Death of Edward the Confessor (1066) and the Succession Crisis

The death of Edward the Confessor on 5 January 1066 left England without an obvious heir and set off the most famous succession crisis in English history. Within a day Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, was crowned king, but William, Duke of Normandy, and Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, both believed the crown was theirs. Their rival claims led to three battles and, by the end of the year, the Norman Conquest.

Background: a king without children

Edward was born around 1003–1005, a son of King Æthelred II and his Norman wife, Emma. After the Danish conquest of England in 1016 he spent about 25 years in exile, mostly in Normandy, where his mother’s family ruled. He returned in 1041 and became king in June 1042, on the death of his half-brother Harthacnut.

In 1045 Edward married Edith, daughter of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, the most powerful nobleman in the kingdom. The couple had no children. Relations with the Godwin family were often tense: in 1051 Godwin and his sons were driven into exile, only to return in force in 1052 and recover their lands. When Godwin died in 1053, his eldest surviving son, Harold, succeeded him as Earl of Wessex.

The question of who would follow Edward was open for most of his reign. In 1057 Edward the Exile, a son of the former king Edmund Ironside, was brought back from Hungary as a possible heir, but he died within days of arriving in England. His young son, Edgar Ætheling, was left as the last male of the old West Saxon royal line.

The rival claims

Three men, and one boy, had grounds to claim the throne:

• Harold Godwinson was not of royal blood, but he was the king’s brother-in-law, the richest earl in England and, by the 1060s, the leading figure at court. English sources say Edward named him on his deathbed.
• William, Duke of Normandy, was Edward’s first cousin once removed through Emma of Normandy. Norman writers such as William of Poitiers claimed that Edward had promised him the throne, probably around 1051, and that Harold had sworn an oath to support William during a visit to Normandy in about 1064.
• Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, based his claim on a reported agreement of the late 1030s between his nephew and predecessor, Magnus the Good, and Harthacnut, that whichever outlived the other would inherit his kingdom.
• Edgar Ætheling had the best claim by descent, but he was probably only in his early to mid teens and had no powerful backers.

Under Anglo-Saxon custom, the choice of a king was not fixed by strict inheritance. The leading nobles and churchmen, known as the witan, played a part in recognising a new king, and the dying king’s wishes carried great weight. This left room for each side to argue that law and right were on its side.

Edward’s last weeks

In October 1065 the Northumbrians rebelled against their earl, Harold’s brother Tostig. Harold negotiated with the rebels and accepted their demand that Tostig be replaced by Morcar, brother of Earl Edwin of Mercia. Tostig went into exile, bitterly blaming Harold. Some writers believed the strain of the crisis worsened Edward’s health.

Edward’s great project had been the rebuilding of the abbey church of St Peter at Westminster, in the Romanesque style he had known in Normandy. The church was consecrated on 28 December 1065, but the king was too ill to attend. He died at his nearby palace on 5 January 1066, probably in his early sixties.

The Life of King Edward, written for Queen Edith soon afterwards, describes the deathbed scene. According to this account, Edward spoke of a troubling vision about England’s future and then commended his wife and his kingdom to Harold’s protection. Whether this meant a formal choice of successor or only a request to look after the realm has been debated ever since.

Funeral and coronation

Edward was buried in Westminster Abbey on 6 January 1066, the feast of the Epiphany. On the same day, Harold was crowned king, almost certainly in the same church. The speed is striking, and it was probably deliberate: with rivals overseas, an anointed and crowned king was harder to challenge.

The Bayeux Tapestry, made for the Norman side within a few decades of the Conquest, shows the funeral procession to the abbey, the dying king surrounded by his household and then Harold enthroned. In the Tapestry Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury stands beside Harold. Stigand was regarded by the papacy as irregularly appointed, and Norman propaganda used this to suggest Harold’s coronation was invalid. The English chronicler John of Worcester, writing later, states that Ealdred, Archbishop of York, performed the ceremony.

Key people

Edward the Confessor (c. 1003–1066) ruled for nearly 24 years, a long and mostly peaceful reign. His reputation for piety grew after his death, and he was canonised in 1161.

Harold Godwinson (c. 1022–1066) was an experienced soldier and administrator. As Harold II he reigned for just over nine months before being killed at Hastings.

William of Normandy (c. 1028–1087) had secured his duchy after a difficult minority. He spent the spring and summer of 1066 gathering a fleet and winning support, including a papal banner.

Harald Hardrada (c. 1015–1066) was a veteran warrior who had served in the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperors before becoming King of Norway in 1046.

Queen Edith (c. 1025–1075), Edward’s widow and Harold’s sister, commissioned the Life of King Edward and survived the Conquest, living on in honour under William.

Consequences

Harold’s reign was dominated by the threat of invasion. In late April 1066 Halley’s Comet appeared in the sky, which many took as an omen. Tostig raided the English coast in the spring, and Harold kept a large army and fleet on watch on the south coast through the summer.

In September Harald Hardrada and Tostig invaded the north, defeating Earls Edwin and Morcar at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September. Harold marched north and destroyed the Norwegian army at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Three days later William landed at Pevensey. On 14 October Harold was killed at the Battle of Hastings.

After Hastings some English leaders proclaimed Edgar Ætheling king, but they submitted to William at Berkhamsted. William was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066, beside Edward’s tomb, and always presented himself as Edward’s lawful heir.

Legacy

Edward’s memory became central to English kingship. He was canonised by Pope Alexander III in 1161, and his body was moved to a new shrine in 1163. King Henry III, who greatly admired him, began rebuilding Westminster Abbey in 1245 and gave the Confessor a splendid new shrine, where his remains still lie. Westminster Abbey has been the coronation church of English and British monarchs ever since 1066.

Edward was long regarded as a patron saint of England until St George gradually took that role in the later Middle Ages. Medieval people also looked back to “the laws of King Edward” as a symbol of good government before the Normans.

Myths and facts

Myth: Edward chose to remain celibate. Twelfth-century writers presented the childless marriage as proof of the king’s saintly chastity. The earliest sources are at most ambiguous on the point, and most historians see the claim as as part of the later campaign for his canonisation.

Myth: Edward was a weak, unworldly king. Older histories pictured him as a monk on the throne, dominated by the Godwins. Modern historians generally see a more capable ruler who survived serious crises and kept England largely at peace for over two decades.

Timeline

• 1042, June: Edward becomes king on the death of Harthacnut.
• 1045, January: Edward marries Edith, daughter of Earl Godwin.
• 1051–1052: The Godwin family is exiled and then returns; William of Normandy is later said to have been promised the throne around this time.
• 1057: Edward the Exile returns from Hungary and dies soon afterwards.
• c. 1064: Harold visits Normandy and, according to Norman sources, swears an oath to William.
• 1065, October: Northumbrian revolt; Tostig is exiled.
• 1065, 28 December: Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
• 1066, 5 January: Edward the Confessor dies at Westminster.
• 1066, 6 January: Edward is buried and Harold is crowned king.
• 1066, 25 December: William of Normandy is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

Why it matters

Edward’s death without a clear heir turned a family question into a European contest for England. The way the crown passed in January 1066 shaped every argument that followed, and its outcome ended Anglo-Saxon rule and brought a Norman dynasty to the English throne.