Who should be King?

The year is 1066 and England has no King! Edward the Confessor, a Saxon King,
had died and left no children.

After the Romans left in 410AD many different people had ruled England, including
Saxons and Vikings. This meant that many different leaders believed that they should
be the next King.

When Edward died there were four different people who believed that they were the
true ruler of England.

Harold Godwinson William of Normandy

was a good warrior and had
helped Edward to rule the
country since the 1050’s as
he was Edward’s brother in
law. Edward was said to
have loved Harold like a son.
Edward had chosen Harold
to succeed him, and he had
been chosen by the Witan.
He married Edward’s sister
who was a member of the
Saxon Royal family, but he
was son of a Danish Queen.
claimed that Edward had promised
him the crown of England when
Edward died. The Witan did not
know about this and did not
approve of it.
England had close ties with
Normandy and Edward had lived
there for a while.
William was also a very distant
relative of Edward. He also claimed
that Harold Godwinson had sworn
to support his claim to the throne.
He was an excellent soldier and had
run Normandy since he was 8!

Harold Hardraada Edgar Atheling

was a Viking. The King of
England before Edward had
been a Viking too so Harald
believed he should be King.
He was King of Norway and
often at war with other countries
so was a very experienced
fighter.
was the son of Edward the
Confessors’ brother and
therefore a Saxon Royal. But
when Edward died Edgar was
only 14 years old. He was not
well known in England. He was
however, the closest living
relative of Edward.