Pearson

• The king and the earls


  The king was the most powerful person in the land, but granted some of his power to earls who governed large areas of England on his behalf
• The Witan


  • It was a council that advised the king, but the king decided who was appointed, what they should advise on, and did not have to follow their advice
• Earls


  • They were granted powers to collect taxes, oversee law and order, and lead the king's armies in their earldoms
• Edward the Confessor


  He was respected as a religious and wise leader, but struggled to control powerful earls and had no heir
• Powers of the king

  • Law-making
  • Money
  • Taxation
  • Religion
  • Landownership
  • Fyrd
• Shire reeve (sheriff)


  The king's representative in local government, responsible for collecting revenues, taxes, judging cases, and providing men for the fyrd
• Local government divisions


  • Shires
  • Hundreds
  • Tithings
  • Hides
• Law and order


  • Collective responsibility, hue and cry, wergild, trial by ordeal, treason punishable by death
• Thegns


  The Anglo-Saxon warrior/noble class who held at least 5 hides of land and were expected to serve their lord in battle
• Anglo-Saxon social classes

  • Thegns
  • Ceorls
  • Slaves
• The Church


  • Bishops were rich and powerful, provided literate clerks, local priests were not well educated, monks and nuns farmed the land, resistant to European reforms
• England had a strong economy due to good farming conditions, strong trade links, an efficient tax system, and central control of money and trade
• Burhs


  Fortified main towns of each shire that provided refuge from Vikings and were centres of taxable trade
• The power of the Godwins

  The Godwin family had come to dominate Anglo-Saxon politics by the 1060s through political marriages and control of major earldoms
• Around 10% of the population of England lived in towns in 1060. Everyone else lived in family groups in the countryside.
• By the 1060s, the 'House of Godwin' had come to dominate Anglo-Saxon politics, building a powerbase from Wessex out to all the major earldoms of England, except one: Mercia.
• Tostig Godwinson


  Earl of Northumbria
• Gyrth Godwinson


  Earl of East Anglia
• Harold Godwinson


  Earl of Wessex
• Aelfgar


  Earl of Mercia between 1057 and c1062
• Edwin


  Succeeded Aelfgar as Earl of Mercia at his death
• Leofwine Godwinson


  Earl of several smaller shires in 1055–57
• Earl Siward of Northumbria died in 1055. His eldest son had been killed in battle the year before, and his second son, Waltheof, was only five. Northumbria had major problems with lawlessness and England was under threat in the north from Scotland. Tostig Godwinson had made a very important political marriage with the daughter of Baldwin of Flanders (an important trading country in present-day Belgium).
• King Edward agreed to make Tostig Earl of Northumbria


  Because Northumbria had major problems with lawlessness and England was under threat in the north from Scotland, and Tostig had made an important political marriage
• The last years of Edward the Confessor saw a struggle between Harold and Tostig that undermined some of the power of the House of Godwin as Harold set his sights on becoming king after Edward.
• Harold's embassy to Normandy in 1064 (or 1065)


  • King Edward sent Harold to Normandy but we do not know what message he wanted him to give to William of Normandy
  • Harold was taken prisoner by Count Guy of Ponthieu but William rescued him. Harold fought for William and William rewarded him with gifts of weapons and armour
  • Harold swore a very serious oath as part of the embassy but we do not know for certain what promise he was making
• The embassy shows that Harold was King Edward's trusted right-hand man for politics as well as for leading military campaigns.
• Normans claimed that the embassy was about the plan for William of Normandy to succeed to the throne of England after Edward died. William used this argument to legitimise becoming king after the Conquest.
• Normans used the embassy to claim that Harold was an 'oath-breaker' when he took the crown himself after Edward's death rather than supporting William's claim.
• Key events in the rising against Earl Tostig

  1. October 1065: Northumbrian thegns revolt against Tostig, marching on York

  2. Northumbrians invite Morcar (the brother of Edwin, earl of Mercia after 1062) to be earl instead

  3. King Edward orders his earls to put down the uprising, but they find ways not to obey

  4. Instead, Harold agrees to the rebels' demands on King Edward's behalf: Tostig is to be replaced by Earl Morcar

  5. By 1 November, Tostig is exiled
• Why didn't Harold stand up for his brother Tostig


  Harold suspected that King Edward did not have long to live, and perhaps Harold saw his chances of being made king would be stronger without Tostig. Harold may also have known that he needed to show he could act for the good of England, rather than just for his family, if he was going to get the Witan's support for his becoming king.
• Reasons for the uprising against Tostig: Tostig went too far in his crackdown on lawlessness, abusing his power to threaten nobles and assassinating rivals. He became friendly with Malcolm III of Scotland instead of fighting him, and he over-taxed the Northumbrians.
• Norman sources say: Harold swore allegiance to William in recognition that William was the future king of England.
• English sources say: The embassy was to recover two hostages from Normandy and the oath was nothing to do with the succession.
• Embassy


  A diplomatic mission to meet with the ruler of another country
• Oath


  A solemn promise to do something
• Harold Godwinson was crowned king on the same day as Edward the Confessor's funeral on 6 January 1066, but there were other strong claimants to the throne due to agreements Edward had made in the past and because Edward had died without a son: a succession crisis.
• Harold Godwinson's claim


  Appointed successor by the king on his deathbed
• Strength of Harold Godwinson's claim

  Good - supported by witnesses (ones already loyal to Harold)
• Chance of Harold Godwinson's success

  Excellent - Harold had the support required (the Witan) in order to be made king