CHAPTER TWO

There is a strange fact about William of Normandy, and that was his insistance that he had a legal right to be crowned Englands King. It was not just the fact that he could gather an army large enough to invade, as Swyn had done years before, he acted as if legal claim was very important. What had brought on that change of outlook? Danes had never bothered themselves with those legalities before. Why now? And why can I find no book that addresses that issue? Does no one wonder about it as I do?

The reason I wonder about it is that Williams actions and his reasons for those actions have a great bearing on what he did right after he entered England as its Conquerer.

We have no historian of his time that was not in his employ, ‘so to speak’, who wrote about his actions let alone comment on them. Yet all Historians since have recognized that this event changed the face of Europe. It altered the balance of Power. I can only come to the conclusion that the other great powers of the west and the near east had no idea what was taking place under their noses. We get a hint from the behaviour of Swyns men that the Wealth of England really wasn’t all that well known to the rest of the world. Maybe only a few hardy traders went across the channel. We know there was an extensive trade going on over there but what traders did was not maybe that well known to the rulers of other countries. We know there was a great deal of movement of the Church back and forth but even that may have been kept quiet by the Church not wanting this lucrative source dried up by wars and kingly greed, as well as thieves.

I can see only one reason for William needing a legal right to the Crown: The power of the Church.

After Charlemagne, the ‘Devine right of Kings’ had become recognized as a good thing by any ruler. It insured his children would get his throne. William not only wanted England for himself he wanted it for his sons. How he claimed it is one of the most convoluted histories of all time. It begins with our last Conquerers son; Canute.

I----------I KING KING RICHARD THE GOOD--M--EMMA -MARRIED-ETHELRED CANUTE I I I ROBERT (the devil) EDWARD ALFRED HAROLD HARDICANUTE I WILLIAM

Emma is married to king Ethelred, they have 2 sons, Edward and Alfred. Emma’s nephew Robert (the devil) the Norman Duke has William by a Frenchwoman named Arletta. At the age of 7 years william is made Roberts heir, although Robert does not marry Arletta and make him ligitimate which he could do if he wanted to. Robert then leaves for the holy land but dies on the way home. William is now, at the age of 8-9 years old, Duke of Normandy.

Meanwhile in England Swyn had deposed King Ethelred who flees to Normandy, to Williams court, taking his two sons; Edward and Alfred. Strangely enough Emma is not with them. Emma now Marries Swyns son Canute at the death of king Ethelred. Canute has two sons of his own, Harold and Hardicanute, by Emma.

Canute becomes King of England at the Death of Swyn. If you will recall, Canute sent his Vikings home, so it is obvious that he intended to rule as a legitamate English King.

What happens next shows that Canute and his sons did not sit on the throne securely. Ethelred was dead, his wife was now Canutes, but his sons were both living at the court of the young Duke of Normandy, William. They were both older than William but there was a kinship and a bond that must have formed at this time.

In the eyes of the British these two sons must have had status as heirs to Canutes throne. Both of these young princes attempted to land in England but were repelled. Soon after this Alfred, or maybe both sons, were invited to England, and only Alfred went, taking his young son with him, his wife having died not long before.

It is said that his mother Emma, wife to Canute had sent the letter calling him back to England. It may have been a forgery, but when he arrived he was taken by Harold and treated horribly. His eyes were put out and he soon died of the infection from the wound. William of Normandy was 9 years old at the time this took place. He would have heard about it, I’m sure.

Not long after this Harold died. About 1037 A.D. Canute Died and Emma supported her son by him for the throne of England; Hardicanute. Hardicanute had no sons that we know of, for he sent for Edward to come to him in England. He must have been totaly different than his brother Harold for Edward to trust him enough to return home. William was 12-13 years old at the time. It all happened in a very short space of time so maybe Hardicanute was ill or frail. When he died Edward was crowned King in April,1043AD. He was 40 years old at the time.

He did not recieve that Crown without help. Edward may not even have been looked on as a suitable king by the English. He had been living in Normandy since about 1018 AD. He would have been about 25 yrs old when he and his brother went to Roberts Court at Normandy. He had become Frenchified in habits, speach and attitude. He had also either become very religious or homosexual or maybe both. His behaviour towards his wife was very odd for a king.

His sponsor for the Crown was Godwin, A new character that had entered the field of events much earlier.

You will notice that in this history, it is only the bare bones of events. The facts as we have been able to corroborate them, ie; dates, people, events. I have not given background on personalities. There is a reason for this. The Histories come from so many sources, but mainly 3 of them written at the time of the Conquest. All of them by men giving personal or biased accounts. Only those events that are known fact are being given since the data is so conflicting. Especially in regards to the personality of the players, for instance, by Williams own historian, (who by the way probably never met any of the people he writes about on the English side) who was french.

What can’t be altered are recorded facts. They speak for themselves. This is important where Godwin is concerned, for we must always remember that no history of the English side of the story has been told from those times by a contemporary! A strange fact indeed.

Who was Godwin? He was an Englishman who attached himself to Canute. Canute had married him to his wife’s sister. She was a Dane. Godwin had over four children by her but we are only familiar with these ones to which he gave Danish names; Swyn, Harold, Tostig, and Edith. Godwin became the most powerful man in England after Canute.

It was Godwin who recieved Alfred when he came to England. That is all we realy know. It was Harold and his men who killed him. We cannot be sure of any complicity but after Harolds death the actions of Hardicanute and Edward are very trusting. He was still at court when Edward was crowned King. It was Godwin who tipped the scales in Edwards favour, we are told. Edward married Godwins daughter Edith.

It was only four years later that William, Duke of Normandy, a boy of 18 years of age began his career as a soldiar. In 1047A.D. he fought for supremacy and his rights at Val-es-Dunes and won.

It is now that we review williams claim to the throne. It appears to be apparant to all that Edward is not going to have an heir to the throne of England.

It escapes me why everone was so sure he would not produce an heir at this time. He is not dying. He is an avid hunter so he is not ailing or crippled. He is married to Godwins daughter. Physically he seems in good shape.

There is much written about Edwards religious sanctity, yet his behaviour is not all that sanctified. He is alien to the people of England with his french speach and manners. He made no effort to speak English yet he grew up there so he must have known the language. He keeps aloof from the English at court. He has only his Norman Coterie around him. Godwin it seems, may rule the land for him. One of the facts we know about him is that he has little to do with his wife. On his death bed he refers to her as sister. Many men were homo-sexual in those days as well as today. Many were dressed up in the robes of sanctity to hide that fact. But that did not stop men of substance from having families to inherit any property they may own.

So far the only claim that William has to the throne of England is that Edwards aged mother is a relative of his. A great aunt. Hardly a reason to expect to be made King. And yet William is so sure that he has a right to the Crown that he makes the trip to England to have Edward confirm it. This is very strange since Edward is about 50 years old at this time. He is also married. No dates or ages are given for his wife. However we can get an approximate age for her. Emma married Canute when Edward was in exile in Normandy. He was 25 years old. Godwin didn’t marry Canutes wife’s sister until after Canute took the throne. Godwin had three other children before Edith so the oldest she could be at this time is 21 or younger. William had no reason to be so sure that he was in line for the throne at this point given those circumstances. Edith was still capable of bearing a child.

And yet at this point William leaves Normandy to do just that. Confirm his succession. What did he know that we don’t?

At this point we have to wonder who gives us these facts. Only Williams chroniclers after the Conquest. All we are positive of are these facts; William went to England, for a vist. When Edward died, Harold was crowned in a hurry. He expected William to invade and claim the Crown. William had no trouble getting men to come to his banner to invade, or to get the church to side with him. They seem to confirm that there was more going on than we are aware of. The only thing I know of that would give him that assurance is if he was Edwards bastard child.
Is that possible? Is it probable?
Well, there were some oddities about Williams birth and childhood so lets take a look:

Edward and Alfred go to Roberts court when Edward is 25 years old.

Robert is not married and yet when Arletta has his son he makes no provisions at that time to legalize the boy. This could have been done at that time with no problems. This happens a year or more after Edwards arrival at his court. Sometime during this period Robert is said to have killed his brother to gain the throne.

It is hard to see Robert as being a villian since he leaves his ‘son’ seven years later to go on a pilgramage to palestine. He may well have killed his brother or somehow been involved in his death, but it was a man with a conscience that went all the way to Palestine on pilgramage.

Before setting out on this perelous journey he formally makes William his heir in front of the court. We can also read that another way. He made him his heir to the Dukedome of Normandy but did not really acknowledge him his son! That’s a totally differente thing!

If he was Edwards bastard son and Robert was Edwards friend,or lover, at this point in time Edward may not have been sure of his getting the throne of England. He was not really in line for it. Was this a grand gesture between friends to insure the child inherited a position?

If we knew he was Edwards bastard son that would certainly give him reason to feel he had a right to be in line. It would also explain the trip to England to see Edward and find out if there was to be another child or the possibility of one and if not to ask for his rights.

Godwin and his sons and his daughter Edith, Edwards wife, were banished from the court at this time by Edward, but there is no reasonable explaination for it. This whole story is told by Williams chronicler after the conquest. History’s facts later do not prove Godwin and his son Harold to be as they are painted by Williams men. Whatever went on in England for William, when he returned to Normandy he was heir to the Throne of England.. ..according to his chroniclers...

What puts this idea of him being Edwards son in doubt, is his actions later. He is already confirmed as Duke of Normandy not just by being Roberts heir, for he had to fight to establish his position, but because he proved he was strong enough to hold it. After he Conquered England he was even more powerful than ever.

If he had been Edwards Bastard son he would have confirmed it at this point. Would it not have given him more rights in the eyes of the English? I don’t believe it would have jeopordized his position in Normandy. But history says he never claimed that kinship.
Godwin and his sons returned to England.