Harold's family

Harold Godwinson traditionally has an association with Chester through the probable myth that he was the initial hermit who inhabited the Hermitage. The story of the family of Harold Godwinson did not end with the battle fought near Hastings in 1066 and has some actual historical links with Chester.

Family Background
Harold was a son of Godwin (c. 1001–1053), the powerful Earl of Wessex, and of Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, whose brother Ulf the Earl was married to Estrid Svendsdatter (c. 1015/1016), the daughter of King Sweyn Forkbeard (died 1014) and sister of King Cnut the Great of England and Denmark (and according to tradition Knutsford). Ulf and Estrith's son would become King Sweyn II of Denmark in 1047.

Godwin, Harold's father


Godwin was the son of Wulfnoth, probably a thegn and a native of Sussex. Very little else is known for certain of the ancestry of the Godwins. According to the twelfth-century chronicler John of Worcester, Godwin was the son of a Wulfnoth who was the son of Æthelmær, brother of Eadric Streona, both sons of an otherwise unknown Æthelric. However this appears to be impossible in terms of dates and may be an attempt to link Godwin to Eadric Streona simply because Streona had such a poor reputation. It is from John of Worcester’s chronicle that we know what happened to some of Harold Godwinson’s family in the aftermath of the Conquest. Whether there is any bias in John of Worcester's account is an interesting question. John originally worked under the instructions of Bishop Wulfstan the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop, the only English-born bishop after 1075 and had been a confidant of Harold Godwinson, who helped secure the bishopric for him.

Godwin began his political career by supporting King Edmund Ironside (reigned April to November 1016). The location of Edmund's death is uncertain though it is generally accepted that it occurred in London, rather than in Oxford where Henry of Huntingdon claimed it to be in his version of events, which included Edmund's death from multiple stab-wounds whilst he was defecating on a privy. Geoffrey Gaimar narrates a similar occurrence with the weapon being a crossbow; but with a number of other medieval chroniclers, including the Encomium Emmae Reginae, not mentioning murder, it is thought Edmund's cause of death may possibly have been caused by wounds received in battle or by some disease. It is certainly possible, however, that he was murdered. Godwin was probably too young to have been involved in any murder, but the murder followed shortly after Edmund had been betrayed by Eadric Streona at the Battle of Assandun (1016), so even if Godwin was not involved, he was exposed to political treachery at an early age. If fact this was not the first instance of treachery in the young Godwin's life - in 1008, King Æthelred the Unready ordered the construction of a fleet, and the following year 300 ships assembled at Sandwich, Kent to meet a threatened Viking invasion. There Brihtric, another supposed brother of Eadric Streona, brought unknown charges against Wulfnoth before the king, (unjustly according to John of Worcester). Wulfnoth then fled with twenty ships and ravaged the south coast. Brihtric followed with eighty, but his fleet was driven ashore by a storm and burnt by Wulfnoth. After the loss of a third of the fleet the remaining ships were withdrawn to London, and the Vikings were able to invade Kent unopposed. Æthelred almost certainly confiscated Wulfnoth's property as a result. Just what John of Worcester is trying to say when he recites this complex family feud is not clear.

Godwin had switched to supporting King Cnut by 1018, when Cnut named him Earl of a part of Wessex. Godwin had survived Cnut's purge of English nobles and remained an earl throughout the remainder of Cnut's reign, one of only two earls to survive to the end of that reign. It appears that Godwin helped Cnut in crushing a rebellion in Denmark (between 1019 and 1023) and was rewarded by being made first Earl of Devon and later, Earl of the whole of Wessex.

On Cnut's death in 1035, Godwin originally supported Harthacnut instead of Cnut's initial successor Harold Harefoot, but managed to switch sides in 1037 — although not without becoming involved in the 1036 murder of Alfred Aetheling, half-brother of Harthacnut and younger brother of the later King Edward the Confessor. Alfred Ætheling had landed on the coast of Sussex with a Norman mercenary bodyguard, possibly at the invitation of Godwin, and attempted to make his way to London. However he was betrayed, captured by Earl Godwin of Wessex, and blinded; he died soon afterwards. In 1929 the remains of 223 soldiers, whom excavators identified as Normans based on their stature, prominent skulls and slender leg bones, were found on the prominent hillside immediately west of Guildford's centre. They were bound and had been executed. The grave has been dated to c. 1040.

When Harold Harefoot died in 1040, Harthacnut became King of England and Godwin's power was imperiled by his earlier involvement in Alfred's murder, but an oath and large gift secured the new king's favour for Godwin. Harthacnut's death in 1042 probably involved Godwin in a role as kingmaker, helping to secure the English throne for Edward the Confessor.

In 1045 Godwin reached the height of his power when the new king, Edward the Confessor married Godwin's daughter Edith. It was around this time that a great rivalry started to grow between the Godwins of Wessex and the house of Leofric of Mercia, who had a major power base at Chester. In several charters, such as one in 1043 (founding Coventry Abbey), Leofric is referred to as the "comes" (count) of Chester. Bradshaw, in his "Life of St Werburgh" refers to him as the Earl of Chester (stanza 176) who made important donations to St Johns (stanza 175) and the "Minster of St Werburgh" (later the Cathedral}.

Like Harthacnut, Edward was never convinced of Godwin’s innocence, a fact which added to the increasing distrust and conflict between the king and his most powerful earl in the first ten years of Edward’s reign. Indeed, when the Godwin family and Edward quarrelled ias part of the crisis of 1051, it was Edward’s demand to have his (dead) brother returned to him that made Earl Godwin realise there would be no rapprochement; the earl sailed into exile in Flanders with his family.

Godwin and Gytha had several children—six sons: Sweyn, Harold, Tostig, Gyrth, Leofwine and Wulfnoth; and three daughters: Edith of Wessex (originally named Gytha but renamed Ealdgyth (or Edith) when she married King Edward the Confessor), Gunhild and Ælfgifu. The birthdates of the children are unknown, but Harold was the second son, Sweyn being the eldest. Harold was aged about 25 in 1045, which makes his birth year around 1020.

Sweyn
Sweyn Godwinson (Old English: Swegen Godƿinson) (c. 1020 – 1052), also spelled Swein, was the eldest son of Earl Godwin of Wessex. There is some evidence suggesting that Sweyn claimed to be a son of King Canute, but his mother indignantly denied this and brought forth witnesses to his parentage.

Wives and Children
For some twenty years Harold was married more danico (Latin: "in the Danish manner") to Edyth Swannesha and had at least six children with her. She was considered Harold's mistress by the clergy.

According to Orderic Vitalis, Harold was at some time betrothed to Adeliza, a daughter of William the Conqueror; if so, the betrothal never led to marriage.

About January 1066, Harold married Edith (or Ealdgyth), daughter of Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia, and widow of the Welsh prince Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. Edith had one son, named Harold, probably born posthumously. Another of Harold's sons, Ulf, may have been a twin of the younger Harold, though most historians consider him a son of Edyth Swannesha. Both these sons survived into adulthood and probably lived out their lives in exile.

After her husband's death, Edith fled for refuge to her brothers, Edwin, Earl of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria, but both men made their peace with King William initially before rebelling and losing their lands and lives. Edith may have fled abroad (possibly with Harold's mother, Gytha, or with Harold's daughter, Gytha). Harold's sons, Godwin and Edmund, fled to Ireland and then invaded Devon, but were defeated by Brian of Brittany.

Related Pages

 * Hermitage:
 * Ælfgar: