The Viking Descendants in Normandy Who Eyed England as a Prize
Edmund Ironside’s assassination left the path open for the Danish King Canute to become king of England and inaugurate a short lived Scandinavian dynasty. Canute ruled until his death in 1035. He was then followed on the throne of England by his sons Harold Harefoot (reigned 1035 – 1040), and Harthacanut (reigned 1040 – 1042). Harthacanut’s death in 1042 triggered a succession crisis. A struggle for the English throne pitted King Magnus the Good of Norway, and Edward the Confessor, Edmund Ironside’s half-brother. A wily Anglo-Saxon, Godwin, Earl of Wessex, intervened, played kingmaker, secured the throne for Edward the Confessor, and became the power behind the throne.
Edward had grown up an exile in the court of the Dukes of Normandy, and was half Norman himself. His mother was the daughter of a Duke of Normandy. The Normans were descendants of Vikings who had invaded France, and were eventually given what is now Normandy by the French crown. William thus had strong Norman ties and attachments. They caused serious problems down the road, and brought the Anglo-Saxon era to an end. Trouble began in 1051, when Edward’s reliance on Norman advisors led to a quarrel with Godwin, Earl of Wessex. Godwin was banished and stripped of his lands, but he returned with an army and forced Edward to restore him to power.
