Britain's Royal Families

King Edward the Confessor

FATHER: Ethelred II( see here).

MOTHER: Emma of Normandy( see here, under Ethelred II).

SIBLINGS: ( see here, under Ethelred II).

KING EDWARD

Known as ‘the Confessor’, he was born around c.1003/4 (by 1005) at Islip, Oxon. When he succeeded his half-brother King Harthacanute, on 8 June, 1042, the crown of England reverted from the usurping Danish dynasty to the line of Cerdic once more, and for the last time. Edward was crowned on 3 April, 1043, at Winchester Cathedral.

King Edward married, on 23 January, 1045 (although no record exists as to where):

Edith

She was the daughter of Godwine, Earl of Wessex, by his wife Gytha ( see here, under Harold II), and she was born in c.1020. Edith was perhaps anointed and crowned on her wedding day, but details of the ceremony have not been recorded. Her marriage to Edward was purely platonic, the King being unwilling, for religious reasons, to consummate it, hence there were no children. Edith died on 18 December, 1075, either at the Palace of Westminster or at Winchester, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

KING EDWARD

He died on 4/5 January, 1066, at the Palace of Westminster, and was buried in the new Westminster Abbey, built by his command and only recently consecrated.

He was succeeded by Harold, Earl of Wessex, his brother-in-law, to whom he left his throne, with the support of the Witan, there being no adult claimant to the crown of the line of Cerdic.

On 7 February, 1161, Edward the Confessor was canonised, thus becoming the only King of England to be made a saint.

Harold II

FATHER: Godwine

He was the son of Wulfnoth, Cyld of Sussex, and was born in c.987. He married firstly Thyra, daughter of King Sweyn, and secondly, in c.1019/20, Gytha ( below). He was first created Earl in 1018, but his earldom is unknown. He was created Earl of Wessex and Kent in 1020. He died on 15 April, 1053, at Winchester Castle, of apoplexy, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.

MOTHER: Gytha

She was the daughter of Thorgils Sprakalegg by Thyra, daughter of Harold Bluetooth, King of Denmark (and sister of King Sweyn); some authorities state that Thorgils was the son of Thyra, not her husband. Gytha was born in Denmark. She married Earl Godwine in c.1019/20. She died in exile, perhaps in Flanders, after June, 1069.

SIBLINGS:

1   Edith

( see here, under King Edward the Confessor).

2   Sweyn

He was born in c.1023, and was created Earl of Mercia in 1043. He died on 29 September, 1052, in exile, at Lycia, near Constantinople, in Byzantium.

Sweyn had the following illegitimate issue:

By Edgiva, Abbess of Leominster, a nun whom he abducted and with whom he contracted an uncanonical marriage:

1  Haakon ( b.1046/7).

2  Tostig.

3   Tostig

He was born in c.1026, and was created Earl of Northumbria in c.1055. In that year, or later, he was also created Earl of Northampton and Nottingham. He was deprived of his earldoms on 3 October, 1065. He was killed on 25 September, 1066, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Northumberland, fighting his brother Harold II in alliance with Harold Hardraada, King of Norway. Tostig was buried in York Minster.

Tostig married, in October, 1051 (although no record exists as to where):

Judith

Alternatively known as Fausta, she was the daughter of Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders, by Eleanor, daughter of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. After Tostig’s death, she married secondly Welf IV, Duke of Bavaria.

Issue of marriage:

  (i)   Skule

He grew up, married, and had issue. No further details are recorded.

  (ii)   Ketel

He grew up, married and had issue. No further details are recorded.

4   Gyrth

He was created Earl of East Anglia in 1057, and was killed on 14 October, 1066, at the Battle of Hastings, Sussex.

5   Leofwine

He was created Earl of Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in c.1057, and was killed on 14 October, 1066, at the Battle of Hastings, Sussex.

6   Wulfnoth

He died after 1087, either in Normandy, or at Salisbury, Wiltshire.

7   Alfgar

He is said to have been a monk at Rheims in France.

8   Edgiva

Nothing is known of her beyond her name.

9   Elgiva

She died in c.1066.

10   Gunhilda

She is said to have become a nun, either at St Omer in France, or at Bruges in Flanders. She died on 24 August, 1087, at Bruges, and was buried in Bruges Cathedral.

HAROLD II

Surnamed Godwineson, he was born in c.1020/22. He was created Earl of East Anglia in c.1045, and succeeded his father as Earl of Wessex on 15 April, 1053. He was created Earl of Hereford in 1058, and styled ‘Duke of the English’ from 1064. He succeeded Edward the Confessor as King of England on 6 January, 1066, having been chosen by the King as his successor with the support of the Witan. Harold II was crowned on 6 January, 1066, probably at St Paul’s Cathedral in London (some authorities state he was crowned at Westminster Abbey, but there is no evidence for this).

Harold II married, either in c.1064 or in March (?), 1066, at York:

Edith

She was the daughter of Alfgar, Earl of Mercia, by Edgiva or Elgiva Malet, or by Elfleda, daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Northumbria. She was born in c.1042. She married firstly Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales (killed in 1063), either in c.1050 or in c.1056/7, and had issue:

1  Meredith ( d.1070).

2  Idwal ( d.1070).

3  Nesta, who married Osbern FitzRichard, Lord of Richard’s Castle and Byton, and had issue.

After the death of Harold, Edith went into exile on the Continent where she died after 1070.

Issue of marriage, who may have been twins:

1   Harold

He was born in December, 1066, in Chester. He grew up in exile on the Continent, and died after 1098.

2   Ulf

He was perhaps born in December, 1066, in Chester, although some authorities have stated that he was an illegitimate son of Harold by his mistress Edith Swanneshals ( below). Ulf is said by some chroniclers to have drowned at sea before 1070, but he is recorded as being alive in 1087 in Normandy, after which he disappears from the records.

Harold II also had the following illegitimate issue:

Probably by Edith Swanneshals (‘Swan Neck’):

1  Godwine.

2  Edmund.

3  Magnus.

4  Gunhilda; she became a nun at Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire.

5  Gytha; she married Vladimir II, Prince of Novgorod and Kiev ( d.1125), and had issue. One of her descendants was Philippa, wife of Edward III.

6  Ulf ( see above). He may have been Harold’s legitimate son by his wife.