Godwin of Wessex (Old English: Godwine; died 15 April 1053) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who became one of the most powerful earls in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great (King of England from 1016 to 1035) and his successors. Cnut made Godwin the first Earl of Wessex (c. 1020). Godwin was the father of King Harold II (r. January – October 1066) and of Edith of Wessex, who in 1045 married King Edward the Confessor (r. 1042–1066).
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👉 Godwin, Earl of Wessex in the context of Ealdorman of Mercia
Earl of Mercia was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Danish, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. During this period the earldom covered the lands of the old Kingdom of Mercia in the English Midlands.First governed by ealdormen under the kings of Wessex in the 10th century, it became an earldom in the Anglo-Danish period.During the time of King Edward the earldom was held by Leofric and his family, who were political rivals to the House of Godwine. Following the Conquest in 1066 Edwin was confirmed as earl by King William. However he was implicated in the rebellion of 1071 and was dispossessed.Following the death of Edwin the earldom was broken up, the power and regional jurisdiction of the earl passing to the newly formed earldoms of Chester and later Shrewsbury.
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Godwin, Earl of Wessex in the context of Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson (died 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of the Norman Conquest. He was succeeded by William the Conqueror, the victor at Hastings.
Harold Godwinson was a member of the most powerful noble family in England, his father Godwin having been made earl of Wessex by King Cnut the Great. Harold, who served previously as earl of East Anglia, was appointed to his father's earldom on Godwin's death. After his brother-in-law, King Edward the Confessor, died childless on 5 January 1066, the Witenagemot convened and chose Harold to succeed him; he was probably the first English monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey. In late September, he defeated an invasion by rival claimant Harald Hardrada of Norway in the Battle of Stamford Bridge near York before marching his army back south to meet William at Hastings two weeks later, where he was killed in battle.
Godwin, Earl of Wessex in the context of Harold Harefoot
Harold I (died 17 March 1040), commonly known as Harold Harefoot, was King of England from 1037 to 1040. His nickname "Harefoot" is first recorded as "Harefoh" or "Harefah" in the twelfth century in the history of Ely Abbey, and according to some late medieval chroniclers it meant that he was "fleet of foot".
The son of Cnut the Great and Ælfgifu of Northampton, Harold was elected regent of England following the death of his father in 1035. He initially ruled England in place of his brother Harthacnut, who was stuck in Denmark because of a rebellion in Norway that had ousted their brother Svein. Although Harold had wished to be crowned king since 1035, Æthelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to do so. It was not until 1037 that Harold, supported by earl Leofric and many others, was officially proclaimed king. The same year, Harold's two step-brothers Edward and Alfred returned to England with a considerable military force. Alfred was captured by Earl Godwin, who had him seized and delivered to an escort of men loyal to Harefoot. While en route to Ely, he was blinded and soon after died of his wounds.
Godwin, Earl of Wessex in the context of House of Godwin
The House of Godwin (Old English: Godƿine) was the house consisting of the Anglo-Saxon family who were one of the leading noble families in England during the last fifty years before the Norman Conquest. Its most famous member was Harold Godwinson, King of England for nine months in 1066.
The founder of the family's greatness, Earl Godwin, was raised from comparative obscurity by King Cnut and given the Earldom of Wessex c. 1018–1019. He retained his position during the reigns of Cnut's sons Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut, and consolidated it when King Edward the Confessor conferred earldoms on Sweyn and Harold, Godwin's two eldest sons by his Danish wife Gytha.