St. Edward the Confessor (c. 1003 - 1066)

Encyclopædia Orbis Latini

Anglo-Saxon king from 1042 to 1066.

Edward was the son of King Ethelred II the Unready (reigned 978-1016) and Emma, daughter of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. When the Danes invaded England in 1013, the family escaped to Normandy; the following year Edward returned to England with the ambassadors who negotiated the pact that returned his father to power. After Ethelred's death in 1016 the Danes again took control of England. Edward lived in exile in Normandy until 1041, when he returned to the London court of his half brother (Emma was their mother), King Hardecanute. Edward succeeded to the throne in 1042 and quickly seized the property of his mother, who had plotted against his accession. Nevertheless, for the first 11 years of his reign the real master of England was Godwine, Earl of Wessex. Edward married Godwine's daughter Edith in 1045, but by 1049 a breach had occurred between the two men. In 1051 Edward outlawed the Godwine family and dismissed Edith. During this period Edward was rapidly losing popularity by giving foreigners--particularly Normans--high positions in his government. Hence in 1053 Godwine and his sons were able to gather large forces against the king. They forced Edward to restore their lands, and they exiled many of his foreign favourites. Upon Godwine's death in 1053, his son Harold became the dominant power in the kingdom. It was Harold rather than Edward who subjugated Wales in 1063 and negotiated with the rebellious Northumbrians in 1065. Consequently, Edward on his deathbed named Harold as his successor even though he allegedly had already promised the crown to William. William killed Harold at the Battle of Hastings, Sussex, in October 1066, and two months later he ascended the throne.