The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompt for last week is ‘Lucky’ and for this week is ‘Misfortune’. I have decided to combine these two prompts for one blog and talk about five ancestors on my paternal side and how they relate to some historic battles.
The ancestors I have chosen are King Edward the Confessor, King Harold Godwinson, Tostig Godwinson, Harald Hardrada, and William the Conqueror. With the help of Wikipedia, I hope to provide a condensed version of these ancestors and how they relate to the Battle of Fulford, the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings.
c. 1004 – 05 January 1066
King Edward the Confessor is my 2nd cousin 29x removed and the husband of my 26th Great- Grand Aunt. He was born between about 1004 in Islip, Oxfordshire to Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy (Normandy is a region of northern France). He had two full siblings: a brother, Alfred, and a sister, Godgifu. Through his father’s first marriage to Ælfgifu, he had half-siblings: Æthelstan Ætheling, Ecgberht Ætheling, Edmund Ironside, Eadred Ætheling, Eadwig Ætheling, Edgar Ætheling, Eadgyth or Edith, Ælfgifu, Wulfhild and Abbess of Wherwell Abbey. Through his mother’s second marriage to Cnut the Great he had half-siblings: Harthacnut and Gunhilda, Holy Roman Empress and step-siblings: Svein Knutsson and Harold Harefoot. Edward succeeded his half-brother, Harthacnut, to the English throne and was recognized as restoring the rule to the House of Wessex. Edward was crowned at the cathedral of Winchester, the royal seat of the West Saxons, on 3 April 1043. He reigned from 1042 to 1066 and was considered the last king of the House of Wessex. Edward was also known as Saint Edward the Confessor after Pope Alexander III canonised him in 1161. Saint Edward’s feast day is celebrated October 13th, both by the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
Edward married Edith of Wessex, daughter of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, on 23 January 1045. Edward died on 5 January 1066 and was buried in Westminster Abbey on 6 January 1066. Edward and Edith did not have any children and, it is unclear if Edward had appointed anyone to succeed him. This led to the battles involving my ancestors.
c. 1021 – 14 October 1066
King Harold Godwinson is my 26th Great Grand Uncle. He was born about 1021 in Wessex, England to Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir. He had ten full siblings: Sweyn, Earl of Herefordshire, Tostig, Earl of Northumbria, Edith, Queen of England, Gyrth, Earl of East Anglia, Leofwine, Earl of Kent, Wulfnoth, Alfgar, Edgiva, Elgiva and Gunhilda. Harold’s maternal uncle, Ulf the Earl, was married to Estrith, the daughter of King Sweyn Forkbeard and sister to King Cnut the Great of England and Denmark. After the marriage of his sister, Edith, to King Edward the Confessor, Harold became Earl of East Anglia and then, after the death of his father in 1053, he became Earl of Wessex. This made him the second most powerful person in England, second to the King.
Edith the Fair was Harold’s first wife. Their children are Godwin, Edmund, Magnus, Gunhild and Gytha. Harold then began a relationship with Edith of Mercia, who appears to have been the heiress to lands in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex, lands in Harold’s new earldom. The relationship was a form of marriage that was not blessed or sanctioned by the Church, known as more Danico, or “in the Danish manner”, and was accepted by most laypeople in England at the time. Their children, Harold and Ulf were considered legitimate. Harold probably entered the relationship in part to secure support in his new earldom. Edith’s two brothers were Morca, Earl of Northumbria and Edwin, Earl of Mercia. Alliances with these two brother-in-laws were helpful in Harold’s ambitions.
In 1064, Harold was apparently shipwrecked at Ponthieu, in northern France. The reasons for Harold’s voyage are unknown, however, he was captured by Guy I, Count of Ponthieu, and was then taken as a hostage to the count’s castle at Beaurain. Duke William arrived and ordered Guy to turn Harold over to him. Harold then apparently accompanied William to battle against William’s enemy, Conan II, Duke of Brittany. While crossing into Brittany, past the fortified abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, Harold is recorded as rescuing two of William’s soldiers from quicksand. They pursued Conan from Dol-de-Bretagne to Rennes, and finally to Dinan, where he surrendered the fortress’s keys at the point of a lance. William presented Harold with weapons and arms and knighted him. The Bayeux Tapestry, and other Norman sources, record that Harold swore an oath on sacred relics that he would not accept the English crown but would support William of Normandy’s claim.
In 1065, Tostig, Harold’s brother, doubled taxation and this threatened to plunge England into civil war. This resulted in Harold supporting Northumbrian rebels against Tostig and replacing him with Morcar. This strengthened his acceptability as Edward’s successor, but fatally split his own family, driving Tostig into alliance with King Harald Hardrada (“Hard Ruler”) of Norway.
After the death of King Edward the Confessor, the Witenagemot convened and chose Harold to succeed and he was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 6 January 1066, the same day King Edward was buried there.
Tostig Godwinson is my 26th Great-Grandfather. He was born about 1026 to Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir. He is a brother to Edith of Mercia, Queen Consort of King Edward the Confessor and King Harold Godwinson, who succeeded King Edward on the throne. In 1051, he married Judith of Flanders, the only child of Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders by his second wife, Eleanor of Normandy. The Domesday Book recorded twenty-six townships held by Earl Tostig forming the Manor of Hougun which now forms part of the county of Cumbria in north-west England.
In 1055, Tostig became the Earl of Northumbria upon the death of Earl Siward. He appeared to have governed with some difficulty and was considered heavy-handed with those who resisted his rule, including the murder of several members of leading Northumbrian families. On 3 October 1065, the thegns (aristocratic retainers of the king) of York and the rest of Yorkshire descended on York and occupied the city. They killed Tostig’s officials and supporters, then declared Tostig outlawed for his unlawful actions and sent for Morcar, the younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia. The northern rebels marched south to press their case with King Edward. They were joined at Northampton by Earl Edwin and his forces. There, they were met by Earl Harold, who was the king’s right-hand man and was sent by King Edward to negotiate with them. After Harold had spoken with the rebels at Northampton he returned to Oxford, where the royal council met on October 28th. Earl Harold supported the arguments of the northern rebels and Tostig was outlawed early in November, because he refused to accept his deposition as commanded by Edward. This led to the fatal confrontation and enmity between the two Godwinsons, Tostig and Harold.
At a meeting of the king and his council, Tostig publicly accused Harold of provoking the rebellion. Harold was keen to unify England in the face of the grave threat from William of Normandy, who had openly declared his intention to take the English throne. It was likely that Harold had exiled his brother to ensure peace and loyalty in the north. Tostig, however, remained unconvinced and plotted vengeance.
Tostig left with his family and some loyal thegns and took refuge with his brother-in-law, Baldwin V, Count of Flanders. He even attempted to form an alliance with William of Normandy. Baldwin provided him with a fleet and he landed in the Isle of Wight in May 1066, where he collected money and provisions. He raided the coast as far as Sandwich but was forced to retreat when King Harold called out land and naval forces. He moved north and after an unsuccessful attempt to get his brother Gyrth to join him, he raided Norfolk and Lincolnshire. The Earls Edwin and Morcar defeated him decisively. Deserted by his men, he fled to his sworn brother, King Malcolm III of Scotland. Tostig spent the summer of 1066 in Scotland.
Tostig then made contact with King Harald Hardrada of Norway and persuaded him to invade England. One of the sagas claims that he sailed for Norway, and greatly impressed the Norwegian king and his court, managing to sway a decidedly unenthusiastic Harald, who had just concluded a long and inconclusive war with Denmark, into raising a levy to take the throne of England.
c. 1015 – 25 September 1066
Harald Hardrada, also known as Haraldur “harðráði” Sigurðsson and King Harold III of Norway, is my 25th Great-Grandfather. He was born about 1015 in Ringerike, Norway to Sigurd Syr and Åsta Gudbrandsdatter. Through his mother’s first marriage to Harald Grenske he had a half-brother, Olaf II of Norway. Harald married Elisiv of Kiev around 1044/45 and they are known to have had two daughters: Ingegerd and Maria. According to the sagas, Harald married Tora Torbergsdatter around 1048 they had at least two children: Magnus II and Olaf III.
When he was fifteen years old, in 1030, Harald fought in the Battle of Stiklestad with his half-brother, Olaf Haraldsson (later Saint Olaf). Olaf sought to reclaim the Norwegian throne, which he had lost to the Danish king Cnut the Great two years prior. In the battle, Olaf and Harald were defeated by forces loyal to Cnut, and Harald was forced into exile to Kievan Rus’ (the sagas’ Garðaríki). He spent some time in the army of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, eventually obtaining rank as a captain, until he moved on to Constantinople with his companions around 1034. In Constantinople, he soon rose to become the commander of the Byzantine Varangian Guard, and saw action on the Mediterranean Sea, in Asia Minor, Sicily, possibly in the Holy Land, Bulgaria and in Constantinople itself. Harald amassed considerable wealth during his time in the Byzantine Empire. He finally left the Byzantines in 1042 and arrived back in Kievan Rus’ in order to prepare his campaign of reclaiming the Norwegian throne. In his absence the Norwegian throne had been restored from the Danes to Olaf’s illegitimate son Magnus the Good.
In 1046, Harald joined forces with Magnus’s rival in Denmark (Magnus had also become king of Denmark), Sweyn II of Denmark, and started raiding the Danish coast. Magnus, unwilling to fight his uncle, agreed to share the kingship with Harald, since Harald in turn would share his wealth with him. The co-rule ended abruptly the next year as Magnus died, and Harald thus became the sole ruler of Norway. Domestically, Harald crushed all local and regional opposition, and outlined the territorial unification of Norway under a national governance. Harald also claimed the Danish throne and spent nearly every year until 1064 raiding the Danish coast and fighting his former ally, Sweyn. Although the campaigns were successful, he was never able to conquer Denmark.
Not long after Harald had renounced his claim to Denmark, Tostig Godwinson, the former Earl of Northumbria and the brother of the newly chosen English king, Harold Godwinson, pledged his allegiance to Harald and invited him to claim the English throne. Harald also had a claim to the throne as the uncle and heir of King Magnus I. Accounts indicate that Magnus made a pact with Harthacnut in 1038 that stated if either Magnus or Harthacnut died without heirs, the other would inherit the throne and lands of the deceased. Harthacnut was King of England from 1040 to 1042 when he died without heirs. Magnus considered himself the lawful heir to Harthacnut and the next King of England. However, Edward the Confessor had himself crowned King of England as the half-brother to Harthacnut. Harald assumed he would inherit the throne on Edward’s death.
c. 1028 – 1087
William the Conqueror, also known as William the Bastard and William I, is my 1st cousin 28 times removed and my 26th Great-Grand Uncle. William was born about 1028 in Falaise, Duchy of Normandy to Robert I, Duke of Normandy and Robert’s mistress, Herleva. Through his father, William had a half-sister, Adelaide of Normandy.
William was about seven years old when his father died leaving him a child duke. His illegitimacy and youth caused some difficulties with his succession as Duke of Normandy and members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other for control of him. At age 19, in 1047, William was able to quash a rebellion and began to establish his authority over the duchy, a process that was not complete until about 1060. His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointments of his supporters as bishops and abbots in the Norman church. His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and by 1062 William was able to secure control of the neighbouring county of Maine.
In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. Some historic accounts suggest King Edward of England chose William as his successor to the English throne.
With four powerful challengers of the English throne, King Harold Godwinson, Tostig Godwinson, King Harald I of Norway and William, Duke of Normandy, the scene was set for battles to begin.
The first of these was the Battle of Fulford. It was fought on the outskirts of the village of Fulford near York in England, and started on 20 September 1066, when King Harald III of Norway and Tostig Godwinson fought and defeated the Northern Earls, Edwin and Morcar. York surrendered to the forces on September 24th.
Tostig and Harald met at Tynemouth on September 8th. Harald arrived with a total force of around 10-15,000 men on 240-300 longships and Tostig brought 12 ships of soldiers. Tostig was a useful ally for Hardrada, not only because he was the brother of his adversary but also because he knew the terrain. The battle was a decisive victory for the Viking army. The earls of York could have hidden behind the walls of their city but instead they met the Viking army across a river. All day the English desperately tried to break the Viking shield wall but to no avail.
The second was the Battle of Stamford Bridge. It took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, England on 25 September 1066.
After hearing of the defeat at Fulford, King Harold raced northward with an English army from London. The same day as York surrendered to Harald and Tostig, Harold Godwinson arrived with his army in Tadcaster, just seven miles from the anchored Norwegian fleet at Riccall. As Harald had left no forces in York, Harold Godwinson marched right through the town to Stamford Bridge.
On 25 September 1066, King Harold surprised Tostig and Harald and about 6,000 of their men. The army of Harald and Tostig were largely without armour and carried only personal weapons as they expected to meet the citizens of York to decide who should manage the town under Harald. This meeting had been agreed upon at Stamford Bridge the day before and no resistance was expected. The remainder of the 11,000-man force remained guarding the Norse ships, beached miles away at Riccall. Tostig and Harald and most of the men were killed. Harald was struck in the throat by an arrow and killed early in the battle in a state of berserkergang (fighting in a trance-like fury), having worn no body armour and fought aggressively with both hands around his sword.
When the battle was almost over, some reserve forces from Riccall led by Eystein Orre finally appeared, but they were exhausted as they had run all the way. Eystein picked up Harald’s fallen banner, the “Landwaster” (Landøyðan), and initiated a final counter-attack. They appeared, for a moment, to almost breach the English line, but Eystein was suddenly killed and the rest of the men fled the battlefield.
It is believed, Tostig’s body was taken to France and then buried at York Minster. A year after Harald’s death at Stamford Bridge, his body was moved to Norway and buried at the Mary Church in Nidaros (Trondheim). About a hundred years after his burial, his body was reinterred at the Helgeseter Priory, which was demolished in the 17th century. Modern historians have considered Harald’s death as the end of the Viking Age. Harald is, also, commonly held to have been the last great Viking king, or even the last great Viking.
The Normans seem to be getting the upper hand as the battle continues. Many more soldiers die, one appears to be having his head cut off. On the right is the best known scene in the Tapestry: the Normans killing King Harold. But how is Harold killed? He seems to be shown twice: first plucking an arrow from his eye, and then being hacked down by a Norman knight. The tapestry is difficult to interpret here, but the second figure is probably Harold being killed.
The third and final battle is known as the Battle of Hastings. In early January 1066, hearing of Harold’s coronation, Duke William II of Normandy began plans to invade England, building 700 warships and transports at Dives-sur-Mer on the Normandy coast. Some accounts suggest William had sent an embassy to King Harold Godwinson to remind Harold of his oath to support William’s claim to the throne. Harold assembled an army and a fleet to repel William’s anticipated invasion, deploying troops and ships along the English Channel for most of the summer.
While King Harold was defending England at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, William of Normandy was assembling his forces at the mouth of the Somme and as soon as the wind was favourable he crossed the Channel and landed at Pevensey on the September 28th. Harold’s force marched south and reached Battle near Hastings on the October 13th. The following day, Saturday 14th October 1066, is probably the most memorable in English history. Each army consisted of about 7,000 men but the Normans had the advantage of bow-men and cavalry while the English relied on axe and spear-men. The battle raged fiercely all day and, in the evening, William ordered his archers to shoot high so that the arrows would drop vertically. Harold was struck in the right eye and mortally wounded. Some historians have suggested that King Harold and his troops were still exhausted by their previous fight with Tostig and Hardrada nineteen days earlier and this aided in their defeat.
After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066, in London. He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 William’s hold on England was mostly secure, allowing him to spend the majority of the rest of his reign on the continent.
William’s final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all the landholdings in England along with their pre-Conquest and current holders. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France and was buried in Caen. His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, but instead continued to administer each part separately. William’s lands were divided after his death: Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, and his second surviving son, William Rufus, received England.
With the conquests hailed and defeats mourned my ancestors had their moments of feeling ‘lucky’ and those of ‘misfortune’.