The time has come to be more constructive. Therefore, blogging will be accomplished at regular intervals.

Since, added to my passions of fermentation, football, and fear is History. You notice I write the word with a capital letter. I will provide updates on the progress of my thesis. For starters, the working argument concerns the legitimacy, or lack thereof, enjoyed by the chief claimants to the dead King Edward the Confessors throne in 1066. Spoiler alert! The Saxons lose. I have compiled my primary sources, spent years studying the period, and have written pages upon pages on the various aspects of the fall of the Anglo-Saxon. The time has come to academically put up or shut up.

To provide the cheat sheet for those who are either not in the know or have yet to suffer through a drunken bout of listen to the boring guy at the end of the bar, I will start with the four claimants with the best case for the crown.

Edgar Aethleing – the youngster grandson of Edmund Ironsides who was briefly king before the Viking Cnut took the English crown. Factors against him were both age and the fact that he was born in Hungary due to his father’s exile.

Harald Hardrada – The total B.A. king of Norway had grown past his prime, but according to a treaty, he was to ascend to the throne of England in case Cnut’s heirs had all died out. Among the negatives for Harald were his total lack of ties to England, the fact that it had been decades since a son of Cnut ruled England, and the idea that he only sailed west because of Harold Godwinson’s brother Tostig talked/conned him into it.

Harold Godwinson – The most powerful man in the most powerful family of England. He served King Edward as his father did before him. A capable leader and general, he maintained order for the pious Edward. His sister was Edward’s wife and he enjoyed the support of the Witan (the nobility who elected Saxons kings) and a deathbed blessing of rule from Edward himself. However, the Normans seem to disagree heavily with his claim and counterclaim that Harold swore an oath to put Duke William of Normandy on the throne.

Duke William of Normandy – Not only was he an illegitimately born son of the duke, but he only held such formidable power through force and coercion. He was, however, the maternal nephew of Edward and claims Edward promised him the throne while Edward was exiled to Normandy during the reign of Cnut and his sons. The problem is only the Normans seem to remember this promise. Moreover, Edward seems to have been liberal with who he promised the crown to.