Harold Godwinson: The Last Anglo-Saxon King of England

Harold Godwinson became King Harold II of England in 1066 after the death of Edward the Confessor, his brother-in-law. Edward supposedly selected Harold as his successor, confirmed by the Witan council. Harold may have been the first king crowned in Westminster Abbey on January 6, 1066. William the Conqueror claimed Edward had promised him the throne in 1051 and that Harold swore an oath supporting William's claim during a campaign in Brittany (1064-1065). Harold also faced invasion from King Harald Hardrada of Norway, who claimed the throne with support from Harold's brother Tostig. Harold marched his army 185 miles from London to Yorkshire in four days, defeating Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. An apocryphal story from Sturluson's King Harald's Saga recounts Harold offering Tostig clemency and Hardrada "six feet of ground." After Stamford Bridge, Harold marched south to face William at Hastings on October 14, 1066, with a tired army. Harold was killed; the Bayeux Tapestry depicts him shot in the eye, though earlier accounts say by lance. His burial site remains unknown. Harold's relatives later attempted to oust William without success.