Family of Godwin + and Gytha + THORGILSDATTER

Husband:	Godwin + (992-1053)
Wife:	Gytha + THORGILSDATTER (997- )
Children:	Sweyn (1020- )
	Tostig GODWINSON (c. 1021-1066)
	Harold II + GODWINSSON (1022-1066)
	Edith of WESSEX (1024-1075)
	Gyrth (1032- )
	Leofwine (1035- )
Marriage	1019	Halland, Sweden

Husband: Godwin +

Name:	Godwin +
Sex:	Male
Father:	Wulfnoth + CILD (937-1014)
Mother:	-
Birth	0992	Wessex, England
Occupation		Earl of Wessex
Title	frm 1019 to 1053 (age 26-61)	Earl of Wessex
Death	15 Apr 1053 (age 60-61)	Winchester, Hampshire, England

Wife: Gytha + THORGILSDATTER

Name:	Gytha + THORGILSDATTER
Sex:	Female
Father:	Thorgil + SPRAKLING (960- )
Mother:	Sigrid + (961- )
Birth	0997	Halland, Sweden

Child 1: Sweyn

Name:	Sweyn
Sex:	Male
Birth	1020

Child 2: Tostig GODWINSON

Child 3: Harold II + GODWINSSON

Child 4: Edith of WESSEX

Child 5: Gyrth

Name:	Gyrth
Sex:	Male
Birth	1032

Child 6: Leofwine

Name:	Leofwine
Sex:	Male
Birth	1035

Note on Husband: Godwin +

Godwin of Wessex (Old English: Godwine) (990 – 15 April 1053), was one of the most powerful lords in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors. Cnut made him the first Earl of Wessex. Godwin was the father of King Harold Godwinson and Edith of Wessex, wife of King Edward the Confessor.

Godwin's father was possibly Wulfnoth Cild who was a thegn of Sussex, although later documents describe his father as a churl.[1] Wulfnoth led a section of the royal fleet into piracy and as a consequence had his lands forfeited, and was exiled. In his day, Earl Godwin was seen as very much of a new man, who had been "made" by two advantageous marriages to Danish noblewomen.

 

Godwin was a major supporter of Edmund Ironside, the son of King Æthelred the Unready. While Edmund was in rebellion against his father, Cnut and his army invaded England. Edmund was killed, along with many of his supporters, but Godwin survived and pledged his loyalty to Cnut.

 

By 1018 he was an earl, probably of eastern Wessex, and then by around 1020 of all Wessex.[2] Between 1019 and 1023 he accompanied Cnut on an expedition to Denmark, where he distinguished himself, and shortly afterwards married Gytha, the sister of the Danish earl, Ulf, who was married to Cnut's sister, Estrid.[3]

 

[edit] Height of power: support of HaroldOn 12 November 1035, Cnut died. His kingdoms were divided among three rival rulers. Harold Harefoot, Cnut's illegitimate son with Ælfgifu of Northampton, seized the throne of England. Harthacnut, Cnut's legitimate son with Emma of Normandy, reigned in Denmark. Norway rebelled under Magnus the Noble. In 1035, the throne of England was reportedly claimed by Alfred Ætheling, younger son of Emma of Normandy and Æthelred the Unready, and half-brother of Harthacnut. Godwin is reported to have either captured Alfred himself or to have deceived him by pretending to be his ally and then surrendering him to the forces of Harold Harefoot. Either way Alfred was blinded and soon died at Ely.

 

In 1040, Harold Harefoot died and Godwin supported the accession of his half-brother Harthacnut to the throne of England. When Harthacnut himself died in 1042 Godwin finally supported the claim of his half-brother Edward the Confessor to the throne. Edward was another son of Emma and Æthelred, having spent most of the previous thirty years in Normandy. His reign restored the native royal house of Wessex to the throne of England.

 

[edit] Later conflicts, decline, and deathDespite his alleged responsibility for the death of Edward's brother Alfred, Godwin secured the marriage of his daughter Edith (Eadgyth) to Edward in 1045. As Edward drew advisors, nobles and priests from his former place of refuge in a bid to develop his own power base, Godwin soon became the leader of opposition to growing Norman influence. After a violent clash between the people of Dover and the visiting Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, Edward's new father-in-law, Godwin was ordered to punish the people of Dover (as he and Leofric, Earl of Mercia had done in Worcester, in Leofric's own earldom). This time, however, Godwin refused, choosing to champion his own countrymen against a (visiting) foreign ruler and his own king. Edward rightly saw this as a test of power, and managed to enlist the support of Siward, Earl of Northumbria and Earl Leofric. Godwin and his sons were exiled from the kingdom in September 1051. However, they returned the following year with an armed force, which gained the support of the navy, burghers, and peasants, so compelling Edward to restore his earldom. This however set a precedent to be followed by a rival earl some years later, and then by Godwin's own son in 1066.

 

On 15 April 1053 Godwin died suddenly, after collapsing during a royal banquet at Winchester. Some colourful accounts claim that he choked on a piece of bread while denying any disloyalty to the king.[4] However this appears to be later Norman propaganda. Contemporary accounts indicate that he just had a sudden illness, possibly a stroke.[5]

 

His son Harold succeeded him as Earl of Wessex, an area then covering roughly the southernmost third of England. With the death of Earl Siward (1055) and later Earl Ælfgar (1062), the children of Godwin were poised to assume sole control. Tostig was helped into the earldom of Northumbria, thus controlling the north. The Mercian earl was sidelined, especially after Harold and Tostig broke the Welsh-Mercian alliance in 1063. Harold later succeeded Edward the Confessor and became King of England in his own right. At this point, both Harold's remaining brothers in England were earls in their own right, Harold was himself king and in control of Wessex, and he had married the sister of Earl Edwin of Mercia and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria (who had succeeded his brother Tostig). Godwin's family looked set to inaugurate a new royal dynasty.

 

[edit] Children1.Sweyn Godwinson, Earl of Herefordshire (c. 1023-1052). At some point he declared himself an illegitimate son of Cnut the Great but this is considered to be a false claim.

2.Harold II of England (c. 1022-14 October 1066)

3.Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria (c. 1026-25 September 1066)

4.Edith of Wessex, (c. 1030-19 December 1075), queen consort of Edward the Confessor

5.Gyrth Godwinson (c. 1030-14 October 1066)

6.Gunhilda of Wessex, a nun (c. 1035-1080)

7.Ælfgifu of Wessex (c. 1035)

8.Leofwine Godwinson, Earl of Kent (c. 1035-14 October 1066)

9.Wulfnoth Godwinson (c. 1040)

[edit] Family TreesHouse of Wessex family tree

Godwin family tree

Cnut's family tree

[edit] In popular cultureGodwin has been portrayed by Torin Thatcher in the film Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955) and by Bill Wallis in an episode of the British educational TV series Historyonics entitled "1066" (2004). Lewis Collins is set to portray him in upcoming movie 1066 (2011). Godwin is also the lead character of Justin Hill's novel, Shieldwall (2011).

Note on Wife: Gytha + THORGILSDATTER

Gytha Thorkelsdottir, also called Githa, was the daughter of Thorgil Sprakling (also called Thorkel).[1] She married the Anglo-Saxon nobleman Godwin of Wessex.

 

They had a large family together, of whom five sons became earls at one time or another, three remaining earls in 1066:

 

1.Sweyn Godwinson, Earl of Herefordshire, (d. 1052). At some point he declared himself an illegitimate son of Canute the Great but this is considered to be a false claim.

2.Harold II of England, (c. 1022 - October 14, 1066)

3.Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria (c. 1026 - September 25, 1066)

4.Edith of Wessex, (d. December 19, 1075), queen consort of Edward the Confessor

5.Gyrth Godwinson, (c. 1030 - October 14, 1066)

6.Gunhilda of Wessex, a nun (c. 1035-1080)

7.Ælfgifu of Wessex, (c. 1035)

8.Leofwine Godwinson, Earl of Kent (c. 1035 - October 14, 1066)

9.Wulfnoth Godwinson, (c. 1040)

Two of their sons, Harold II and Tostig Godwinson, faced each other at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, where Tostig was killed. Less than a month later, three of her sons, Harold II, Gyrth, and Leofwine, were killed at the Battle of Hastings.

 

Shortly after the Battle of Hastings, Gytha was living in Exeter and may have been the cause of that city's rebellion against William the Conqueror in 1067, which resulted in his laying siege to the city.[2] She pleaded unsuccessfully with him for the return of the body of her slain son Harold II. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Gytha left the Kingdom of England after the Norman conquest of England, together with the wives or widows and families of other prominent Anglo-Saxons, all the Godwin family estates having been confiscated by William. Little else is known of Gytha's life or future, although it is probable that she went to Scandinavia (like her granddaughter and namesake), where she had relatives.

 

Her surviving (and youngest) son Wulnoth lived nearly all his life in (pleasant) captivity in Normandy until The Conqueror's death in 1087. Only her eldest daughter Queen Edith (d. 1075) still held some power (however nominal) as widow of Edward the Confessor.