Everything about Harold Harefoot totally explained
Harold Harefoot (c.
1015–
March 17,
1040) was King of
England from
1035 to
1040. His
cognomen "Harefoot" was for his speed, and the skill of his huntsmanship.He was the son of
Canute the Great, King of
England,
Denmark,
Norway, and some of the Kingdom of
Sweden, through his handfast wife
Aelgifu of Northampton. Though there was some skepticism he was really Canute's son., this was probably just propaganda by the opponents of his kingship.
Upon Canute's death (
November 12,
1035), Harold's younger half-brother
Harthacanute, the son of Canute and his queen,
Emma of Normandy, was legitimate heir to the thrones of both the Danes and the English. He was, however, unable to travel to his coronation, because his Danish kingdom was under threat of invasion by
King Magnus I of
Norway and
King Anund Jacob of Sweden. England's magnates favoured the idea of installing Harold Harefoot temporarily as
regent, due to the difficulty of Harthacanute'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 led by
Alfred Aetheling and
Edward the Confessor, Emma's sons by the long-dead
Ethelred the Unready, in 1036. Harold died at
Oxford on
March 17,
1040, His supporters later rescued the body, to be buried in a church which was fittingly named
St Clement Danes.
Assumes the throne
In 1037, Emma of Normandy fled to
Bruges, in
Flanders, and Harold "was everywhere chosen as king".
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 Harthacanute's
huscarls. Harold soon "sent and had taken from her all the best treasures" of Canute the Great, 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 Aelgifu of Northampton was attempting to secure her son's position through bribes to the nobles.
Alfred and Edward's invasion
In 1036,
Alfred Atheling, Emma's son by the long dead
Ethelred, 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 anything other than a family reunion. As the "murmur was very much in favour of Harold", Alfred was captured on the direction of Godwin, now apparently on Harold's side at this point, and the men loyal to Harefoot blinded him. He subsequently died soon after due to the severity of the wounds, his bodyguard similarly treated.
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