The year 1066, in England, is known as “The Year of The Conquest.” It is the year that William the Conqueror defeated the English in battle, at Hastings, and changed England and the English way of life. On 4 January 1066, King Edward the Confessor died. His death set off a race for England’s throne (Frankforter, 256). During that time period, a witan, a group of wise men that “advised the King in his lifetime” (Howarth, 21) was also charged with appointing a successor to the throne in the event of a King’s death. Even though that may seem easy, the selection process, in the event of King Edward’s death, was extremely flawed because the witan had too many candidates to choose from and King Edward had no true heir.
One reason why the selection process for King Edward’s successor was flawed was because there was no true heir to the throne. As it happened in later ages, the crown did not automatically pass on to an heir through the rules of succession. Instead, the witan were gathered to discuss and select a new king. King Edward did not have any children and did not give any indication to the witan of whom he wanted to succeed him after his death. He did have some “relatives” that thought they had hereditary claim but it was so far fetched or those individuals were foreign that witan had a hard time considering them to be a successor. The most important reason why the selection process for King Edward’s successor was flawed was because there were too many choices for the witan to pick from. The witan took four items in to consideration when selecting a King. The new king should be a “man of proper character to rule with strength and justice,” “be of royal blood,” “be English,” and “if the dying king was respected, the witan were much inclined to elect an heir he advised” (Howarth 29). The issue with this was King Edward did not have any children nor did he give the witan any sort of hint on whom he wanted to be his successor. Obviously this led to no clear choice for the witan to choose from. However, there were at least six potential candidates to take the throne: Edgar, great-grandson of King Ethelred, Harold Earl of Wessex and his younger brother Tostig, the exiled Earl of Northumbria, Swein of Denmark, Harald Hardrada of Norway, and Duke William of Normandy. (Howarth, 29) All those choices, in their own mind, had their reasons for why they should claim the throne. However, all those choices were not as clear cut as witan would have liked. Edgar was still a boy. Harold and Tostic were not of royal blood. Swein and Harald Hardrada were foreign. William was foreign and his “hereditary claim was only by marriage: his great-aunt Emma had married two kings of England and was King Edward’s mother” (Howarth, 29). In hind-sight, William did have the strongest case with his hereditary claim but because he was foreign, it did not meet one of the things the witan took in to account when selecting a new king. However, while on his death bed, falling in and out of coma and stages of delirium, King Edward did name a successor, in a sort. That person was Harold. While on his death bed, King Edward had ordered for the assembly of his household along with the Queen, Harold, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert FitzWimark. King Edward collected himself and spoke and that night. They were the last words he spoke. After speaking to the Queen, he took Harold’s hand and said what everyone had been waiting for. King Edward said “I commend this woman (the Queen) and all the kingdom to your protection. Serve and honor her with faithful obedience as your lady and sister, which she is, and do not deprive her, as long as she lives, of any honor she has received from me. I also commend to you those men who have left their native land for love of me and served me faithfully. Take an oath of fealty from them if they wish, and protect and retain them; or send them with your safe conduct across the Channel to their own homes with all they have acquired in my service” (Howarth, 48). Of course, there were many thoughts on these words that King Edward spoke. One could assume that in that moment he was naming Harold as his successor. However, one could also assume that Harold would “carry on, as he had for so many years, as the effective governor of the country, the loyal servant of the crown, and that somebody else would arrive to be anointed king – somebody who was not present, somebody perhaps with a prior claim, or somebody chose by God’s direct intervention” (Howarth, 49). In the end, this made things more difficult in England and led to all the fighting for claim to the throne. In conclusion, although it may be looked at as an process, until the age came where the crown automatically passed down to an heir in the rules of succession, and especially in 1066 with the death of King Edward, the process to anoint a new king was flawed for two main reason. First, without a true heir, the choice could not be as cut and dry as the witan wanted it. But most importantly, there were too many people that thought they had some sort of claim to the throne which lead to complications and war for England.