Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson was king of England for a very short period. After the death of Edward the Confessor he had little time to defend England against invasion from William Duke of Normany
During the periof leading up to Conquest, Harold made many trips to Normandy and according to many historians and the Bayeux Tapestry was involved with both Edward and William in a dispute regarding the rule of England.
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Harold Godwinson (c.1022 – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English
king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066[1] until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066,
the decisive battle of the Norman Conquest. Harold's death marked the end of Anglo-Saxon rule over England.
He was succeeded by William the Conqueror.
Harold Godwinson was a member of a prominent Anglo-Saxon family with ties to Cnut the Great. He became a
powerful earl after the death of his father, Godwin, Earl of Wessex. After his brother-in-law,
King Edward the Confessor, died without an heir on 5 January 1066, the Witenagemot convened and chose
Harold to succeed him; he was probably the first English monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey.
In late September, he successfully repelled an invasion by rival claimant Harald Hardrada of
Norway in York before marching his army back south to meet William at Hastings two weeks later.
