Earl
Godwine of Wessex was one of the great power-players in 11th-century England.
In that time of wild monarchal regime changes, Godwine was able to thrive. He
navigated, sometimes with difficulty and bloodshed, between the various
conquerors, usurpers and successors who claimed the throne of England. Godwine
was appointed Earl of Wessex by King Canute the Great around 1018, after the Danish
nobleman had outlasted the Anglo-Saxon monarchs Æthelred the Unready (d. 1016)
and Edmund Ironside (d. 1016) in a war over the throne of England. Godwine
watched as Canute spread his domain out from England to encompass Denmark and
Norway, a kingdom for each of Canute’s three known sons: Harold Harefoot, Sweyn
and Hardecanute. Hardecanute was reportedly the only legitimate heir of the
brothers, yet Canute gave the other brothers governance roles. Sweyn was sent
to oversee Norway and Hardecanute was appointed to rule Denmark, while Harold
Harefoot remained behind in England, where he became quite close with the
English nobility. When King Canute suddenly died in 1035, with succession not
fully clear, savvy nobles such as Earl Godwine must have known the following
years would be apt for intrigue.
Hardecanute
easily maintained control over Denmark after his father’s death, but politics
in England would prove much more difficult. In particular, Harold Harefoot was
rallying English support in his own bid to seize the throne. Immediately after
the death of Canute, Earl Godwine joined the faction that supported Hardecanute
for the throne of England. During this time, the earl worked closely with
Hardecanute’s mother Queen Emma, the twice-widowed Norman noblewoman who had
been married first to Æthelred the Unready and, second, to King Canute.
Together, Godwine and the queen were able to quarantine Harold Harefoot’s power
to the position of co-ruler with Hardecanute, or possibly regent. Yet, Earl
Godwine could sense that he was on the losing side in England, and before 1036,
he defected to the faction of Harold.
After
joining the camp of Harold Harefoot, Earl Godwine quickly showed that he was
willing to get his hands dirty. He was unfortunately implicated in one of the
most gruesome events of the power struggle between Queen Emma and Harold
Harefoot—in 1036, Alfred, one of Queen Emma’s sons by the late Æthelred, was
kidnapped in England by Godwine and other members of Harold Harefoot’s faction.
While in their custody, Alfred was allegedly tortured and mutilated to such an
extent that he died of his wounds. The horrible death of Alfred showed the
growing advantage of Harold Harefoot in England, and, by 1037, Harold was able
to proclaim himself sole king of England, forcing Queen Emma to seek shelter in
Flanders.
Unfortunately
for Harold Harefoot, fate gave him very little time to enjoy his victory in
England. Harold died in 1040 and was succeeded by Hardecanute. Upon arriving in
England, Hardecanute was apparently so irate at his late brother’s successes,
that he had Harold’s body dug up and rudely tossed the remains into a wetland,
a sewer, or the Thames.
Although
Hardecanute cared little about the death of Harold Harefoot, he was more protective
of his other half-brothers, especially those born to his mother, Queen Emma. This
put Earl Godwine in an awkward situation, as he had personally played a role in
the torture and mutilation that had led to the death of Hardecanute’s
half-brother, Alfred, in 1036. In order to apologize to the new king, Earl
Godwine pulled together a mixture of showmanship and wealth in hopes of gaining
Hardecanute’s forgiveness. The gift-giving feat of Earl Godwine was described
in fine detail by the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester:
“Godwin,
to obtain the king’s favour, presented him with a galley of admirable
workmanship, with a gilded figure-head, rigged with the best materials, and
manned with eighty chosen soldiers splendidly armed. Every one of them had on
each arm a golden bracelet weighing six ounces, and wore a triple coat of mail
and a helmet partly gilt, and a sword with gilded hilt girt to his side, and a
Danish battle-axe inlaid with gold and silver hanging from his left shoulder;
in his left hand he bore a shield, the boss and studs of which were also gilt,
and in his right hand a lance” (Florence of Worcester, AD 1040).
After
this floating gift-basket was presented to Hardecanute, Earl Godwine reportedly
gave the king a typical ‘I was only following orders’ excuse for his part in
the death of Alfred. King Hardecanute apparently accepted the apology, and Earl
Godwine was allowed to continue building his family’s power in England, ultimately
setting up his son, Harold Godwinson, to eventually participate in the famous
multi-pronged power struggle for the throne of England in 1066.
Written
by C. Keith Hansley
Picture
Attribution: (Scene showing Walter Espec and William of Albemarle, illustrated
by James William Edmund Doyle (1822–1892), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).
Sources:
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by Benjamin Thorpe in 1861 and republished by Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester translated by Thomas Forester. London: Petter and Galpin, originally published 1854.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Canute-I
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hardecanute
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Godwine
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