King
Harold the First
Born ?
Reigned 1035 - 1040
Died 1040
Who
Would Do Such A Thing?
he
legitimate heir to the thrown was now Harthacanute. Unfortunately he
could not take his rightful position because of the Norwegian threat
to Denmark. In his place, his half brother Harold I Harefoot acted as
regent. Following the defeat of her first husband, Aethelred the Unready
in 1013, Emma took her two children, Alfred and Edward to Normandy for
safety. Here they grew up and were influenced by French culture and
ways. She returned to England where she married Canute, leaving her
children behind. In 1036, Alfred, known as the Aetheling, came to England
to see his mother, possibly as a trap set up by Emma, who had no real
love of the children she had with Aethelred. He was immediately arrested
and his party slaughtered. There are two versions of what happened next.
The first is that he was blinded and sent to Ely monastery, where he
died very soon afterwards. The second was that he was blinded and murdered
immediately on his arrival in England. The perpetrator was said to be
Godwin, father of Harold II. He was always friendly with Canute who
bestowed great power on him as Earl of Wessex. Emma was exiled soon
after this episode. Godwin may have seen the visit of Alfred as a threat
to his power base. The death of Alfred resulted in the coronation of
Harold as king in 1037. It is assumed, not with the blessing of Harthacanute
( Hardicanute ).
©
copyright Glen Ray Crack - Battle - East Sussex - United Kingdom
.
he
legitimate heir to the thrown was now Harthacanute. Unfortunately he
could not take his rightful position because of the Norwegian threat
to Denmark. In his place, his half brother Harold I Harefoot acted as
regent. Following the defeat of her first husband, Aethelred the Unready
in 1013, Emma took her two children, Alfred and Edward to Normandy for
safety. Here they grew up and were influenced by French culture and
ways. She returned to England where she married Canute, leaving her
children behind. In 1036, Alfred, known as the Aetheling, came to England
to see his mother, possibly as a trap set up by Emma, who had no real
love of the children she had with Aethelred. He was immediately arrested
and his party slaughtered. There are two versions of what happened next.
The first is that he was blinded and sent to Ely monastery, where he
died very soon afterwards. The second was that he was blinded and murdered
immediately on his arrival in England. The perpetrator was said to be
Godwin, father of Harold II. He was always friendly with Canute who
bestowed great power on him as Earl of Wessex. Emma was exiled soon
after this episode. Godwin may have seen the visit of Alfred as a threat
to his power base. The death of Alfred resulted in the coronation of
Harold as king in 1037. It is assumed, not with the blessing of Harthacanute
( Hardicanute ).