly forced to give presidents to members of the Godwin
family so by the end of 10:57 the anglo-saxon autumns look like this it
can be said that the return of the Godwin's actually stabilized and
strengthened the kingdom notably in the defense of England between 1058 and 1062
it seems there was largely a period of peace as there was little recorded by
the anglo-saxon chronicle now were several pilgrimages undertaken toss
stick made a pilgrimage to Rome and Bishop Eldred journey to Jerusalem
leaving Hereford and Worcester undefended for six months although it
should be noted Harold Godwinson continued to keep watch from Hereford
Alf Carr behaved more responsibly toss six lands were raided by Malcolm of
Scotland while he was absent Gruffudd began raiding into Mercier again which
was a really bad idea Howard and his brother Tostig then
conducted a campaign in Wales how old raided with a fleet along the coast of
South Wales from Bristol while toss stick invaded from the north
this proved remarkably successful and they captured Gruffudd castle in spring
1063 Gruffudd managed to escape into the
mountains of Snowdonia as the Godwin's ravaged lands around his strongholds he
was later killed by his own men who delivered his head to Edward the Welsh
sued for peace and acknowledged the Kings over lordship gave hostages and
agreed to pay customary dues as the Welsh Chronicle puts it the man
who had hitherto be invincible who had immense spoils countless treasures of
gold silver jewels and purple vestments was left in the Glens of desolation
Harold's victories in Wales gave him immense stature as a warrior and was
undoubtedly an effective leader of men it wasn't all great for the Godwin's as
in October of 1065 a rebellion against hostak broke out in Northumbria this was
in response to toss sticks harsh role as an earl and the fact he was never
popular to begin with the Vita Edouard Iver ePro Godwin sauce says he repressed
the northumbrian nobility with the heavy yoke of his rule because of their
misdeeds the rebels chose the new Earl Morcar who was the brother of Edwin of
Murcia Harold by this point was negotiating on Edwards behalf because he
was slowly dying and he does not seem to support his brother at all
Edward had no children and therefore no successor and by the winter of 1065 he
was very ill so who would succeed him throughout Edwards rule the problem of
succession was always important and it is unclear why Edward never had any
children with the Godwin's exile in 1051 it is said that Edward invited William
to his courts and promised him the throne William was a distant cousin of
Edward but it is unclear when this actually happened in 10:57 Edward became
aware that his nephew was still alive this was Edward the son of Edmund
Ironside and he was summoned to court to potentially take up his place as heir to
the throne the returning exile died in in certain circumstances shortly after
his arrival in England leaving Edgar a six-year-old child who was now the last
surviving male member of the road in stee apart from the king his
six-year-old grandnephews position was not necessarily the best choice when
other more powerful potential contenders had their eye on England another
claimant was Howard Hardrada the king of Norway whose claim was based on an
agreement that had been made of half canoe in the months before his death
Edward fell into a coma Howard Godwin son Edith and the
Archbishop of Canterbury were present when he regained consciousness but he
was still delirious the Bayeux Tapestry depicts a dying King Edward touching
hands of Harald and English sources justify this as Howard's appointment to
the throne the Norman accounts of William appointee heir states Howard had
sworn fealty to Duke William in 1065 when he had made a trip to Normandy
making an oath in front of holy relics despite all this on Edward's death
Harold was declared king as he was the only contender in England and was very
popular with the witan who appointed Kings
although becoming King does not mean you were staking as we'll find out in the
next episode Edwards reign was one of peace rising wealth and a favorable
climate there were a lot of pilgrimages Edward maintained an English army and
navy and there were no Foreign Wars one important part of Edwards reign is his
use of the writs and this created a foundation for the English army the Ritz
was a record-keeping of land messages were sent to shires to say lands had
been traded and for every five hides of land a single fully equipped soldier had
to be provided Edward managed to see the completion of
Westminster Abbey where he was buried he was the only monarch to ever become a
saint and was the patron saint of England until st. George although there
were several problems and disagreements Edwards rule was prosperous and peaceful
but his unclear decisions on succession and influence from Normandy may have
been the catalyst for the bloodbath of 1066 thank you for watching this has
been our episode on the events before 1066 don't forget to hit the like button
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