General Notes

1  NOTE The penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, Edward was the oldest sonofÆthel
red  II and Emma. He had gone to Normandy in 1013, when hisfather and moth
er  had fled from England. He stayed there duringthe reign of Canute an
d, at  his death in 1035, led an abortiveattempt to capture the crown f
or  himself. He was recalled, forsome reason, to the court of Hardicanut
e,  his half-brother.
Canute had placed the local control of the shires into the handsof  sever
al powerful earls: Leofric of Mercia (Lady Godiva'shusband), Siward  of No
rthumbria and Godwin of Wessex, the mostformidable of all. Through  Godwin
's influence, Edward took thethrone at the untimely death of  Hardicanu
te in 1042. In 1045,he married Godwin's only daughter, Edith.
Resulting from the connections made during Edward's years inNormand
y, he  surrounded himself with his Norman favorites andwas unduly influenc
ed by  them. This Norman "affinity" producedgreat displeasure among the Sa
xon  nobles. The anti-Normanfaction was led by (who else?) Godwin of Wess
ex  and his son,Harold Godwinsson, took every available opportunity tounde
rmine the kings favorites. Edward sought to revenge himselfon Godwin  by i
nsulting his own wife and Godwin's daughter,Edith, and confining her  to t
he monastery of Wherwell. Disputesalso arose over the issue of royal  patr
onage and Edward'sinclination to reward his Norman friends.
A Norman, Robert Champart, who had been Bishop of London, wasmade  Archbis
hop of Canterbury by Edward in 1051, a promotionthat displeased  Godwin im
mensely. The Godwins were banishedfrom the kingdom after  staging an unsuc
cessful rebellionagainst the king but returned, landing  an invasionary fo
rce inthe south of England in 1052. They received great  popularsupport, a
nd in the face of this, the king was forced to restorethe Godwins to fav
or in 1053.
Edward's greatest achievement was the construction of a newcathedral,  whe
re virtually all English monarchs from Williamthe Conqueror onward  wou
ld be crowned. It was determined thatthe minster should not be built  in L
ondon, and so a place wasfound to the west of the city (hence  "Westminste
r"). The newchurch was consecrated at Christmas, 1065, but  Edward could n
otattend due to illness.
On his deathbed, Edward named Harold as his successor, insteadof the  legi
timate heir, his grandson, Edgar the Ætheling. Thequestion of  successi
on had been an issue for some years andremained unsettled at  Edward's dea
th in January, 1066. It wasneatly resolved, however, by  William the Conqu
eror, just ninemonths later.
There is some question as to what kind of person Edward was.After his  dea
th, he was the object of a religious cult and wascanonized in 1161,  but t
hat could be viewed as a strictlypolitical move. Some say, probably  corre
ctly, that he was aweak, but violent man and that his reputation  for sain
tlinesswas overstated, possibly a sham perpetrated by the monks  ofWestmin
ster in the twelfth century. Others seem to think that hewas  deeply relig
ious man and a patient and peaceable ruler.
1  NOTE The penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, Edward was the oldest son ofÆthe
lred  II and Emma. He had gone to Normandy in 1013, when hisfather and mot
her  had fled from England. He stayed there duringthe reign of Canute an
d, at  his death in 1035, led an abortiveattempt to capture the crown f
or  himself. He was recalled, forsome reason, to the court of Hardicanut
e,  his half-brother.
Canute had placed the local control of the shires into the handsof  sever
al powerful earls: Leofric of Mercia (Lady Godiva'shusband), Siward  of No
rthumbria and Godwin of Wessex, the mostformidable of all. Through  Godwin
's influence, Edward took thethrone at the untimely death of  Hardicanu
te in 1042. In 1045,he married Godwin's only daughter, Edith.
Resulting from the connections made during Edward's years inNormand
y, he  surrounded himself with his Norman favorit