King Edward The Confessor
1003 – 1066 · Generation VI · King of the English (r. 1042–1066) · House of Wessex
Edward the Confessor (1003–1066). King of the English (r. 1042–1066). Married Edith of Wessex in 1045. Builder of Westminster Abbey; his childless death opened the great succession crisis of 1066. Son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, he restored the House of Wessex to the throne after the years of Danish rule, succeeding his own half-brother Harthacnut — and proved the dynasty’s last reigning king. His epithet marks a saint who was no martyr, and the traditional image is of an unworldly, pious man; biographers counter with a ruler energetic, resourceful, and at times ruthless, though some argue that the Godwin family’s return from exile in 1052 effectively ended his exercise of power. Pope Alexander III canonised him in 1161, and he stood among England’s national saints until Edward III took up Saint George around 1350; his feast day, 13 October, is kept by the Church of England and the Catholic Church alike.
One of 21 people of House of Wessex (until 1093) in this archive. Alfred’s line: kings of Wessex who became the first kings of all England.
Line of descent: King Alfred the Great → King Edward The Elder → King Edmund → King Edgar → King Aethelred II The Unready → King Edward The Confessor.
Parents
- King Aethelred II The Unready (966 – 1016)
- Emma of Normandy (985 – 1052)
Siblings
- King Edmund II lronside (990 – 1016) (half)
- King Harthacnut (1018 – 1042) (half)
Partners
- Married Edith of Wessex (1025 – 1075) in 1045
Life
- 1003 — Born
- 1042 — Harthacanute dies and is succeeded by Edward the Confessor, son of Aethelred II.
- 1045 — Married Edith of Wessex
- 1045 — Edward marries Edith daughter of Earl Godwin of Wessex
- 1051 — Edward quarrels with Godwin and banishes the rebellious Godwin family from England. Edward promises the throne to William, Duke of Normandy.
- 1053 — Godwin’s son, Harold, becomes principal adviser to the King.
- 1057 — Edward, son of Edmund Ironside and potential heir to the throne, returns to England but dies mysteriously
- 1066 — Died
- 1066 — Edward dies and Harold Godwinson is chosen as successor, but William of Normandy declares the throne was promised to him.