Who was first made king in January 1066 after Edward the Confessor's death?

Who was first made king in January 1066 after Edward the Confessor's death?

• A. William of Normandy.
• B. Harold Godwinson.
• C. Edgar the Aethling.
• D. Harald Hardrada.

Answer: (B)

After Edward the Confessor died, the English nobility chose a successor rather than following a strict hereditary line, and the most powerful and supported candidate at that moment was Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex. He was quickly proclaimed king by the Witan and crowned at Westminster, making him the first king installed in January 1066. This reflects how Anglo-Saxon kingship often depended on broad noble support and formal recognition by the leading churchmen and nobles of the realm. William of Normandy would later press his own claim and invade, Harald Hardrada would come from Norway with a separate claim, and Edgar the Aethling, Edward’s great-nephew and a youth at the time, had a claim but lacked sufficient support to ascend the throne in January 1066. The immediate response, however, was Harold Godwinson’s coronation and kingship.

After Edward the Confessor died, the English nobility chose a successor rather than following a strict hereditary line, and the most powerful and supported candidate at that moment was Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex. He was quickly proclaimed king by the Witan and crowned at Westminster, making him the first king installed in January 1066. This reflects how Anglo-Saxon kingship often depended on broad noble support and formal recognition by the leading churchmen and nobles of the realm.

William of Normandy would later press his own claim and invade, Harald Hardrada would come from Norway with a separate claim, and Edgar the Aethling, Edward’s great-nephew and a youth at the time, had a claim but lacked sufficient support to ascend the throne in January 1066. The immediate response, however, was Harold Godwinson’s coronation and kingship.