Harold (26 page)

The Scandinavian influence reflected in Harold’s relationship with Edith was part of the heritage which Harold passed on to his children. Five of them received Scandinavian names – Magnus, Gytha, Ulf, Gunnhild and Harold – and only two English ones – Godwine and Edmund. What can we discover about Harold’s relationship with his children? Harold’s namesake son by Alditha was born after his father’s death and can therefore be left aside. On the other hand, some of his children by Edith were approaching maturity in 1066, and hence emerging into public life. If Harold’s marriage to Edith took place in the mid-1040s, this would make his eldest son, Godwine, perhaps about twenty in 1066, and the others approaching this at intervals. This Godwine is recorded as holding lands in Somerset in 1066, which had probably been given to him by his father and this would seem to indicate that he was the eldest. John of Worcester also lists Godwine first among Harold’s sons, indicating his seniority.
²³

We know only a little about Harold’s children, but can still glean some details of the upbringing their father provided for them. The sons probably received diplomatic and military training, as befitted sons of a great earl, and as Harold himself had received. Certainly Godwine, Edmund and Magnus, although too young to fight at Hastings, demonstrated this training to good, if ultimately unsuccessful effect during their attempt to restore the family fortunes after the Conquest. They proved well able to negotiate with King Diarmait of Leinster for assistance and to lead mercenary forces in military raids on the south-west of England. Although ultimately these attacks were unsuccessful, the fierceness of some of the fighting involved suggests that the brothers had some talent for military enterprises. They may also have participated in the stubborn eighteen-day defence of Exeter, although their contribution in this instance may have been less effective. Meanwhile, Harold’s daughters also received an appropriate education. Gunnhild, as already noted, was perhaps educated at Wilton, as her aunt, Queen Edith, had been before her. It was later considered that she had in fact taken the veil, but this probably occurred after the Conquest, either as a protection against seizure by the Normans or to prevent her becoming a threat to William. This evidence, such as it is, represents a normal pattern for the period and reveals that Harold was concerned to provide for the future of his children. Further evidence of paternal feelings is shown in the record of the burial of another of Harold’s children, who died in infancy unbaptised, near St Dunstan’s tomb in Christ Church, Canterbury. This action was found offensive by later monks but surely reflects genuine paternal concern for this dead infant, probably another child of Edith.
²⁴

In this period a man’s family provided an important resource in terms of extending and maintaining his lands, power and influence. He inherited these from his parents, developed them with the help of his brothers and sisters, and passed them on to his children. Harold’s relations with his family were an essential element in his life and career. We have already learnt much about Harold’s relations with his parents and siblings through the events of his career, and will learn more hereafter. Harold loyally stood by his father in the crisis of 1051–2, although he himself appears to have had no personal dispute with the king. He did so in spite of the fact that Godwine apparently favoured his erratic eldest son, Swein, as witnessed by his repeated interventions on the latter’s behalf. It was Harold who was at his father’s side when the latter died, and his loyalty was finally rewarded by the succession to his father’s lands and position. In contrast, Harold’s mother, Gytha, appears to have favoured him among all her children. This is suggested by her later apparent desire to recover, at any cost, Harold’s body after Hastings, rather than those of his brothers. It may also be suggested by her support for Harold in his dispute with Tosti in 1065, although the
Vita Eadwardi
notes that she wept at Tosti’s exile. This attitude may of course reflect her need as a widow for Harold’s support to allow her to retain control of her wide lands. Domesday Book records the deceased Earl Godwine as landholder in some eight counties in 1066 when in fact these lands were most probably held by his widow.

Harold seems generally to have attempted to support and assist the members of his family. He had initally supported Tosti’s appointment to the Earldom of Northumbria, and similarly supported the appointments of Leofwine and Gyrth. He would later maintain his sister, Queen Edith, in her widowhood. It was he who attended to the proper burial of his cousin, Beorn, in 1049. The exception to this pattern can be seen in Harold’s refusal to assist the return of the wayward Swein. That this was an exception can be seen from his attempt to free Swein’s son, Hakon, from Norman captivity in 1064. All this demonstrates that Harold was well aware that the support of a united family could greatly enhance a man’s power. The decision to support Tosti’s deposition in 1065 must therefore have been a very hard decision for him to take.
²⁵

Second only to family ties during this period were those of friendship and alliance. A great man like Harold with a long career in public life must have acquired many friends and allies. Unfortunately, the surviving sources make it impossible to establish the full extent of Harold’s affinity. Instead, we are restricted to establishing the fairly limited number of Harold’s connections for which sufficient evidence survives in the sources, but even this knowledge can reveal information about Harold. Harold’s lesser supporters have already been discussed when considering his landholdings and here we will consider his major friends and allies.

In terms of Harold’s friends among the clerics there was one man with whom he appears to have had a particularly close relationship. This was Ealdred, who initially as Bishop of Worcester and later as Archbishop of York was to play a significant role in Harold’s career as his friend and perhaps his mentor. The first evidence of their relationship comes in 1051 when the Chronicle records that Ealdred, who had been sent to intercept Harold as he fled to Bristol, ‘could not, or would not’ do so, clearly suggesting that he wanted him to escape. It is likely that Ealdred’s donation of a large number of relics to Harold’s own foundation of Holy Cross at Waltham also represents a token of their close friendship. It is possible though not certain that it was King Edward’s suspicion of Ealdred’s links to Harold and his family that caused him to be overlooked when the king sought a successor to Archbishop Aelfric of York in 1051. If so, he recovered his position in the king’s favour by assiduous royal service thereafter, particularly on the embassy of 1054 to negotiate the return of
Atheling
Edward, and when Cynesige of York died in 1060 he finally gained the archbishopric.

In 1056 Ealdred took over the administration of the diocese of Hereford after the death of its bishop, Leofgar, Harold’s former chaplain. In 1062 Harold supported the promotion of Ealdred’s acolyte, Wulfstan, to the see of Worcester. It might have been expected that after his appointment as Archbishop of York, Ealdred would have lost contact with Harold but this was not the case. Indeed, perhaps the most significant indication of Harold’s trust in Ealdred is that the latter consecrated Harold as king in 1066. The fact that he was chosen for this duty was a result of Stigand’s equivocal position, but that he employed an entirely new consecration
ordo
in the service seems to indicate a great deal of trust in him on Harold’s part. Unlike Stigand, Ealdred did not possess great personal wealth and he needed the assistance of a man like Harold to maintain the lands of his diocese against predation by other secular lords, including the Mercian earls. In return, he offered Harold his immense administrative skills and his deep knowledge of religious ritual.
²⁶

In a sense, Harold’s close relationship to Bishop Wulfstan of Worcester perhaps arose from a similar circumstance to that with Ealdred. Wulfstan also required Harold’s protection and support but in return he offered spiritual advice rather than administrative skill. Wulfstan’s holiness was widely recognized and he was later canonized because of it. It is perhaps not surprising then that Harold appears to have turned to him for spiritual guidance. In this period all men, no matter how powerful, considered themselves subject to God’s power. It was therefore natural for Harold to ascertain Wulfstan’s views and to seek his friendship in order to maintain contact with God through one of his most notable servants. It was the holy Wulfstan that Harold chose to accompany him when he sought to persuade the Northumbrians to accept his rule in 1066.
²⁷

In terms of Harold’s friends and allies among the laymen, we have already recorded his relations with his fellow earls where he perhaps held a somewhat equivocal record. He may initially have favoured the promotion of his brothers over Earl Aelfgar, but he later revised this view by accepting Tosti’s inevitable downfall and seeking actively to court Aelfgar’s sons. In the case of Earl Ralph, King Edward’s French nephew, Harold appears to have been friendly towards him and it is perhaps significant that Ralph had a son named Harold. It is possible that this boy was named after the earl himself, perhaps in gratitude for his support against the Welsh in 1055. The age of Harold, son of Ralph, in 1066 when he was a ward of Queen Edith makes it possible that he was named in these circumstances. However, this Harold’s mother had the Danish name Gytha and he may therefore have been named after one of her kin. Harold’s relations with other more minor laymen, usually as supporters, have already been discussed more fully in connection with his landholdings. These few details are all that can be recovered about Harold’s relations with his family and his friends and allies.
²⁸

We also know something of Harold’s personal interests beyond those required to wield authority, administer lands, enforce the law and lead men in war. As was common in this period Harold was keenly involved in sports of the chase, especially hunting and falconry. Harold’s interest in hunting is confirmed by his construction of a hunting lodge on conquered land at Portskewet in South Wales, to which he intended to invite King Edward. It is also shown by several scenes in the Bayeux Tapestry, where he is accompanied by his hawk and hounds. Indeed, in one particular scene these clearly valuable animals are carefully carried aboard his ship for the crossing to Normandy. In addition, Domesday Book records the presence of ‘a large wood for hunting’ on land owned by Harold at Ailey in Herefordshire. Harold’s interest in falconry is spectacularly demonstrated by the later attribution to Harold of the possession of a number of important books on hawks and the art of falconry. It is confirmed by Domesday Book, which records that Harold’s estate at Limpsfield in Surrey had three hawk’s nests, which no doubt provided him with a source of birds.
²⁹

The reference to Harold’s possession of books on falconry raises the interesting possibility that he may have been literate. The
Vita Eadwardi
speaks of his sister, Queen Edith, as immersed in the study of letters and it is therefore possible that Harold was also literate. It was more common at this time for education to be lavished on male children than female. Such a skill would certainly have been of considerable benefit to an earl or king in the fairly sophisticated administrative kingdom which England was at this time. It is possible that Harold did not read his books himself but simply that he had others read them to him, but the possession of literacy by a layman, while unusual for the time, is not impossible. However, this must remain no more than conjecture.
³⁰

From the little we know of him, Harold appears to have been, in many ways, a man of his time. Thus he was a warrior and military commander, but also a diplomat and administrator. He was a pious man, in terms of his personal devotion, though not a saint. He appears to have been equally at home in English Sussex, Anglo-Danish York, Norse-Irish Dublin, and on the Continent. He was in general strongly supportive of his family, but not at the expense of his own wider interests. He had a small but varied and powerful group of friends and allies able to support him in a number of different capacities. This was the man who now stood on the threshold of the kingship. He had many of the qualities and abilities needed for this high position, but it remained to be seen how he would employ these.

Earl Harold was now consecrated king and met little quiet in it as long as he ruled the realm.
¹

F
ollowing King Edward’s death, Harold,
sub regulus
and now designated heir of the king, succeeded to the kingdom and was crowned on 6 January 1066, the same day as the old king was buried. This has been seen as unseemly haste but is probably the result of Harold’s thorough canvassing of support over the Christmas period. Also, with the danger of invasion by William of Normandy hanging over the land, as noted in the Chronicle, it was important to act decisively to forestall other claims, including William’s but more importantly that of
Atheling
Edgar. Indeed, William received news of Edward’s death and Harold’s succession at the same time and was unable to take advantage of any period of confusion to intervene.
²

Harold’s coronation, which is illustrated in the Bayeux Tapestry, was unusual in a number of respects, as perhaps befits the coronation of the first English king not descended from Alfred’s line. First of all, it probably took place in King Edward’s newly consecrated Westminster Abbey, the first of many coronations to be performed there. The fact that it directly followed Edward’s burial in that church makes this very likely. If Harold’s coronation had occurred in St Paul’s instead, this would have meant a rather complex transfer of people from Westminster to St Paul’s, which in addition to the two services seems a lot to cram into one short winter day. There would also be a natural desire on Harold’s part to associate his kingship with that of his predecessor, as William would also do later that year. Secondly, the ceremony itself probably followed a new coronation
ordo
adapted by Archbishop Ealdred from that of the German Empire, rather than that followed at Edward’s own coronation in March 1043. This innovation was probably a result of the unusual circumstances of that year when the ceremony was performed by Ealdred, Archbishop of York, rather than the Archbishop of Canterbury. The former was suddenly faced with the need to deliver a coronation
ordo
and as a result chose one he had to hand. This new
ordo
was subsequently to be followed by William, again under the direction of Archbishop Ealdred.
³