Harold Harefoot
| Harold Harefoot | |
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| Modern Impression of Harold Harefoot. | |
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| Reign | 12 November 1035 – 17 March 1040 |
| Predecessor | Cnut the Great |
| Successor | Harthacnut |
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| Ælfwine Haroldsson (illegitimate) | |
| House | House of Denmark |
| Father | Cnut the Great |
| Mother | Ælfgifu of Northampton |
| Born | c. 1015 England |
| Died | 17 March 1040 (aged 24–25) England |
| Burial | St. Clement Danes, Westminster, England |
Harold Harefoot or Harold I (c. 1015 – 17 March 1040) was King of England from 1035 to 1040. His cognomen "Harefoot" referred to his speed, and the skill of his huntsmanship.[1] He was the son of Cnut the Great, king of England, Denmark, and Norway by Ælfgifu of Northampton. Though there was some scepticism that he was really Cnut's son,[2] this was probably just propaganda by those who opposed his kingship.
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[edit] Harthacnut's reign
Upon Cnut's death (12 November 1035), Harold's younger half-brother Harthacnut, the son of Cnut and his queen Emma of Normandy, was legitimate heir to the thrones of both the Danes and the English. Harthacnut, however, was unable to travel to his coronation in England because his Danish kingdom was under threat of invasion by King Magnus I of Norway and King Anund Jacob of Sweden. England's magnates[3] favoured the idea of installing Harold Harefoot temporarily as regent, due to the difficulty of Harthacnut's absence, and despite the opposition of Godwin, the Earl of Wessex, and the Queen, he eventually wore the crown.
Harold survived an attempt to unseat him jointly led by Ælfred Ætheling and Edward the Confessor, Emma's sons by the long-dead Æthelred the Unready, in 1036.
[edit] Assumes the throne
In 1037, Emma of Normandy fled to Bruges, in Flanders, and Harold "was everywhere chosen as king".[2] Harold himself is somewhat obscure; the historian Frank Stenton considered it probable that his mother Ælfgifu was "the real ruler of England" for part or all of his reign.[5]
With the north at least on Harold's side, in adherence to the terms of a deal, which Godwin was part of, Emma was settled in Winchester, with Harthacnut's huscarls. Harold soon "sent and had taken from her all the best treasures" of Cnut the Great,[6] and the Kingdom of England was practically his.
According to the Encomium Emmae, though, the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to crown Harold Harefoot. There is evidence that Ælfgifu of Northampton was attempting to secure her son's position through bribes to the nobles.[7]
[edit] Alfred and Edward's invasion
In 1036, Ælfred Ætheling, Emma's son by the long dead Æthelred, returned to the kingdom from exile in Normandy with his brother Edward the Confessor, with some show of arms. With his bodyguard, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle he intended to visit his mother, Emma, in Winchester, but he may have made this journey for reasons other than a family reunion. As the "murmur was very much in favour of Harold", on the direction of Godwin (now apparently on the side of Harold Harefoot), Ælfred was captured and blinded by men loyal to Harefoot. He died soon after due to the severity of the wounds, his bodyguard similarly treated.[6]
[edit] Death
Harold died at Oxford on 17 March 1040,[2] just as Harthacnut was preparing an invasion force of Danes, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.[7] His body was subsequently exhumed, beheaded, and thrown into a fen bordering the Thames when Harthacnut assumed the throne in June 1040.[8] His supporters later rescued the body, to be buried in a church in the City of Westminster which was fittingly named St. Clement Danes.
[edit] Offspring
Harold apparently had a son, Ælfwine, who became a monk on the continent when he was older.[7] Ælfgifu of Northampton disappears with no trace after 1040. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Harold Harefoot ruled for 4 years and 16 weeks, by which calculation he would have begun ruling two weeks after the death of Cnut.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ For an explanation of this etymology, see Albert Le Roy Bartlett, The Essentials of Language and Grammar, Silver, Burdett and Co., 1900, p. 38.
- ^ a b c The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1035–40, M. Swanton translation (1996).
- ^ "Earl Leofric and almost all the thegns north of the Thames, and the men of the fleet in London"
- ^ Pritsak, Omeljan. (1981). The origin of Rus'. Cambridge, Mass.: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. ISBN 0-674-64465-4 p. 343
- ^ Stenton, page 421.
- ^ a b Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford University Press (1998 paperback), pages 420–421; quoted segments from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
- ^ a b c Tim Bolton, "Reign of King Harold Harefoot", The Literary Encyclopedia, 5 May 2006.
- ^ This may have been motivated partly in response to the murder of Alfred, Harthacnut's half-brother, and partly for his perceived theft of the crown.
- ^ ASC manuscript E, 1039 (1040); for the calculation, see Swanton's translation, page 161, note 18.
[edit] External links
Media related to Harold Harefoot at Wikimedia Commons
- Harold Harefoot At Find A Grave
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Harold I". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Cnut the Great |
King of the English 1035–1040 |
Succeeded by Harthacnut |
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