Harold's Norman Embassy

• Harold's embassy to Normandy

  1064 or possibly 1065
• Main events of the diplomatic mission

  • When did it happen
  • Why did it happen
  • Where did it happen
  • Consequences or results
• Edward the Confessor ruled until his death


  1042
• Succession crisis occurred after Edward the Confessor's death

  1066
• Power of the House of Godwin increased


  Causing problems during Edward the Confessor's reign
• Succession crisis occurred in 1066


  Over who should be the next king
• Main parts indicated on the map

  • Normandy coast
  • Pontia
  • Flanders
• Norman view of the embassy
• Anglo-Saxon view of the embassy
• Harold went on the embassy mission for King Edward
• Harold landed at Pontia due to bad weather
• Harold was taken prisoner by Count Guy of Pontia
• Duke William demanded Harold to be handed over
• Harold helped William in two military campaigns
• William gave Harold gifts of weapons and armor
• Gifts symbolized the relationship between a lord and his warrior
• Harold made a solemn oath to William
• Harold swore on holy relics
• Harold's oath to support William as the claimant to the English throne is assumed
• It is unknown if Harold made the oath freely or under duress
• Historians assume that this was an oath to William to support him as the claimant to the English throne when Edward the Confessor died
• Harold was King Edward's trusted advisor
• The embassy was significant as it shows close ties between England and Normandy
• The embassy was used by the Normans to boost William's claim to the English throne
• The embassy was used by the Normans to portray Harold as an oath breaker
• Such oaths of allegiance were important between a lord and a follower in both Anglo-Saxon and Norman society
• Possibly 1065


  1064
• Harold was sent on a mission by King Edward the Confessor, possibly to rescue his brother Wulfnoth and his nephew Hakon
• Harold arrived in Pontchar near Flanders and later William's lands in Normandy
• Harold became one of William's warriors and fought for him, being rewarded with weapons and armor
• Harold made an oath to William, possibly to support him as King of England
• The Saxon view is that this oath was forced
• Harold's Norman embassy sets the scene for the later battle between William of Normandy and Harold Godwinson
• William of Normandy would win the battle
• Harold likely made some sort of promise to support William's claim
• If Harold promised to make William King of England, perhaps he had little choice but to make this promise