Edward the Confessor
- King of England AD 1042-1066.
Edward (c. AD 1003–1066), son of the Norman Emma and the Anglo-Saxon king Ethelred was sent to Normandy at a young age, after the Danish King Canute the Great (c. AD 996-1035) overtook his father's throne and married his mother. After almost 30 years in exile, Edward returned to England where, in AD 1042, he was crowned king. Edward was married to Edith from the powerful Godwin family but they had no children and the English throne passed to Edith's brother Harold Godwinson when Edward died in AD 1066.
But the transfer of the English throne to Harold Godwinson gave problems. Edward's many years in France had a great influence on his rule and he was known for speaking more French than English, for surrounding himself with French advisors and for using Norman troops in England. This was perhaps the reason that William the Conqueror, on Edward's death in AD 1066, maintained that he had been promised the English throne by Edward.
Fact:
Birth: 1003
Death: 1066
Buried: Westminster Abbey
King: 1040 - 1066
Parents: Ethelred the Unready and Emma
Spouse: Edith of Godwin
Louise Kæmpe Henriksen