Godwin, Earl of Wessex

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Godwin (sometimes Godwine and sometimes known as Godwin of Wessex) (c. 1001 – April 15, 1053), was one of the most powerful lords in England under the Danish king Canute the Great and his successors. Canute made him the first Earl of Wessex. Godwin was the father of Harold II and of Edith of Wessex, wife of Edward the Confessor.

1 Rise: support of Edmund, then Canute
2 Height of power: support of Harold
3 Later conflicts, decline, and death
4 Progeny
- 4.1 Family Trees
5 Sources
6 External links

[edit] Rise: support of Edmund, then Canute

Godwin's father was probably Wulfnoth Cild, Cild being a nickname (c.983-1015) who was Thegn of Sussex, although later documents describe his father as a churl. Wulfnoth was supposedly a sixth generation descendant of King Ethelred of Wessex, the elder brother of Alfred the Great; Ethelred's descendants were passed over in the royal succession, but became prominent nobles in the kingdom. The patrilineal descent of Godwin from a King of Wessex is still being researched, however, and should not be taken as certain. Wulfnoth led a section of the royal fleet into piracy and as a consequence had his lands forfeited, and was exiled. It was left to his young son, Godwin, to improve the family fortunes after his father's death in 1014. In his day, Earl Godwin was seen as very much of a new man, who had been "made" by two advantageous marriages to Danish noblewomen.

Godwin was a major supporter of Edmund Ironside, the son of King Aethelred the Unready. While Edmund was in rebellion against his father, Canute and his army invaded England. Edmund was killed, along with many of his supporters, but Godwin survived and pledged his loyalty to Canute. He befriended Canute's brother-in-law, Earl Ulf, and became one of Canute's advisors, accompanying him to Denmark to suppress a rebellion there. By 1018 he was an earl, becoming Earl of the West Saxons in about 1019. In 1022 he married Thyra Sveinsdóttir, Canute's sister. She died soon afterwards without issue, but Godwin continued to gain prestige and by 1023 he was the most powerful earl in England.

[edit] Height of power: support of Harold

On November 12, 1035, Canute died. His kingdoms were divided among three rival rulers. Harold Harefoot, Canute's illegitimate son by Aelgifu of Northampton, seized the throne of England. Harthacanute, Canute's legitimate son by Emma of Normandy, reigned in Denmark. Norway rebelled under Magnus the Noble. In 1037, the throne of England was reportedly claimed by Alfred of Wessex, younger son of Emma of Normandy and Ethelred the Unready and half-brother of Harthacanute. Godwin is reported to have either captured Alfred himself or to have deceived him by pretending to be his ally and then surrendering him to the forces of Harold Harefoot. Either way Alfred was blinded and soon died at Ely.

On March 17, 1040, Harold Harefoot died and Godwin supported the accession of his half-brother Harthacanute to the throne of England. When Harthacanute himself died (June 8, 1042), Godwin finally supported the claim of his half-brother Edward the Confessor to the throne. Edward was another son of Emma and Ethelred, having spent most of the previous thirty years in Normandy. His reign restored the native royal house of Wessex to the throne of England.

[edit] Later conflicts, decline, and death

Despite his alleged responsibility for the death of Edward's brother Alfred, Godwin secured the marriage of his daughter Edith (Eadgyth) to Edward in 1045. As Edward drew advisors, nobles and priests from his former place of refuge in a bid to develop his own power base, Godwin soon became the leader of opposition to growing Norman influence. After a violent clash between the people of Dover and the visiting Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, Edward's new brother-in-law, Godwin was ordered to punish the people of Dover (as he and Earl Leofric had done in Worcester, in Leofric's own earldom). This time, however, Godwin refused, choosing to champion his own countrymen against a (visiting) foreign ruler and his own king. Edward rightly saw this as a test of power, and managed to enlist the support of the other earls Earl Siward from Northumbria and Earl Leofric from Mercia. Godwin and his sons were exiled from the kingdom with his sons in September 1051. However, they returned the following year with an armed force, which gained the support of the navy, burghers, and peasants, so compelling Edward to restore his earldom. This however set a precedent to be followed by a rival earl some years later, and then by Godwin's own son in 1066.

On April 15, 1053, Godwin died at Winchester, supposedly while denying that he had any role in the death of the King's brother Alfred in 1036. His son Harold succeeded him as Earl of Wessex, an area then covering roughly the southernmost third of England. With the death of Earl Siward (1055) and later Earl Algar (1062), the children of Godwin were poised to assume sole control. Tostig was helped into the earldom of Northumbria, thus controlling the north. The Mercian earl was sidelined, especially after Harold and Tostig broke the Welsh-Mercian alliance in 1063. Harold later succeeded Edward the Confessor and became King of England in his own right. At this point, both Harold's remaining brothers in England were earls in their own right, Harold was himself king and in control of Wessex, and he had married the sister of Earl Edwin of Mercia and Earl Morcar of Northumbria (who had succeeded his brother Tostig). Godwin's family looked set to inaugarate a new royal dynasty, much as the Capetians had replaced the Carolingians in France.

[edit] Progeny

Godwin married a second time to a Danish noblewoman, Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, said to be the granddaughter of the legendary Viking Styrbjörn Starke and great-granddaughter to Harold Bluetooth, king of Denmark and thus also ancestor to King Canute. The marriage resulted in the birth of many children:

Sweyn Godwinson, Earl of Herefordshire (c. 1025-1052). At some point he declared himself an illegitimate son of Canute the Great but this is considered to be a false claim.
Harold II of England (c. 1025-October 14, 1066)
Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria (c. 1026-September 25, 1066).
Edith of Wessex, (c. 1030-December 19, 1075), queen consort of Edward the Confessor
Gyrth Godwinson (c. 1030-October 14, 1066)
Gunhilda of Wessex, a nun (c. 1035-1080)
Ælfgifu of Wessex (c.1035)
Leofwine Godwinson, Earl of Kent (c. 1035-October 14, 1066)
Wulfnoth Godwinson (c.1040)

[edit] Family Trees

[edit] Sources

Mason, Emma. The House of Godwine: The History of Dynasty. Hambledon Press, 2003.
Stenton, F.M. Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford History of England), 2001.
Thorne, J.O. and Collocott, T.C. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Revised Edition. (Edinburgh: Chambers, 1984) ISBN 0-550-16010-8
Walker, Ian. Harold: The Last Anglo-Saxon King, 1997.