Much less is known about the
first than the second King Harold of England, as it was the latter who lost his
throne and his life at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and was thus the last of
the Anglo-Saxon kings. The first King Harold is usually known as Harold
Harefoot.
King Harold’s claim to the throne
King Harold I, although King of
England for a brief period in the 11th century, was not an
Anglo-Saxon but a Dane, being a member of the short Danish interregnum before
the Anglo-Saxons, in the person of Edward the Confessor, were restored to the
throne.
Cnut (Canute) of Denmark had
ruled an impressive empire, comprising England, Scotland, Denmark and Norway,
but when he died in 1035 this all fell apart. One major problem was that there
was no obvious successor, as he left behind several offspring who laid claim to
various parts of the empire.
It did not help matters that Cnut
would appear to have been a bigamist, having married Elfgifu of Northampton in
1016 and Emma of Normandy, the widow of King Ethelred (the Unready), in 1017.
However, all sorts of claims and counter-claims were made in the records of the
time as to which marriage came first, whether one or other “wife” was actually
a concubine, and therefore whether or not the children of the marriages were
legitimate.
One fact that seems uncontested
is that Elfgifu had two sons, namely Harold and Swein. It is recorded that Emma
agreed to marry Cnut on condition that neither of Elfgifu’s sons would succeed
to the empire should she, Emma, produce a son. However, it would also appear
that Cnut’s later intention was that Harold should become King of England while
Emma’s son Harthacnut ruled Denmark. In 1030 Cnut sent Elfgifu and Swein to
Norway to look after that part of the empire for him.
When Cnut died in 1035, Harold
would have been about 18 or 19 years old. He apparently acquired the nickname
“Harefoot” because of his athletic build and swiftness as a runner; however,
this is not recorded in any document written earlier than the 12th
century, so it may well be a later invention, or a result of confusion with another
person.
Harold had the support of the
powerful lords of the Midland counties, probably because his mother was from
that area. Harthacnut was in Denmark at the time, defending his lands, but his
interests in England were protected by his mother Emma who was based in the
Wessex capital of Winchester. One possible outcome was that England would be
split between the half-brothers, with Harold ruling the north and Harthacnut
the south. Swein was soon removed from the reckoning because he died late in 1035.
However, Emma also had two sons
by her first husband, Ethelred, namely Alfred (Etheling) and Edward (who would
later be known as Edward the Confessor). They were living in exile in Normandy
Harold becomes king
Harold was then accepted as king
by the lords throughout the country, even by Godwine who had earlier given his
support to Harthacnut. Queen Emma was sent into exile in Flanders .
Harthacnut realised that he had no chance of wresting the throne from Harold, as
he did not wish to share Alfred’s fate, so he stayed put in Denmark.
There is scarcely any evidence of
Harold’s activities as undisputed monarch, but his reign was not a long one. He
died in Oxford on 17th March 1040 and was the first king to be buried
in Westminster Abbey. Harthacnut then arrived to claim the throne and promptly
had Harold’s corpse dug up and thrown into a marsh. It was later retrieved and
given a proper burial in a Danish cemetery in London
One report mentions that Harold
was married and had a son, but, if he did, the son never entered the historical
record as a claimant to the throne of England.
© John Welford
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