GODWINSSON, King Harold II^[1]

1022 - 1066  (44 years)  Submit Photo / Document

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• Name	GODWINSSON, Harold
  Prefix	King
  Suffix	II
  Birth	1022	Isle of Thanet, Kent, England
  Christening	Isle of Thanet, Kent, England
  Gender	Male
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  Death	14 Oct 1066	Senlac, Sussex, England
  Burial	21 Oct 1066	Waltham Abbey, Essex, England
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I29411	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Father	WESSEX, Godwin ,   b. Abt 992, Wessex, England Wessex, Englandd. 15 Apr 1053, Winchester, Hampshire, England (Age 61 years)
  Mother	THORGILSSON, Gytha ,   b. Abt 1001, Holland Hollandd. 1067, Flanderen, Holland (Age 66 years)
  Marriage	1019	Holland
  Family ID	F16554	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	MERCIA, Queen Ealdgyth ,   b. 1034, Mercia, England Mercia, Englandd. 1086 (Age 52 years)
  Marriage	1039	Essex, England
  Notes	~SEALING_SPOUSE: Also shown as SealSp 21 Sep 1931
  Children	5 sons and 3 daughters
  1. ENGLAND, Prince Godwin ,   b. Abt 1047, Essex, England Essex, Englandd. 1085, Kent, England (Age 38 years) + 2. GRUFFYDD, Nest Verch ,   b. 1048, Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Walesd. 1087, Wales (Age 39 years)   3. ENGLAND, Prince Edmund ,   b. Abt 1049, Wessex, England Wessex, England   4. ENGLAND, Prince Magnus ,   b. Abt 1051, Wessex, England Wessex, Englandd. 1068 (Age 17 years) + 5. ENGLAND, Grand Dutchess Gytha ,   b. Abt 1053, Edmonton, Middlesex, England Edmonton, Middlesex, Englandd. 5 Feb 1107, Kiev, Ukraine (Age 54 years)   6. GRUFFYDD, Maredudd ,   b. 1055, Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Walesd. 1069, Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales (Age 14 years)   7. ENGLAND, Princess Gunhild ,   b. Abt 1055, Edmonton, Middlesex, England Edmonton, Middlesex, Englandd. 1094 (Age 39 years)   8. GRUFFYDD, Idwal ,   b. 1057, Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Walesd. 1069, Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales (Age 12 years)
  Family ID	F16174	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

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• Notes

  SURNAME: Also shown as England SUFFIX: Also shown as King BIRTH: Also shown as Born , , Wessex, England. BURIAL: Also shown as Buried Waltham Abbey, Essex, England, Great Britain. Taken from the Biography of King Harold II Godwinson Harold was born in 1022 and was the son of Earl Godwin of Wessex and Gytha Sprakling (990 - 1069). Gytha was the great-granddaughter of Harold Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway. He had three brothers Swegen, Tostig and Gyrth and a sister called Edith. In 1046, his brother, Swegen, was sent into exile for seducing the abbess of Leominister. In 1051 Harold's father Godwin raised an army against King Edward the Confessor but a war was averted when it was agreed that the Witan ( a council consisting of 60 powerful nobles) would sort out the dispute. The Witan declared that Earl Godwin and his sons should be banished from England. Godwin and his sons, Tostig and Gyrth went Flanders and Harold went to Ireland. The following year they all returned and sailed up the Thames in force. They resumed their place as the richest and most powerful nobles in England and forced Edward the Confessor to send the Normans in the English court back to Normandy. King Edward the Confessor is also 'persauded' to marry Edith, the daughter of Earl Godwin and Harold's sister. In 1053 Godwin died and his son Harold succeeded him as the Earl of Wessex. In 1055 Harold's brother Tostig became the Earl of Northumbria. Harold and Tostig were great fighters and in 1063 Harold and Tostig subdue Wales. Harold had two wives, both called Edith. Harold first married Edith, the daughter of the powerful Earl of Mercia. They had two sons, who are believed to have died in exile. Harold also had several illegitimate children by his beautiful mistress (or wife, according to Danish law), called "Edith Swan-neck". 1064 was an unfortunate year for Harold who was shipwrecked in Normandy. Whilst there, he swears a sacred oath to support William of Normandy's claim to the English throne. Harold later insists that he was tricked into taking this oath. In 1065 Northumbria rebels against the tyrannical Tostig, who is exiled and goes to Normandy. He joins with Duke William against his brother Harold. The treacherous brother then changes allegiance again and joins with the Viking King, Hardrada. In 1066 Edward the Confessor dies. When King Edward the Confessor lay dying his wife Edith and Harold Godwinson were at his bedside. According to Harold, King Edward's dying words were: "I commend my wife and all my kingdom to your care" Harold insisted that he had been tricked into taking the sacred oath of allegiance he had made to Duke William. And that he was not told that he was swearing the pledge on sacred religious relics - in his view he had been duped and owed the Norman Duke no allegiance and refuted his claim to the English throne. The Witan voted that Harold Godwinson should become King of England, over the rightful heir, Edgar the Aethling who was only ten years old. Harold Godwinson asserted that he had been chosen by Edward the Confessor to be the next King of England. Harold Godwinson Earl of Wessex was crowned King of England on January 6th 1066. There followed all of the events leading to the Viking and Norman Invasions and the Battle of Hastings on October 14th, 1066 when King Harold II of England was killed.

  
  

• Sources

  [S72] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (TM), (June 1998 (c), data as of 5 JAN 1998).