A History of England, Period I. Mediæval Monarchy

by J. Franck Bright

Importance of Earl Harold.

Death of Edward. 1066.

The succeeding years are marked by the gradual increase of the power of Harold and his family. In 1055 Earl Ælfgar was outlawed, and his earldom given to Gurth, Harold’s brother. The exiled Earl, making common cause with Griffith [Gryffydd] of Wales, defeated Ralph, the French Earl of Herefordshire. To repair this disaster the war was intrusted to Harold; he prosecuted it with success, and Herefordshire, which he had thus rescued, was added to his earldom. The death of Leofric still further increased the power of the House of Godwine, although Ælfgar, the late Earl, was allowed to succeed him; and finally, Essex and Kent were formed into an earldom for Leofwine, the remaining brother of Harold. Godwine’s sons now possessed all England, with the exception of Mercia. The last probable heir to the throne—the Ætheling Edward, the son of Edmund Ironside—had been brought over from Hungary, but had died almost immediately after reaching England. And when, in 1063, Harold, by employing his men as light troops, succeeded in the final subjugation of Wales, his greatness was such that he must almost certainly have been regarded as the next king. Three years afterwards, in January 1066, King Edward, the last male descendant of Cerdic who reigned in England, died. His last year had been troubled by a great insurrection of the Northern counties against the rule of Tostig. The house of Leofric had had a stronghold in the North, and Tostig’s injudicious vigour in attempting to reduce the barbarous population to order had excited great discontent. His energy seems more than once to have led him into murder. The Northumbrian therefore deposed him, and elected Morcar [Morkere], the grandson of Leofric, in his place. His brother, Edwin of Mercia, who had succeeded his father Ælfgar, made common cause with him; and Harold, whose policy was always conciliatory, found it necessary to persuade the King to confirm Edwin and Morkere in their possessions. Tostig retired as an exile to Bruges. While England was thus troubled, the King died—a good man, devoted to the Church and the monks, and therefore afterwards canonized, but as a king unfitted by his pliant character, and more especially by his love of foreign favourites, to rule over England at such a difficult crisis.

Harold elected king. 1066.

Claims of William of Normandy.

The Witan at once assembled, and used its power of election. This power was usually exercised within the limits of the royal family; but on this occasion, as there was no claimant of the royal house but Edmund Ironside’s grandson, the child Eadgar, the Witan looked beyond their usual limit, and elected almost unanimously the great Earl Harold. Though thus King of England by the most perfect title, he found himself opposed by two enemies. On the one hand was his brother Tostig, the exiled Earl of Northumberland, who had been a favourite of the late king, and had perhaps himself hoped to be elected; and upon the other Duke William, who, out of a variety of small and insufficient pretexts, had constructed a very formidable claim to the crown of England. He asserted that the Confessor had promised him the kingdom, that he was the nearest of kin, and that Harold had himself sworn to him to be his man, to marry his daughter, and to own him allegiance. The circumstances under which this last event had taken place are not very certain; but it seems to be true that Harold, on some occasion, had been shipwrecked on the coast of France and taken prisoner, and held to ransom, according to the barbarous custom of that day, by Guy, Count of Ponthieu, lord of the country. The intervention of William as superior lord rescued him from his disgraceful position. He spent some time in friendly intercourse at William’s court, and there probably, as was not unusual, made himself the Duke’s man, and did homage. Such an act could be only personal, and could have nothing to do with the kingdom of England, and even as a personal tie was not very binding. It was his knowledge of this which induced William to play the well-known trick upon Harold. When the Earl had taken what he believed to be only a common oath of homage, the cover of the table on which his hands had been placed was withdrawn, and he found he had been swearing upon most sacred relics. With regard to the other claims, it may be said that Edward the Confessor, in accordance with the constitution of England, could not promise the crown to any one, and, moreover, had nominated Harold on his deathbed; while, although William was the cousin of the late king, it was only through Edward’s Norman mother, Emma, that he was so. But when put forward artfully, and mingled with coloured accounts of the injuries suffered by the French in England at the return of Godwine, these claims seemed very plausible to the French, especially when backed by the influence of the Papal See wielded by Archdeacon Hildebrand, afterwards Pope Gregory VII. The Papal support was won partly by representing Harold as a perjured man, partly because the Normans in Italy were regarded as the great champions of the Papal See, but chiefly because Godwine and Harold had throughout sided rather with the party of the secular clergy in England than with that of the monks,[3] and had been national in their views with regard to the Church as well as in other matters. The Pope, Alexander II., was led by Hildebrand to see the opportunity offered, and expressed his approbation of the expedition by sending a consecrated ring and banner.

William’s preparations.

Tostig’s invasion.

William, immediately after the death of the Confessor, sent to demand the crown, which was of course refused. He then proceeded to collect troops, not only his own Norman feudatories, but also large bodies of adventurers from other parts of France. Aware of the intended invasion, Harold collected his forces, and occupied the Southern coast. But William was so long in coming, that Harold’s militia army, anxious to return to their agricultural works, and straitened for food, could not be kept together. He was left with his immediate followers, his House-carls and Thegns. Just then, when his great host had disappeared, news was brought to him that Tostig had invaded the North of England. Foiled in a weak attempt upon the South near Sandwich, and refused aid by William of Normandy, Tostig had fallen in with the fleet of Harold Hardrada, King of Norway. This king was a great warrior, who had served in the armies of the Byzantine Empire, and fought in Africa and Sicily. He was easily persuaded to join Tostig, and reinforced by the Earls of Orkney, they together sailed up the Ouse, and reached Fulford on the way to York. Edwin and Morkere, the sons of Ælfgar, whose sister Harold had lately married, honestly opposed them, but after a severe battle they were beaten. Arrangements by which the North was to join Harold Hardrada were being made at Stamford Bridge upon the Derwent, when Harold, who had hastened with extreme rapidity from the South, fell upon the invaders. They were taken by surprise, and some, but slightly armed, were overcome; but the bridge over the Derwent was held with determination, and a fierce battle was fought on the other side. The English were entirely triumphant, both Tostig and Harold Hardrada being slain. The Norwegian fleet was forced to withdraw. This was on the 25th of September.

Landing of William.