Harold Godwinson(c. 1022– 14 October 1066), also calledHarold II,was the last crownedAnglo-SaxonEnglish king.Harold reigned from 6 January 1066[1]until his death at theBattle of Hastingson 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of theNorman Conquest.Harold's death marked the end ofAnglo-Saxon rule over England.He was succeeded byWilliam the Conqueror.
Harold Godwinson | |
---|---|
![]() Harold Godwinson, from theBayeux Tapestry | |
King of the English | |
Reign | 5 January – 14 October 1066 |
Coronation | 6 January 1066 |
Predecessor | Edward the Confessor |
Successor |
|
Born | c. 1022 Wessex,England |
Died | 14 October 1066 (aged about 44) nearSenlac Hill,Sussex, England |
Burial | Waltham Abbey, Essex,orBosham,Sussex (disputed) |
Spouses | |
Issue | |
House | Godwin |
Father | Godwin, Earl of Wessex |
Mother | Gytha Thorkelsdóttir |
Harold Godwinson was a member ofa prominent Anglo-Saxon familywith ties toCnut the Great.He became a powerful earl after the death of his father,Godwin, Earl of Wessex.After his brother-in-law, KingEdward the Confessor,died without an heir on 5 January 1066, theWitenagemotconvened and chose Harold to succeed him; he was probably the first English monarch to be crowned inWestminster Abbey.In late September, he successfully repelled an invasion by rival claimantHarald Hardradaof Norway inYorkbefore marching his army back south to meet William at Hastings two weeks later.
Family background
editHarold was a son ofGodwin(c. 1001–1053), the powerfulEarl of Wessex,and ofGytha Thorkelsdóttir,whose brotherUlf the Earlwas married toEstrid Svendsdatter(c. 1015/1016), the daughter of KingSweyn Forkbeard[2](died 1014) and sister of KingCnut the Greatof England and Denmark. Ulf and Estrid's son would become KingSweyn II of Denmark[3]in 1047. Godwin was the son ofWulfnoth,probably athegnand a native of Sussex. Godwin began his political career by supporting KingEdmund Ironside(reigned April to November 1016), but switched to supporting King Cnut by 1018, when Cnut named him Earl of Wessex.[4]
Godwin remained an earl throughout the remainder of Cnut's reign, one of only two earls to survive to the end of that reign.[5]On Cnut's death in 1035, Godwin originally supportedHarthacnutinstead of Cnut's initial successorHarold Harefoot,but managed to switch sides in 1037 – although not without becoming involved in the 1036 murder ofAlfred Aetheling,half-brother of Harthacnut and younger brother of the later KingEdward the Confessor.[6]
When Harold Harefoot died in 1040, Harthacnut ascended the English throne and Godwin's power was imperiled by his earlier involvement in Alfred's murder, but an oath and large gift secured the new king's favour for Godwin.[7]Harthacnut's death in 1042 probably involved Godwin in a role askingmaker,helping to secure the English throne for Edward the Confessor. In 1045, Godwin reached the height of his power when the new king married Godwin's daughter Edith.[8]
Godwin and Gytha hadseveral children– six sons:Sweyn,Harold,Tostig,Gyrth,LeofwineandWulfnoth(in that order); and three daughters:Edith of Wessex(originally named Gytha but renamed Ealdgyth (or Edith) when she married King Edward the Confessor), Gunhild and Ælfgifu. The birthdates of the children are unknown.[9]Harold was aged about 25 in 1045, which makes his birth year around 1020.[10]
The manor of Bosham on the South coast of England had been acquired, originally from the Archbishop of Canterbury[a]as the family seat by Earl Godwin,[12]and was inherited by Harold. The Bayeux Tapestry has two representations of Harold's family residence.[b]The manor of Bosham is just one of four places, in England, named on the tapestry.[13]
Powerful nobleman
editEdith married Edward on 23 January 1045 and, around that time, Harold becameEarl of East Anglia.Harold is called "earl" when he appears as a witness in a will that may date to 1044; but, by 1045, Harold regularly appears as an earl in documents. One reason for his appointment to East Anglia may have been a need to defend against the threat from KingMagnus the Goodof Norway. It is possible that Harold led some of the ships from his earldom that were sent toSandwichin 1045 against Magnus.[14]Sweyn, Harold's elder brother, had been named an earl in 1043.[15]It was also around the time that Harold was named an earl that he began a relationship withEdith the Fair,who appears to have been the heiress to lands inCambridgeshire,SuffolkandEssex,lands in Harold's new earldom.[16]The relationship was a form of marriage that was not blessed or sanctioned by the Church, known asMore danico,or "in the Danish manner", and was accepted by most laypeople in England at the time. Any children of such a union were considered legitimate. Harold probably entered the relationship in part to secure support in his new earldom.[17]
Harold's elder brother Sweyn was exiled in 1047 after abducting the abbess ofLeominster.Sweyn's lands were divided between Harold and a cousin,Beorn.[18]In 1049, Harold was in command of a ship or ships that were sent with a fleet to aidHenry III, Holy Roman EmperoragainstBaldwin V, Count of Flanders,who was in revolt against Henry. During this campaign, Sweyn returned to England and attempted to secure a pardon from the king, but Harold and Beorn refused to return any of their lands, and Sweyn, after leaving the royal court, took Beorn hostage and later killed him.[19]
In 1051, Edward appointed an enemy of the Godwins asArchbishop of Canterburyand soon afterwards drove them into exile, but they raised an army which forced the king to restore them to their positions a year later. Earl Godwin died in 1053, and Harold succeeded him as Earl of Wessex, which made him the most powerful lay figure in England after the king.[20]
In 1055, Harold drove back the Welsh, who had burnedHereford.[21]Harold also becameEarl of Herefordin 1058, and replaced his late father as the focus of opposition to growingNormaninfluence in England under the restored monarchy (1042–66) of Edward the Confessor, who had spent more than 25 years in exile inNormandy.He led a series of successful campaigns (1062–63) againstGruffydd ap LlywelynofGwynedd,king ofWales.This conflict ended with Gruffydd's defeat and death in 1063.[22]
Harold in northern France
editIn 1064, Harold was apparently shipwrecked atPonthieu.There is much speculation about this voyage. The earliest post-conquest Norman chroniclers state that King Edward had previously sentRobert of Jumièges,the archbishop of Canterbury, to appoint as his heir Edward's maternal kinsman, DukeWilliam II of Normandy,and that at this later date, Harold was sent to swearfealty.[23]Scholars disagree as to the reliability of this story. William, at least, seems to have believed he had been offered the succession, but some acts of Edward are inconsistent with his having made such a promise, such as his efforts to return his nephewEdward the Exile,son of KingEdmund Ironside,from Hungary in 1057.[c]
Later Norman chroniclers suggest alternative explanations for Harold's journey: that he was seeking the release of members of his family who had been held hostage since Godwin's exile in 1051, or even that he had simply been travelling along the English coast on a hunting and fishing expedition and had been driven across theEnglish Channelby an unexpected storm. There is general agreement that he left fromBosham,and was blown off course, landing at Ponthieu. He was captured by CountGuy I of Ponthieu,and was then taken as a hostage to the count's castle atBeaurain,[d]24.5 km (15.2 mi) up theRiver Canchefrom its mouth at what is nowLe Touquet.William arrived soon afterward and ordered Guy to turn Harold over to him.[24]
Harold then apparently accompanied William to battle against William's enemy,Conan II, Duke of Brittany.While crossing intoBrittanypast the fortified abbey ofMont Saint-Michel,Harold is recorded as rescuing two of William's soldiers fromquicksand.They pursued Conan fromDol-de-BretagnetoRennes,and finally toDinan,where he surrendered the fortress's keys at the point of alance.William presented Harold with weapons and arms, knighting him. TheBayeux Tapestry,and other Norman sources, then state that Harold swore an oath on sacred relics to William to support his claim to the English throne. After Edward's death, the Normans were quick to claim that in accepting the crown of England, Harold had broken this alleged oath.[25]
The chroniclerOrderic Vitaliswrote of Harold that he "was distinguished by his great size and strength of body, his polished manners, his firmness of mind and command of words, by a ready wit and a variety of excellent qualities. But what availed so many valuable gifts, when good faith, the foundation of all virtues, was wanting?"[26]
Due to a doubling of taxation by Tostig in 1065 that threatened to plunge England into civil war, Harold supportedNorthumbrian rebelsagainst his brother, and replaced him withMorcar.This led to Harold's marriage alliance with the northern earls but fatally split his own family, driving Tostig into alliance with KingHarald Hardrada( "Hard Ruler" ) of Norway.[1]
Reign
editAt the end of 1065, King Edward the Confessor fell into a coma without clarifying his preference for the succession. He died on 5 January 1066, according to theVita Ædwardi Regis,but not before briefly regaining consciousness and commending his widow and the kingdom to Harold's "protection". The intent of this charge remains ambiguous, as is the Bayeux Tapestry, which simply depicts Edward pointing at a man thought to represent Harold.[e]When theWitanconvened the next day they selected Harold to succeed,[f]and his coronation followed on 6 January, most likely held inWestminster Abbey,though limited but persuasive evidence from the time survives to confirm this, in the form of its depiction in the Bayeux Tapestry (shown above left).[28]Although later Norman sources point to the suddenness of this coronation, the reason may have been that all the nobles of the land were present at Westminster for the feast ofEpiphany,and not because of any usurpation of the throne on Harold's part.
In early January 1066, upon hearing of Harold's coronation, William began plans to invade England, building approximately 700 warships and transports atDives-sur-Meron the Normandy coast. Initially, William struggled to gain support for his cause, however, after claiming that Harold had broken an oath sworn on sacred relics,Pope Alexander IIformally declared William the rightful heir of the throne of England and nobles flocked to his cause.[29][30][31]In preparation of the invasion, Harold assembled his troops on theIsle of Wight,but the invasion fleet remained in port for almost seven months, perhaps due to unfavourable winds. On 8 September, with provisions running out, Harold disbanded his army and returned to London.[32]On the same day, the invasion force of Harald Hardrada,[g]accompanied by Tostig, landed at the mouth of theTyne.[33]
The invading forces of Hardrada and Tostig defeated the English earlsEdwin of MerciaandMorcar of Northumbriaat theBattle of FulfordnearYorkon 20 September 1066. Harold led his army north on a forced march from London, reached Yorkshire in four days, and caught Hardrada by surprise. On 25 September, in theBattle of Stamford Bridge,Harold defeated Hardrada and Tostig, who were both killed.[33]
According toSnorri Sturluson,in a story described byEdward Freemanas "plainly mythical",[34]before the battle a single man rode up alone to Harald Hardrada and Tostig. He gave no name, but spoke to Tostig, offering the return of his earldom if he would turn against Hardrada. Tostig asked what his brother Harold would be willing to give Hardrada for his trouble. The rider replied "Seven feet of English ground, as he is taller than other men." Then he rode back to the Saxon host. Hardrada was impressed by the rider's boldness, and asked Tostig who he was. Tostig replied that the rider was Harold Godwinson himself.[35]
Battle of Hastings
editHIC CECIDERUNT LEVVINE ET GYRÐ FRATRES HAROLDI REGIS
(Here have fallen dead Leofwine and Gyrth, brothers of King Harold)
On 12 September 1066, William's fleet sailed from Normandy. Several ships sank in storms, which forced the fleet to take shelter atSaint-Valery-sur-Sommeand to wait for the wind to change. On 27 September, the Norman fleet set sail for England, arriving the following day atPevenseyon the coast of East Sussex. Harold's army marched 240 miles (390 kilometres) to intercept William, who had landed perhaps 7,000 men inSussex,southern England. Harold established his army in hastily builtearthworksnearHastings.The two armies clashed at the Battle of Hastings, atSenlac Hill(near the present town ofBattle) close by Hastings on 14 October, where after nine hours of hard fighting, Harold was killed and his forces defeated. His brothers Gyrth and Leofwine were also killed in the battle.[36][37][38]
Death
editThe widely held belief that Harold died by an arrow to the eye is a subject of much scholarly debate. A Norman account of the battle,Carmen de Hastingae Proelio( "Song of the Battle of Hastings" ), said to have been written shortly after the battle byGuy,Bishop of Amiens, says that Harold was lanced and his body dismembered by four knights, probably including Duke William. Twelfth-century Anglo-Norman histories, such asWilliam of Malmesbury'sGesta Regum Anglorumand Henry of Huntingdon'sHistoria Anglorum,recount that Harold died by an arrow wound to his head. An earlier source,Amatus of Montecassino'sL'Ystoire de li Normant( "History of the Normans" ), written only twenty years after the battle of Hastings, contains a report of Harold being shot in the eye with an arrow, but this may be an early fourteenth-century addition.[39]The sources for how Harold met his death are contradictory, thus modern historians have not been able to produce a definitive story without finding something that will compromise any hypothesis.[40]
In the panel of the Bayeux Tapestry with the inscription "Hic Harold Rex Interfectus Est" ( "Here King Harold is killed" ) a figure standing below the inscription is currently depicted gripping an arrow that has struck his eye. This, however, may have been a late 18th or early 19th century modification to the Tapestry.[41]Some historians have questioned whether this man is intended to be Harold or if the panel shows two instances of Harold in sequence of his death[42]the figure standing to the left of the central figure commonly thought to be Harold, and then lying to the right almost supine being mutilated beneath a horse's hooves. Etchings made of the Tapestry in the 1730s show the standing figure with differing objects. Benoît's 1729 sketch shows only a dotted line indicating stitch marks which is longer than the currently shown arrow and without any indication of fletching, whereas all other arrows in the Tapestry are fletched. Bernard de Montfaucon's 1730 engraving has a solid line resembling a spear being held overhand matching the manner of the standing figure currently depicted with an arrow to the eye; while stitch marks for where such a spear may have been removed can be seen in the Tapestry.[42]In 1816,Charles Stothardwas commissioned by theSociety of Antiquaries of Londonto make a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry. He included in his reproduction previously damaged or missing parts of the work with his own hypothesised depictions. This is when the arrow first appears.[h][42]It has been proposed that the supine figure once had an arrow added by over-enthusiastic nineteenth-century restorers that was later unstitched.[44]Many believe the figure with an arrow in his eye to be Harold as the name "Harold" is above him. This has been disputed by examining other examples from the Tapestry where the visual centre of a scene, not the location of the inscription, identifies named figures.[45]A further suggestion is that both accounts are accurate, and that Harold suffered first the eye wound, then the mutilation, and the Tapestry is depicting both in sequence.[46]
Burial and legacy
editThe account of the contemporary chroniclerWilliam of Poitiersstates that the body of Harold was given toWilliam Maletfor burial:
The two brothers of the King were found near him and Harold himself, stripped of all badges of honour, could not be identified by his face but only by certain marks on his body. His corpse was brought into the Duke's camp, and William gave it for burial to William, surnamed Malet, and not to Harold's mother, who offered for the body of her beloved son its weight in gold. For the Duke thought it unseemly to receive money for such merchandise, and equally he considered it wrong that Harold should be buried as his mother wished, since so many men lay unburied because of his avarice. They said in jest that he who had guarded the coast with such insensate zeal should be buried by the seashore.
— William of Poitiers, Gesta Guillelmi II Ducis Normannorum,William of Poitiers 1953,p. 229
Another source states that Harold's widow,Edith the Fair,[i]was called to identify the body, which she did by some private mark known only to her. Harold's strong association withBosham,his birthplace, and the discovery in 1954 of an Anglo-Saxon coffin in the church there, has led some to suggest it as the place of King Harold's burial. A request to exhume a grave inBosham Churchwas refused by theDiocese of Chichesterin December 2003, theChancellorhaving ruled that the chances of establishing the identity of the body as Harold's were too slim to justify disturbing a burial place.[47][48]The exhumation in 1954 had revealed the remains of a man in a coffin. "[It] was made of Horsham stone, magnificently finished, and contained the thigh and pelvic bones of a powerfully built man of about 5ft 6in[j]in height, aged over 60 years[k]and with traces of arthritis. "[47]It was suggested that the contents of the coffin had been opened at a much earlier date and vandalised, as the skull was missing and the remaining bones damaged in a way that was inconsistent with decompositionpost mortem.[47]The description of the remains is not unlike the fate of the king, recorded in theCarmen de Hastingae Proeliormen,that says Harold was buried by the sea. The location of the grave, at Bosham Church, is also consistent with William of Poitiers' description as it is only a small distance fromChichester Harbourand in sight of theEnglish Channel.[48]
There were legends of Harold's body being given a proper funeral years later inWaltham Abbey ChurchinEssex,which he had refounded in 1060. Legends also grew up that Harold had not died at Hastings but instead fled England or that he later ended his life as a hermit at Chester or Canterbury.[50]
Harold's son Ulf, along with Morcar and two others, were released from prison by King William as he lay dying in 1087. Ulf threw his lot in withRobert Curthose,who knighted him, and then disappeared from history. Two of Harold's other sons, Godwine and Edmund, invaded England in 1068 and 1069 with the aid ofDiarmait mac Máel na mBó(High King of Ireland) but were defeated at theBattle of NorthaminDevonin 1069.[l]In 1068, Diarmait presented another Irish king with Harold's battle standard.[51]
Marriages and children
editHarold was married[m]to Edith the Fair[i]for approximately twenty years and had at least five children with her.[52]
According toOrderic Vitalis,Harold was at some timebetrothedtoAdeliza,a daughter of William the Conqueror; if so, the betrothal never led to marriage.[54]
In about January 1066, Harold marriedEaldgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar,and widow of the Welsh princeGruffydd ap Llywelyn.After her husband's death, at the Battle of Hastings, the pregnant Ealdgyth had been collected, from London, by her brothers, the Northern earls,Edwin of MerciaandMorcar of Northumbria,and taken to Chester for safety. It is not known what happened to her thereafter.[55]
Some historians have suggested that Harold and Ealdgyth's union was childless,[55]others ascribe two children to Ealdgyth, namedHaroldandWulf/Ulf.[56]Because of the chronology it is likely that the boys would have been twins and born after the demise of their father. Another possibility is that Ulf was the son of Edith the Fair.[56]
There is a tradition that Edith the Fair took the broken body of her husband Harold Godwinson to the Church atWaltham Holy Crossto be buried. What happened to her after 1066, is not known. Also, after their defeat at the Battle of Northam the fate of the sons is unclear although some later sources suggest they took refuge at the Danish court with their grandmother, aunt and sister.[20][57][58]
Notes
edit- ^Eadsigewas Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of Earl Godwine. Eadsige's relations with Christ Church, Canterbury may have been strained, as he seems to have been responsible for the disposal of Canterbury lands to Earl Godwine and his family.[11]
- ^A team of a archaeologists from Newcastle University, and the University of Exeter, claim to have uncovered evidence that a house in Bosham was Harold's family residence as represented on the Bayeux Tapestry.[13]
- ^Edward may not have been blameless in this situation, as at least one other man, Sweyn II of Denmark, also thought Edward had promised him the succession.[23]
- ^Bayeux Tapestry,in which the place is called in LatinBelrem
- ^Frank Barlow points out that the author of theVita,who appears to have looked favourably on Harold, was writing after the Conquest and may have been intentionally vague.[27]
- ^This was in preference to Edward's great-nephew,Edgar the Ætheling,who had yet to reach maturity.
- ^Who also claimed the English crown through a succession pact concluded betweenHarthacnut,king of England and Denmark, andMagnus I of Norway,whereby the kingdoms of the first to die were to pass to the survivor. Magnus had thus gained a claim to Denmark on Harthacnut's death but had not pursued this other crown. Hardrada, uncle and heir of Magnus, now claimed England on this basis.
- ^Stothard's is the first record of the Bayeux Tapestry after it was damaged during the French Revolution and before repairs were carried out in the 19th century.[43]
- ^abalso known as Edyth Swannesha (Edith Swanneck)
- ^5.5 feet (1.7 m)
- ^Harold was thought to have been in his 40s at his death[49]
- ^Atmidsummerin 1069,Brian of BrittanyandAlan the Blackled a force that defeated a raid by Godwine and Edmund, sons of Harold Godwinson, who had sailed fromIrelandwith a fleet of 64 ships to the mouth of theRiver TawinDevon.They had escaped to Leinster after theBattle of Hastingsin 1066 where they were hosted byDiarmait.In 1068 and 1069, Diarmait lent them the fleet ofDublinfor their attempted invasions of England.
- ^The pagan English had beenpolygynous.When the Anglo-Saxons were evangelized although by church law concubinage would not have been legally ratified, it was largely acknowledged by custom. Edith's marriage was described asmore danico(in the Danish fashion) which means unblessed by the church.[52][53]
References
edit- ^abDeVries 1999,p. 230.
- ^Walker 2000,p. 10.
- ^Barlow 1988,p. 451.
- ^Walker 2000,pp. 7–9.
- ^Walker 2000,p. 12.
- ^Walker 2000,pp. 13–15.
- ^Walker 2000,p. 16.
- ^Walker 2000,pp. 17–18.
- ^Mason, Emma (2004).House of Godwine: The History of Dynasty.London: Hambledon & London. p. 35.ISBN978-1-85285-389-1.
- ^Rex, Peter (2005).Harold II: The Doomed Saxon King.Stroud, UK: Tempus. p. 31.ISBN978-0-7394-7185-2.
- ^Hunt 2004.
- ^Barlow 2013,p. 32.
- ^abGould 2025,pp. 1–35.
- ^Walker 2000,pp. 18–19.
- ^Barlow 1970,p. 74.
- ^Walker 2000,p. 20.
- ^Walker 2000,pp. 127–128.
- ^Walker 2000,p. 22.
- ^Walker 2000,pp. 24–25.
- ^abFleming 2010.
- ^Chisholm 1911,p. 11.
- ^"Harold II".Encyclopædia Britannica.Retrieved21 January2020.
- ^abHowarth 1983,pp. 69–70.
- ^Howarth 1983,pp. 71–72.
- ^Freeman 1869,pp. 165–166.
- ^Ordericus Vitalis 1853,pp. 459–460.
- ^Barlow 1970,p. 251.
- ^"Westminster Abbey Official site – Coronations"
- ^Hagger 2012,pp. 38–39.
- ^Gibson 1978,p. 111.
- ^Morris 2012,pp. 142–143, pp. 150–151.
- ^Hagger 2012,p. 43.
- ^abMorris 2012,pp. 154–165.
- ^Freeman 1869,p. 365.
- ^Sturluson, Snorri (1966).King Harald's Saga.Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books. p. 149.
- ^Brown 1980,pp. 7–9.
- ^Grainge & Grainge 1999,pp. 130–142.
- ^Freeman 1999,pp. 150–164.
- ^Foys 2010,pp. 161–163.
- ^Morris 2012,pp. 183–187.
- ^Foys 2016.
- ^abcLivingston 2022.
- ^Society of Antiquaries of London(2020)."Bayeux Tapestry".London: College of Antiquaries. Archived fromthe originalon 24 October 2022.Retrieved4 May2023.
- ^Bernstein 1986,pp. 148–152.
- ^Foys 2010,pp. 171–175.
- ^Brooks, N.P.; Walker, H.E. (1997). "The Authority and Interpretation of the Bayeux Tapestry". In Gameson, Richard (ed.).The Study of the Bayeux Tapestry.Boydell and Brewer. pp.63–92.ISBN978-0-85115-664-4.
- ^abcHill 2003.
- ^abBosham Online 2003.
- ^Fryde et al. 2003,p. 29.
- ^Walker 2000,pp. 181–182.
- ^Bartlett & Jeffery 1997,p. 59.
- ^abBarlow 2013,p. 78.
- ^Ross 1985,pp. 3–34.
- ^Round 1885.
- ^abMaund 2004.
- ^abBarlow 2013,p. 128.
- ^Barlow 2013,pp. 168–170.
- ^Arnold 2014,pp. 34–56.
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- Round, J. H. (1885).Stephen, Leslie(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co. .In
- Ordericus Vitalis(1853).The Ecclesiastical history of England and Normandy.Vol. 1 Bk 3. Translated by Forester, Thomas. London: Henry G. Bohn.
- Walker, Ian (2000).Harold the Last Anglo-Saxon King.Gloucestershire: Wrens Park.ISBN978-0-905778-46-4.
- William of Poitiers (1953). Douglas, David; Greenaway, George W. (eds.).Gesta Guillelmi II Ducis Normannorum.English Historical Documents 1042–1189. Vol. 2 (Second ed.). Oxford: Routledge.
Further reading
edit- Freeman, Edward Augustus(1871).The History of the Norman Conquest of England: Its Causes and Its Results.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- van Kempen, Ad F.J. (November 2016). "'A mission he bore – to Duke William he came': Harold Godwineson'sCommentumand his covert ambitions ".Historical Research.89(246):591–612.doi:10.1111/1468-2281.12147.
External links
edit- Harold IIat the official website of the British monarchy
- Harold 3atProsopography of Anglo-Saxon England
- BBC Historic Figures: Harold II (Godwineson) (c. 1020–1066)
- Portraits of King Harold II (Harold Godwineson)at theNational Portrait Gallery, London
- Society of Antiquaries