Abstract

In September of 1051 England was threatened with civil war when Earl Godwin of Wessex, together with his sons Swein and Harold, gathered their followers at Beverstone, Gloucestershire, in an attempt to challenge the authority of King Edward the Confessor. That open conflict did not erupt was almost certainly due to the earl's realization that Edward had the support of a majority of the Anglo-Saxon nobles. Confronted with defeat and probable trial for his actions, Godwin and most of his family fled the realm. The queen, Godwin's daughter Edith, was sent to dwell in retirement at the abbey of Wherwell. It has generally been held that the crisis came as a consequence of the earl of Wessex's anger over the increasing influence of the Norman faction at court, a mounting irritation finally fanned into open rebellion by the clash of the military retinue of Count Eustace of Boulogne, Edward's brother-in-law, and the citizens of Dover. Ordered by the king to punish the townspeople, Godwin refused, contending that the guilt was not theirs, and began to rally his supporters, apparently convinced “that the time had come for a trial of strength with his enemies.” jQuery.click { event.preventDefault(); })