Read Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy Online
Authors: Alison Weir
Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Royalty, #History, #General, #Historical, #Reference, #Genealogy & Heraldry, #Non Fiction
Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (14 page)
Harold II married
, either in
c
.1064 or in March (?), 1066, at York:
, either in
c
.1064 or in March (?), 1066, at York:
Edith
She was the daughter of Alfgar, Earl of Mercia, by Edgiva or Elgiva Malet, or by Elfleda, daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Northumbria. She was born in
c
.1042. She married firstly Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales (killed in 1063), either in
c
.1050 or in
c
.1056/7, and had issue:
c
.1042. She married firstly Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales (killed in 1063), either in
c
.1050 or in
c
.1056/7, and had issue:
1 Meredith (
d
.1070).
2 Idwal (
d
.1070).
3 Nesta, who married Osbern FitzRichard, Lord of Richard’s Castle and Byton, and had issue.
After the death of Harold, Edith went into exile on the Continent where she died after 1070.
Issue of marriage
, who may have been twins:
, who may have been twins:
1
Harold
He was born in December, 1066, in Chester. He grew up in exile on the Continent, and died after 1098.
2
Ulf
He was perhaps born in December, 1066, in Chester, although some authorities have stated that he was an illegitimate son of Harold by his mistress Edith Swanneshals (below). Ulf is said by some chroniclers to have drowned at sea before 1070, but he is recorded as being alive in 1087 in Normandy, after which he
disappears from the records.
Harold II also had the following
illegitimate issue
:
illegitimate issue
:
Probably by Edith Swanneshals (‘Swan Neck’):
1 Godwine.
2 Edmund.
3 Magnus.
4 Gunhilda; she became a nun at Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire.
5 Gytha; she married Vladimir II, Prince of Novgorod and Kiev (
d.
1125), and had issue. One of her descendants was Philippa, wife of Edward III.
6 Ulf (
HAROLD II
He was killed on 14 October, 1066, at the Battle of Senlac (now known as the Battle of Hastings, although it took place eleven miles away at Battle in Sussex). Harold may have been felled by an arrow between his eyes, although this theory may be based upon a misinterpretation of the Bayeux Tapestry, in which case he was probably struck down by a sword stroke dealt by a mounted Norman knight. Harold was buried either on the battlefield or, less probably, on the seashore at Hastings. Later on, his remains were removed to Waltham Abbey, Essex.
He was succeeded by William, Duke of Normandy, the victor of Hastings.
CHAPTER TWO
The Norman Kings of England
Harold II was the last of the Saxon Kings of England. His successor, William I, based his claim to the English throne upon a promise made to him more than a decade before 1066 by Edward the Confessor, who is said to have told William that he, Edward, would make him his successor.
In 1064, Earl Harold was shipwrecked upon the coast of Normandy. William kept him in honourable captivity until he had sworn upon holy relics to do all in his power to enforce William’s claim to the English throne. William knew very well that at that time it seemed that Harold, the most powerful man in England next to the king, would be designated Edward’s successor, which was what in fact happened. When, in the autumn of 1065, Edward was seen to be dying, the Witan considered all the claimants and decided that Harold, as the only man with the strength and maturity that befitted him to rule England, was the natural choice. Edward, on his deathbed, accordingly left his crown to Harold, who seized power in defiance of his oath to William.
William thereupon gathered an army, sailed to England, and defeated Harold on 14 October, 1066, at the Battle of Hastings.
At that time, there was only one living male representative of the ancient line of the Kings of Wessex, and that was the child Edgar the Atheling, the grandson of Edmund II. The Witan in London set him up as king as soon as they received the news of William’s victory at Hastings, but it quickly became obvious that Edgar’s impeccable claim to the throne would be no match for William’s determination to wear the crown of England. Edgar submitted to William within 6 weeks, and William was crowned King of England in Westminster
Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066.
Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066.
A new royal dynasty had been founded; the joining of England with Normandy brought England very much into the forefront of European affairs. William’s followers received lands and honours, and thus founded aristocratic dynasties of their own in their new realm. A new order prevailed: England was feudalised and its Church and legal system were overhauled, and all things Saxon were disdained by the conquering Normans.
William’s claim to the English throne had very little basis in dynastic terms. His great-aunt Emma had been wife to both Ethelred II and Canute, and William’s wife Matilda was a descendant of King Alfred. Those were his only links to the English royal line. William’s own ancestor, Rollo, who founded the duchy of Normandy in the 10th century, had been a Viking pirate. It was left to William’s son, Henry I, to ally himself in blood to the ancient line of Cerdic: in 1100, he married Edith, the niece of Edgar the Atheling, much to the disgust of his Norman barons, who sneeringly referred to the royal couple as ‘Godric and Godgifu’, old Saxon names now fallen into disrepute. Yet the marriage was popular with the common people, who were, after all, Saxon, and later Kings would acknowledge that it was fitting that the blood of Cerdic flowed in their veins.
William I
F
ATHER
:
Robert
ATHER
:
Robert
Known as ‘the Devil’ or ‘the Magnificent’, he was the son of Richard II, Duke of Normandy, by Judith of Brittany, and was born in
c
.1008 in Normandy. He perhaps married Astrid, daughter of King Sweyn, in
c
.1027, but repudiated her almost at once. He succeeded his brother Richard III as Duke of Normandy on 6 August, 1028, and died on 2 or 22 July, 1035, on pilgrimage at Nicea in Bithynia. William I was his illegitimate son.
M
OTHER
:
Herleva
OTHER
:
Herleva
Alternatively called Arlette, she was the daughter of Fulbert, a tanner of Falaise in Normandy, by his wife Duxia. She was born in
c.
1012. She is said to have been noticed by Duke Robert as she sat washing clothes in a river. Their liaison produced two children (
c
.1029 and 1035, and had four (or perhaps as many as six) further children (
c.
1050, and was buried in the Abbey of St Grestain in France.
S
IBLINGS
:
IBLINGS
:
Adeliza
She was born perhaps in 1029, before her mother’s marriage to a Norman nobleman. She married firstly Enguerrand III, Count of Ponthieu (
d
.1053), and had issue:
1 Adelaide (alive in 1096).
Adeliza married secondly Lambert of Boulogne, Count of Lens in Artois (who was killed in battle in 1054), in
c.
1053, and had issue:
2 Judith (1054/5–after 1086); she married Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria and Huntingdon (who was executed in 1076), and had issue, including Matilda, wife of David I, King of Scotland.
Adeliza married thirdly Odo II, Count of Champagne (disinherited in 1071), and had issue:
3 Stephen, Count of Aumale (before 1070–1121/30), who married
Hawise, daughter of Ralph de Mortimer of Wigmore, and had issue.
Adeliza was styled Countess of Aumale in her own right from 1082. She died between 1087 and 1090.
William did not have any full brothers.
H
ALF
-S
IBLINGS
(the children of his mother’s marriage):
ALF
-S
IBLINGS
(the children of his mother’s marriage):
1
Robert
He was born in 1030/1, and was created Count of Mortain in
c.
1049 or
c.
1056. He was probably created Earl of Cornwall in
c.
1066/7. He died on 8 December, 1090/1, and was buried in the Abbey of St Grestain, France.
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