Harold II

Harold II ( Harold Godwineson) (c.1022–66), king of England (1066), the last Old English ruler before the Norman Conquest, was defeated and killed by William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings. Along with the rest of his family, Harold rose to increasing prominence in England during the reign of Edward the Confessor, receiving the earldom of East Anglia in 1044 and succeeding his father Godwine as earl of Wessex in 1053. He was subsequently the most powerful man in the kingdom after the king. His role in the complex politics of the English kingdom in Edward the Confessor's reign, and, in particular, his attitude to the succession, can never be entirely clear. Despite his great power, there is nothing to suggest that Harold was being groomed for the succession or that he coveted it, until he was designated as his successor by the dying Edward. Harold's career passed through a number of periods of crisis. In 1051–2, for example, he was temporarily banished from England along with the rest of his family when they quarrelled with the king. He was in some way involved in the mysterious return to England in 1057 of Edward the Exile, the father of Edgar the Atheling. In 1064 or 1065 (so Norman sources tell us), he visited Normandy to confirm Edward the Confessor's earlier promise of the succession to Duke William, swearing there the fateful oath which enabled William in 1066 to portray him as a perjurer. Late in 1065, he failed to assist his brother Tostig in the (probably) impossible task of crushing a rebellion against Tostig's authority in Northumbria; the embittered Tostig thereafter became his brother's enemy and fought and died with the army of King Harold Sigurdsson (Hardrada) at the battle of Stamford Bridge. The most probable explanation of Harold's career between 1053 and 1066 is that, while remaining essentially the loyal subject of Edward the Confessor, he was also a careful politician who did not take any risks. Edward's death-bed bequest of succession to the English kingdom was probably a recognition that Harold was the only successor likely to be accepted with anything resembling unanimity by the English. After his coronation on the day immediately following Edward's death, Harold's efforts to defend his kingship against his rivals were effective and courageous; he kept an army and navy in readiness for several months in southern England and the main institutions of government appear to have continued to function. The support he received during the great campaigns of 1066 must indicate that he was widely accepted as king, much preferred by the English to any of the alternatives. His march north to win the battle of Stamford Bridge was a remarkable military feat, as was the return to confront William the Conqueror. His generalship can, however, be criticized. He could have delayed confronting William in order to assemble a larger and fresher army and he concentrated his forces too close to William's, perhaps allowing the latter to attack him before the English army was ready. The length and hard-fought character of the battle of Hastings none the less suggests that the English were both well led and well organized. Harold's death occurred late in the battle. Its manner will always be controversial. Was he, or was he not, killed by an arrow through the eye? Interpretations of the crucial scene on the Bayeux Tapestry will always differ.

David Richard Bates

Bibliography

Walker, I. , Harold (2000).