The English, on the death of Harthacanute, saw that a favourable opportunity had occurred for recovering their ancient independence and shaking off the Danish yoke, which was insufferably galling to a proud and spirited people.
Prince Edward was in Normandy at the time of his brother's death; but though the true English heir was the descendant of Edmund Ironside, the absence of that prince in Hungary appeared a sufficient reason for his exclusion. Delays might be dangerous; the occasion might not again present itself, and must be eagerly embraced before the Danes, now left in the island without a leader, had time to recover from the confusion into which the death of their king had thrown them.
But this concurrence of circumstances in favour of Edward might have failed of its effect, had his succession been opposed by Godwin, whose power, alliances, and abilities gave him great influence at all times, especially amidst those sudden opportunities which always attend a revolution of government, and of which advantage can be taken only by great promptitude. There were opposite reasons which divided men's hopes and fears with regard to Godwin's conduct. On the one hand, the credit of that nobleman lay chiefly in Wessex, which was almost entirely inhabited by English. It was therefore presumed that he would second the wishes of that people in restoring the English line, and in humbling the Danes, from whom he, as well as they, had reason to dread, as they had already felt, the most grievous oppression. On the other hand, there was strong reason for animosity between Edward and Godwin, on account of Alfred's murder, which the latter might deem so deep an offence that it could never, on account of subsequent merits, be sincerely pardoned. Nevertheless, in those turbulent days men's memories were short; a strong union of interests was sufficient to cause the temporary burial of past wrongs. At the Witena-gemot, which was summoned at Gillingham, every measure was taken for securing the election of Edward. The English were unanimous and zealous; the Danes, who were in favour of Canute's nephew, Sweyn, were divided and dispirited, and Godwin's eloquence easily won the day. Two years afterwards the friendship was cemented by a marriage between the king and Godwin's daughter, Edith. It was thought advisable also to depress the Danish element by exile and confiscation of property in several instances.
The new king also treated his mother, who had returned to England, not only with coldness, but some degree of severity, on account of her having neglected him in his adversity. He accused her of preferring her son by Canute to his brother and himself—which, when the characters of her first and second husbands are compared, appears by no means improbable. He stripped her of the great wealth she had amassed, and compelled her to live in seclusion at Winchester. The accusation of her having been a party to the murder of her son Alfred, and of her criminal intercourse with the Bishop of Winchester, from which she is said to have cleared herself by walking barefoot over nine red-hot ploughshares, must be regarded as tradition merely.
The English fondly believed that by the accession of Edward they had delivered themselves for ever from the dominion of foreigners, but they soon found out that they were in error; for the king, who had been educated at the court of his uncle in Normandy, had contracted so strong an affection for the natives of that country that his court was speedily filled by them. This partiality will be considered by no means an unnatural one, when it is remembered that the natives of that populous and wealthy state were far more polished than the comparatively rude, unlettered English, and that their culture was much superior. The example of the monarch had its influence; the courtiers imitated the Normans both in dress and manners. French became the language not only of the court, but of the law; even the Church felt its influence, Edward creating Robert of Jumièges (1044), and Ulf (1049), two Norman priests, respectively Bishops of London and Dorchester. In 1051 Robert was made Archbishop of Canterbury. Similar appointments were made in secular affairs, and the whole country was filled with a swarm of Norman strangers. All these changes gradually excited the jealousy of the English nation; although it may be justly doubted whether the most far-sighted amongst them foresaw that they were preparing the way for a fresh conquest of the country.
The natural result of this unwise partiality for foreigners was the growth of a strongly national party, and with it Earl Godwin was not slow to identify himself. By a process of deliberate family aggrandisement, he had succeeded in making the influence of his house nearly paramount in England; and this was based not only on immense possessions and administrative authority, but on the great personal talents of himself and his sons, which were wedded to dispositions of a more than ordinarily ambitious nature. Their power was, indeed, most formidable. Godwin, as has been already mentioned, was Earl of Wessex; his eldest son, Sweyn, was Earl of a district partly in Wessex and partly in Mercia; his second son, Harold, was Earl of the East Angles; and his nephew, Beorn, was Earl of the Middle Angles, a district which included Bedfordshire and Lincolnshire.
It was inevitable that a trial of strength should occur between the two parties sooner or later, and the unruly conduct of Godwin's family was, unfortunately, by no means a source of credit to his cause. In 1046, Sweyn, his eldest son, carried off the Abbess of Leominster, and in consequence had to leave the kingdom, his possessions being divided between Harold and Beorn. After futile attempts to gain pardon and restitution, he decoyed Beorn on to one of his ships and foully murdered him. He was thereupon outlawed, but soon afterwards the king weakly allowed him to return, and his earldom was restored to him.
THE RIOT AT DOVER. (See p. [69.])