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Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 [1] until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of the Norman Conquest. Harold's death marked the end of Anglo-Saxon rule over England. He was succeeded by William the Conqueror. Harold Godwinson was a member of a prominent Anglo-Saxon family with ties to Cnut the Great.
After Godwin's death in 1053, his sons held the earldoms of Wessex, East Anglia, and later Northumbria; Harold, in particular, became the most powerful man in England, eclipsing the power of the king. When Edward the Confessor died childless in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson.
The 68.3-meter-long (224-foot-long) tapestry depicts William, Duke of Normandy, and his army killing Harold Godwinson, or Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, at the Battle of Hastings.
His son Harold (Godwinson) succeeded him as Earl of Wessex, that is, overlord of roughly the southernmost third of England. On the deaths of Earl Siward of Northumbria (1055) and later Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia (1062), the children of Godwin were poised to take near-total overlordship of England, under the king.
Gunhild of Wessex (fl. 1066–1093) was a younger daughter of Harold Godwinson and his first wife, Edyth Swannesha, who was most likely the wealthy magnate Edyth the Fair from the Domesday Book. [ 1 ]
Sweyn Godwinson, Earl of Herefordshire, (c. 1020–1052), at some point he declared himself an illegitimate son of Canute the Great but this is considered to be a false claim; Harold Godwinson, King of England (c. 1022 – October 14, 1066) Edith of Wessex, (c. 1025 – December 19, 1075), queen consort of Edward the Confessor
Ælfgar profited from the exile of Earl Godwin of Wessex and his sons in 1051. He was given the Earldom of East Anglia, which had been that of Harold, son of Godwin.Earl Godwin and King Edward were reconciled the following year, so Harold was restored to his earldom—but not for long.
King Harold depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry. Very little is known for certain of the ancestry of the Godwins, the family of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, Harold II. When King Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 his closest relative was his great-nephew, Edgar the Ætheling, but he was young and lacked powerful supporters. Harold ...