Toscead betweox fadungum "Harold Gōdwines sunu"

{{Cyþþubox Æþel| nama= <center>Harold GōdwinesGōdƿines sunu</center>

| cynedom = [[5 Æfterra Gēola]] &ndash; [[14 WinterfylleþǷinterfylleþ]] [[1066]]

| foregenga=[[ĒadweardĒadƿeard se Andettere]]

| bryd = [[Ealdgȳð SwannhnesceSƿannhnesce]]

| hus = [[GodwinGodƿin]]

| bearn = GodwinGodƿin<br />Ēadmund<br />Magnus<br />Gunhild<br />Gyþa<br />Harold<br />Ulf

| fæder = [[GodwinGodƿin, Eorl of WestseaxumǷestseaxum]]

| deaþ = 14 WinterfylleþǷinterfylleþ 1066

| byrgen = [[WalthamǷaltham Mynster]]

Se cyning stīpte Harold [[Eastengle|Eastengla]] [[Eorl]] in [[1045]]. Harold folgede GodwineGodƿine in wræcceƿræcce in 1051 ac fultumede hine his ambeht wyrceanƿyrcean æfter ānum winterƿinter. Ðan GodwineGodƿine stearf in [[1053]], æfterfylde Harold hine swasƿa [[WestseaxeǷestseaxe|WestseaxneǷestseaxne]] Eorl (ðæs underrīce befeng Englalandes sūðernmest þridde dæl). Be þissum stealle wæsƿæs he Engla rīces hēasta mann æfter þǣm cyninge.

In [[1058]] wearþƿearþ Harold ēac Eorl of [[Hereford]]e, and he replaced his late father as the focus of opposition to growing [[Normandig|Norman]] influence in Englalande under the restored Saxon monarchy ([[1042]] - [[1066]]) of [[ĒadweardĒadƿeard se Andettere]], who had spent ælamæst þritig winterƿinter on wræcceƿræcce in Normandige.

He gained glory in a series of campaigns ([[1062]] - [[1063]]) against the ruler of [[Kingdom of GwyneddGƿynedd|GwyneddGƿynedd]], [[Gruffydd ap LlywelynLlyƿelyn]], who had conquered all of [[WēalasǷēalas]]; this conflict ended with Gruffydd's defeat (and his dēað æt his agnum wiganƿigan handum) in [[1063]]. About [[1064]], beweddodebeƿeddode Harold Ēadgyþ, sēo wæsƿæs þæs [[Eorl of Myrclande|Miercna Eorles]] dōhtor and ēac ār wæsƿæs Gruffyddes wīfƿīf. Be Harold bar Ēadgyð twegentƿegen sunan - possibly twinstƿinas - be namum Harold and Ulf, and þās cnapan begen oferlifedon to adulthood and probably ended their lives in exile. Harold GōdwinesGōdƿines sunu gestrȳnde ēac siexe bearn be [[Ealdgȳð SwannhnesceSƿannhnesce]] sēo wæsƿæs his gemæcca.

In [[1065]] Harold supported [[NorthumbriaNorþumbria]]n rebels against his brother [[Tostig]] who replaced him with [[Morcar, Earl of NorthumbriaNorþumbria|Morcar]]. This strengthened his acceptability as Edward's successor, but fatally divided his own family, driving Tostig into alliance with King [[Harald Hardrada]] of [[Norway]].

Upon Ēadweard dr Andettere's death in ([[January 5]] [[1066]]), Harold claimed that Ēadweard had promised him the crown on his deathbed, and made the [[WitenagemotǷitenagemot]] (the assembly of the kingdom's leading notables) approve him for coronation as king, which took place the following day.

However, the country was invaded, by both Harald of Norway and [[Wilhelm I]], Dux Normandige, who claimed that he had been promised the English crown by both ĒadweardĒadƿeard (probably in [[1052]]) and Harold, who had been shipwrecked in [[Ponthieu]], Normandig in [[1064]] or [[1065]]. It was alleged that, on the latter occasion, Wilhelm forced Harold to swear to support his claim to the throne, only revealing after the event that the box on which he had made his oath contained holy relics. After Harold's death, Normans were quick to point out that in accepting the crown of England, Harold had perjured himself of this oath.

Harold now forced his army to march 240 miles to intercept William, who had landed perhaps 7000 men in [[Sussex, England|Sussex]], southern England three days later on [[28 Hāligmōnaþ]]. Harold established his army in hastily built [[earthworks (engineering)|earthworks]] near [[Hastings]]. The two armies clashed near [[Battle of Hastings|Hastings]] on [[14 WinterfylleþǷinterfylleþ]], where after a hard fight Harold was killed and his forces routed. According to tradition, and as depicted in the [[Bayeux Tapestry]], Harold was killed by an arrow in the eye. Whether he did, indeed, die in this manner (a death associated in the middle ages with perjurers), or was killed by a sword, will never be known. Harold's wife, EdythEdyþ SwanneshaSƿannesha, was called to identify the body, which she did by some private marks known only to herself. Although one Norman account claims that Harold's body was buried in a grave overlooking the Saxon shore, it is more likely that he was buried in his church of [[Waltham Abbey]] in [[Essex]].

Harold's daughter [[GythaGyþa of WessexǷessex]] married [[Vladimir Monomakh]] [[Grand Duke#Russian Grand Dukes|Grand Duke]] ([[Kniaz|Velikii Kniaz]]) of [[Kievan Rus']] and is ancestor to dynasties of [[Galicia]], [[Smolensk]] and [[Yaroslavl]], whose scions include [[Modest Mussorgsky]] and [[Peter Kropotkin]].

Literary interest in Harold revived in the 19th century with the play ''Harold'' by [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]] (1876) and the novel ''Last of the Saxon Kings'' by [[EdwardEdƿard BulwerBulƿer-Lytton]] (1848). [[Rudyard Kipling]] wrote a story, ''The tree of justice''(1910), describing how an old man who turns out to be Harold is brought before [[Henry I]]. [[E. A. Freeman]] wrote a serious history in ''History of the Norman Conquest of England'' (1870-79) in which Harold is seen as a great English hero. By the 21st century Harold's reputation remains tied, as it has always been, with subjective views of the rightness or wrongness of the Norman conquest.

{{succession box | befōran=[[ĒadweardĒadƿeard se Andettere]] | tītul=[[Engla Cyning]] | gēar=[[5 Æfterra Gēola]] &ndash; [[14 WinterfylleþǷinterfylleþ]], [[1066]]| æfter=[[Ēadgar Æþeling]] }}