by David Hebblethwaite

Created on: October 09, 2009

King Harold II was the last of the Anglo-Saxon Kings of England. However, he is best known for the manner in which he died. Popular legend has it that he was felled by an arrow in the eye at the battle of Hastings. This theory, though, is taken from the famous scene depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, which simply has a soldier meeting this grisly end. It is unclear if this is actually Harold.

Born in around 1022 AD to Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and known as Harold Godwinson, he had three brothers Swegen, Tostig and Gyrth, and a sister Edith. His father was one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in England. A position he reached by supporting the Dane Canute in 1016 when he became King of England. His reward was the Earldom of Wessex.

When Edward the Confessor became King of England in 1046 he was keen to keep the loyalty of the most powerful Anglo-Saxon in England. To this end he married Godwin's daughter Edith. Any hopes the Earl had of a royal grandson, however, were dashed by the fact that Edward was a deeply religious man. It was while living in Normandy, the land of his mother, Emma, during his early years that he had taken a vow of celibacy.

When Robert of Jumieges arrived in London he began to undermine Godwin's power and influence with the King. One accusation was that Godwin had murdered Edward's brother Elfred. Godwin's cause was not helped by the actions of his son, Swegen. In 1046 he was outlawed having seduced the Abbess of Leominster. Swegen's Earldoms, Hereford, Gloucester and Oxford were shared between his brother Harold, already the Earl of East Anglia and their cousin Beorn, Earl of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.


In 1051 a brawl broke out, in Dover, involving a group of Normans. Several men were killed. The King, enraged by an attack on his Norman friends, ordered Godwin to punish the people of Dover. Refusing this order he marched instead against the King. However, to avoid all out civil war it was agreed that Godwin and his sons Harold, Tostig and Gyrth would join Swegen in exile in Flanders.

The next year saw an influx of Norman advisors to the King. This was not popular with the Anglo-Saxons, and didn't go unnoticed by Godwin. In 1052 the Earl of Wessex returned to England at the head of an army. Landing in the south of England, commanded by Harold and Tostig the army was soon joined by men from the surrounding counties.

Unable to resist the invasion Edward was forced to send his Norman advisors back to France. Land and titles were

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