my THEGNE IS Earl
1066 had two profound consequences for England’s powerful land-owning earls. Firstly those loyal to Harold Godwinson were decimated in the defeat at Hastings and their powerbases rich pickings for the Norman invader, secondly in the north those earls who stood apart from the fray due to their ties to the Norwegian claimant Harald Hardrada (many of them were of Anglo-danish descent) represented a hostile bloc naturally resistant to Norman rule. If Harold had won, he would have been wary of a fifth column in the north of England. Olaf III of Norway – Harald’s son and successor – eventually made his peace with William the Conqueror, and Harold would have been wise to do the same, perhaps even marrying one of his daughters to the Norwegian king and giving him a stake in the English throne. That would have left the English king free to bring the northerners to heel in his own sweet time.