Edward the Confessor (1003-5 January 1066) was the king of England from 1042 to 1046, succeeding Harthacnut and preceding Harold Godwinson. He was the penultimate Anglo-Saxon monarch, and his reign was marked by strife between the crown and the wealthy and powerful Godwinson family, led by Earl Godwin of Wessex and his son, the future king Harold Godwinson. Edward's death in 1066 led to a succession dispute between Harold, a popular and powerful Anglo-Saxon nobleman, and Edward's distant cousin William of Normandy.
Biography[]
Edward was born in Islip, Oxfordshire, England in 1003, the son of King Aethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, who later became Canute's wife. The kingship of Edward was unexpected as he had older brothers in line to the throne before him. Alfred was killed in 1036 while on a clandestine visit to England, when the family were living in Normandy. The second brother, Harthacnut, died following a drinking binge at a wedding in June 1042.
Despite the best efforts of Queen Emma, his kingship was not unchallenged. Until 1047, there was an ever-present danger of invasion by King Magnus the Good of Norway. Magnus had overthrown Sweyn Estridsson, the King of Denmark, in 1047, raising the prsopect of turning the resources of the two kingdoms against England. This threat receded with the death of Magnus soon after.
In 1045, Edward's marriage to Edith of Wessex, the daughter of Earl Godwin, was symbolic of the internal challenges he faced. Most of the native magnates, both among the nobility and clergy, had power bases more secure than his own. Earl Godwin was the strongest among them and probably the richest man int eh country. The influential pro-Norman party in Edward's entourage counterbalanced this, also symbolizing his Norman heritage as the grandson of Duke Richard the Fearless.
Struggle for power[]
Hidden tension surfaced over the archbishopric of Canterbury in 1051. Earl Godwin's partisans sought to have their candidate elected to Canterbury. Instead, Edward appointed one of his own Norman supporters, Robert of Jumieges, who had beem the Bishop of London. Seeing his position threatened, Earl Godwin began to seek allies elsewhere. The marriage of his son Tostig to Judith, daughter of Baldwin, Count of Flanders, saw the start of a strong alliance against Edward.
Earl Godwin was briefly exiled to Baldwin's court in 1051, following accusations of insubordination against the King. The following year Godwin returned to England with a strong force, inducing Edward to pardon him. Subsequently, Arhcbishop Robert of Jumieges, who had been appointed by Edward, was unceremoniously removed from the see of Canterbury and replaced by Stigand, a former royal chaplain, loyal to Earl Godwin. In 1053, Earl Godwin died and was succeeded in the earldom of Wessex by his son Harold. Although the kingdom was largely peaceful for the next 12 years, Edward embarked on two military campaigns. The first was against Scotland in 1054, when Earl Siward of Nothumbria supported Malcolm III of Scotland's successful bid to seize the Scottish throne from Macbeth, the reigning Scottish king. The other, between 1055 and 1062, was against Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, the King of Wales.
Anglo-Saxon hierarchy[]
Anglo-Saxon society evolved into its final form during Edward's reign. At the top of the socio-political hierarchy were the great earls of Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. Their power was, in theory, exceeded only by that of the King. Next came the royal thegns, whose loyalty was increasingly secured by a new device, the issue of royal writs which granted them "book land" in exchange for the provision of military service, the repairing of fortresses, work on bridges, and any other services the King might require.
Royal officials also played an important role, with shire-reeves, or sheriffs, administering justice at a local level, often undercut by ealdormen, or magistrates, who were appointed by the King. The lowest classes consisted of the main body of peasants and laymen, or ceorlas ("churls"), who were liable to pay taxes and serve in the general military levy, the fyrd. The levying of an "army tax", known as heregeld, enabled the King to command considerable financial resources. The majority of the churls lived in rural areas, and the land they worked was increasingly divided up into strips of intermingled holdings.
A final crisis[]
Towards the end of Edward's reign there was a final crisis. In 1065, the people of Northumbria revolted against the excessive demands of their earl, Tostig, Harold Godwinson's brother. They overthrew him and selected Morcar, the brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia, as the new earl. The rebel front was too strong, and in keeping with their demands, in October Harold agreed to accept Morcar as the Earl of Northumbria, while Tostig was exiled. This probably went against the wishes of Edward himself, but he was an ailing man by this time. He died at Kennington a week after the consecration of his new abbey church at Westminster on 28 December. He was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was the last Anglo-Saxon to become the King of England.