Sweyn Godwinson

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Sweyn (Old English: Swegen) Godwinson (c.1023-1052) was the oldest son of Earl Godwin of Wessex, and brother of Harold II of England. It is estimated that Swegen was born about 1023, and he must have been made Earl of Herefordshire about 1043^[1]. He was exiled from the kingdom, and died on a pilgrimage to the holy land.

There is some evidence suggesting that Swegen though himself to be son of King Canute, and that this was only settled when his mother brought forth witnesses to his parentage. It has been suggested that he was named after his alleged grandfather, Canute's father Sweyn, although there is little evidence supporting this^[2].

He signed his first royal charter in 1044^[3]. Swegen's fief of Herefordshire was that of a marcher lord. It was his job to stop the incursion of the Welshmen into England, where their occational raids had caused problems for the English for centuries. It was these raids that prompted the building of Offa's Dyke already in the eighth century.

From the start, Swegen sought peace with Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, the King of Gwynedd in northern Wales. This allowed the King of Gwynedd to gain the upper hand on Gruffydd ap Rhydderch, King of Deheubarth and his main Welsh rival^[4]. Swegen supported the King of Gwynedd with more than words of alliance. In 1046, he joined in on an invasion of Deheubarth. ^[5]

It is, according to the chronicles, on his return from this campaign Swegen commits his first fatal crime: Deeply in love, he abducts Eadgifu, the abbess of Leominster and kept her for a year. Finally he was persuaded to give her up, and was exiled. During his exile he travelled first to Flandern, then to Denmark before returning to England in 1049 to beg for forgiveness. His brother Harold and cousin Beorn first opposed Swegen's return, but Beorn eventually agreed to support him. While accompanying his cousin to meet the King, Swegen had his cousin murdered and was again exiled, condemned as a niðing, a man of no honour.^[6]

Surprisingly enough it appears that Swegen was pardoned, despite his crimes, the following year, and restored to his office. Some say it was his father who pleaded his case to the king, others that is was bishop Ealdred of Worchester who had met him in Flanders returning from his pilgrimage. In any case, his last stay in England would not be long. In 1051, Earl Godwin and all his sons were exiled from England following a dispute with the King. Swegen received the sternest judgement of them, exiling him for life. Again, he flew to Flandern - this time for never to return. It would appear he was driven by remorse for his sins, as he undertook a barefoot pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was on his return from there he was killed, although the sources differ on where.^[7]

The exile, and eventually death, of Swegen then left Harold as the heir apparent of the Godwinson family.

[edit] Family Trees

[edit] Notes

^ Barlow, Edward the Confessor p. 74 and Barlow ed., 'Vita Ædwardi' pp. 7-8
^ DeVries, The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066 p. 108, note 114
^ Codex diplomaticus aevi saxonici, IV:74
^ DeVries, The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066 p. 109
^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (C) 1046
^ DeVries, The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066 pp. 110-111
^ DeVries, The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066 pp. 112.

[edit] References

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Barlow, Frank. Edward the Confessor.
Barlow, Frank (ed.) Vita Ædwardi.
DeVries, Kelly (1999). The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066. Boydell Press, 108-114. ISBN 184383027-2.