An alternate English history - Harold is victorius

[MichOrion]

This AAR is an alternate history AAR. In this AAR William was not successful at Hastings and the House Cedric continued to rule England. The settings are Normal/Normal. I am using Sarmatia1871’s mod Engla Land (1066) and thank him for doing the heavy lifting. I have added a few characters and a few minor dynastic ties but otherwise the mod remains ‘as-is’. I am also using several graphics mods and cannot remember them all. If you see your work here I thank you for it and regret not giving you credit for it. I am not an expert of this time period nor do I claim to be. I used the internet, information from Crusader Kings, the book “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” by Winston Churchill, the book “Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon King” by Ian W Walker, a few of my textbooks from college and high school and information from my local Army library as sources. I have yet to play any of this game and hope to do so this week. As I am a soldier in the field at the moment updates may be sporadic at times. I do have a hospital stay and some recovery time in my near future so it appears that a new AAR will occupy my time at home. Criticism and comments are welcome and encouraged.

Part 1 - Prelude

Harold was the son of Godwin, the Earl of Wessex. His mother was Gytha Thorkelsdottir his father’s second wife. Gytha was a great-grandchild of Harold Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway. Harold was the eldest of four brothers. The next brother was Tostig, who would be Earl of Northumbria until a rebellion in 1065. Harold supported the rebels instead of his brother due to unjust taxes in Northumbria. This divided the family and drove Tostig into an alliance with Harald Hardrada of Norway. Harold had two other brothers named Leofwine and Gyrth both of which fought with him at Hastings and become Earl of Kent and Earl of East Anglia respectively after William’s defeat. Harold had one sister, Edith of Wessex, who was married to Edward the Confessor.

As a result of Edith’s marriage to the King, Harold was made Earl of East Anglia in 1045. Harold joined his father in exile in 1051 but helped him return the next year. After Godwin died in 1053, Harold became the most powerful Earl in England. Harold was victorious against Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales in 1063 while fighting for Edward the Confessor. Gruffydd would be killed by his own troops in 1063 after his defeat. His wife Edith would marry Harold in 1066 and they would have twin sons Harold and Ulf. Even though Harold legally married Edith in 1066 for twenty years he was married in the Danish manner to Ealdgyth Swan-neck and had six children with her. The marriage was accepted by the people even though Ealdgyth was considered his mistress by the church. Their children were not treated as illegitimate. His marriage to Edith was a brilliant political move as Edith was the daughter of Alfgar, earl of Mercia. Alfgar’s son, Morcar would become Earl of Northumbria after Tostig’s removal as Earl. This marriage would strengthen the bounds between the Earls and the King.

In 1064 Harold was shipwrecked in Ponthieu en-route to free family members held hostage since Godwin’s exile in 1051. Harold was held hostage by Guy Count of Ponthieu. William, Duke of Normandy arrived and demanded his release which was granted. William and Harold then went into battle against William’s enemy, Conan II, Duke of Brittany. Conan was pursued from Dol de Bretagne, then to Rennes and finally to Dinan where he surrendered. William knighted Harold for his service. According to Norman sources Harold swore an oath to William to support his claim to the English throne.

Edward the Confessor made Harold his successor on his deathbed, January 5, 1066 and the Witan approved his nomination. His coronation took place at Westminster Abbey the following day. England was then invaded by Harald Hardrada allied with Harold’s brother Tostig and William, Duke of Normandy. William thought he was Edward’s successor but this claim was not supported by the Anglo-Saxon Earls. Harold and the Earls attempted to get Edward the Exile, son of Edmund Ironside from Hungary in 1057. Unfortunately they were not successful and the childless Edward made Harold his heir. This act is viewed by the Normans as Harold breaking his oath and justified Williams claim to the throne. Harald’s claim was that because he was King of Norway he was the successor to the English throne through Canute’s line. He promised a third of England to Tostig who was humiliated by his brother in 1065.

Harald’s army landed in Yorkshire on September, 1066 defeating Edwin and Morcar at the Battle of Fulford, near York. Harold quickly marched to York and defeated Harald and Tostig five days later at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Both Harald Hardrada and Tostig were killed in the battle. Harold now marched his army 240 miles to meet William three days later near Hastings. Harold arrived in London on October 12th and was persuaded by his brothers to stay in London and rest and refit his army. Harold had lost his archers and many of his Huscarls, his royal troops and bodyguards. The thegns (land-holding aristocrats) and Harold’s brothers’ armies were exhausted from their victory against the Vikings. Harold and his brothers remained in London for two weeks as William pillaged and burning Wessex. This tortured Harold and he desperately wanted to come to his people’s aid but was again stopped by the thegns and his brothers. When Harold finally arrived to fight William on October 27th his army was strengthened and rested. He had received reinforcements from his brother-in-laws Edwin and Morcar. The armies met on Senlac Hill and where evenly matched. William attempted to draw the Saxons down from the high ground atop the hill where Edwin and Morcar’s archers where inflicting heavy losses on William’s men. William first attempted to breach the Saxon’s shield wall with a frontal attack but was not successful and driven back. William then ordered his flank to begin a feigned retreated to draw the Saxon’s off the hill. Harold’s army did not take the bait and remained disciplined. Then the Norman’s discipline failed and the feigned retreat become the real thing and the Norman army broke and headed toward Hastings back to their ships. Unknown to William’s men he had sunk his ships to prevent his troops from deserting. When his men heard of this they began turning on the nobles and fleeing into the countryside. William lost his Briton allies and most of his Flemish troops he was only able to keep command of his Norman troops. They made their stand on the white cliffs outside of Hastings waiting for Norman ships that never arrived to carry them back to Normandy. William inflicted heavy losses on the brave Saxon veterans but would lose a very close battle and be killed to nearly the last man. William was captured by Harold’s men and killed before Harold could see him. Harold was saddened by his friend’s death and had plans to take William as prisoner in his court as a head of state. Normandy passed on to Robert William’s son and was rendered harmless by the loss of so many Norman nobility.

Harold then turned his attention toward stabilizing his country and rewarding his nobles for their service. He gave to his brother Leofwine, Kent and to his brother Gyrth, East Anglia. While the northern Earls are independent Harold has strong ties with them. Harold gave Hereward the exiled warrior Lincolnshire for his service to him in the Battle of Hastings against the Normans. Hereward came from Europe behind William and brought with him a small band of mercenaries and valuable information about Normandy and William’s forces. It was Hereward who knew of William’s decision to sink his ships and informed Harold. Harold also had to worry about the Welsh to the west and the Scots to the north who correctly sensed weakness to the south. Harold had enemies on the continent as well. The Normans, Flemish and Briton nobles had revenge on their minds after so many of their nobles where killed with William at Hastings. Harold may have won two miraculous victories in the space of two months but he faced the greater challenge of uniting the Earls and keeping the nobles and the Witan loyal to him.

[MichOrion]

Images for Part 1

Harold Godwineson



His father, Godwin of Wessex



His brother, Tostig Godwineson



His brother, Leofwine Godwineson



His brother, Gyrth Godwineson



Harold's wife, Edith Leofricson



Harold 'common-law' wife, Ealdgyth 'Swan-neck'

[MichOrion]

Images (cont)

William, Duke of Normandy



Harald Hardrada, King of Norway



Edwin, Earl of Mercia, Edith's brother



Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, Edith's brother



Hereward the Exile

[MichOrion]

Images (cont)

England after the battle Hastings, 1066



Harold's family tree





Kings of England from Alfred the great

[MichOrion]

Hope I linked the pics correctly, let me know if you cannot see them. I know there is another alternate history of England thread on the first page but I like Harold. Is this the first time 2 alternate history English AARs are on the first page? I think so.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Well, mine has Edgar Aetheling as king of England so there's not too much overlap. So:

Wooo! Go Saxons!

(By the way, how's Edgar doing in this one?)

[English Patriot]

Sounds great! Good choice on the Saxons :P

Good luck and keep the updates coming!

[MichOrion]

Judas Maccabeus : Edgar is with Harold's court. Is this accurate? I was not sure where to put him. I'd like to see him challenge for the throne.

English Patriot : Thanks, I will try to update regularly.

[Veldmaarschalk]

Interesting set-up. Though maybe you should ask a moderator to fix the typo in the title (Herold instead of Harold)

[RGB]

Interesting. Let's see what happens next.

Saxons seem to be so popular...

[CrackdToothGrin]

Sweetness...

I wanted to do something like this myself, but I was unaware of any mod for it...

Subscribed

[Judas Maccabeus]

Originally Posted by MichOrion

Judas Maccabeus : Edgar is with Harold's court. Is this accurate? I was not sure where to put him. I'd like to see him challenge for the throne.

That's a very good question. Harold would have undoubtedly seen Edgar as a threat--he had a better claim to the throne, after all--so he might have exiled him to Scotland or back to Kiev; and Edgar might have exiled himself to get away from Harold. Then again, Harold might have kept Edgar in London in order to keep an eye on him. There are innumerable possibilities and you can pick your favorite

One of the reasons I picked Edgar to become king is so I wouldn't have to figure out what to do with him.

[MichOrion]

Part 2

Harold quickly gained the support of his allies against William. The Earls of Mercia, Northumbria and Northampton as well as Hereward of Lincolnshire as pledged allegiance to Harold in 1067. In February of 1067 Harold joined his family with the House of Wessex by marring his eldest son, Godwin to Margaret, granddaughter of Edmund Ironside and the niece of Edward the Confessor. Their children would now be the union of the Godwines and the House of Cedric. The Saxons, with a short interruption from the Danes from 1016 to 1042 had been Kings of England for over two hundred years. Missing from the wedding where Margaret’s mother, Agatha of Kiev and her brother Edgar who had claim to the English throne through Edmund Ironsides and their father, Edward the Exile. Agatha and Edgar where part of the court of Malcolm, King of Scotland. Agatha died soon after Margaret’s marriage. After her death Edgar starting suggesting to Malcolm that an expedition to the south to remove Harold would be a success and a great benefit to Scotland. Early in 1067 Harold’s second son, Edgar took a Danish noble named Katarina as his bride. Edgar was a brilliant general and would serve his father and brother in the years to come. Also in 1067 Harold’s second daughter, Aelfwyn married Olaf, Prince of Denmark and fourth in line to the crown. This brought the two kingdoms together again and Svend, King of Denmark would correspond with Harold many times throughout both of their lives. Some of these letters survive to this day and are currently cared for by the British Museum in London.



Harold's son, Godwin



His wife Margaret

In the years following Hastings Harold did much to improve the economy and reform the collection of taxes. Harold asked for and received a special tax to improve the land from the Witan. New farms sprang up where swamp had been, royal fisheries where constructed and fortifications where built to prevent another attack from the sea. He revised the earlier codes from Alfred and Edward. These revisions favored the nobility and clergy and they gave their loyalty to Harold. At the end of 1068 Harold took in many refugees from Normandy where there was a great plague and famine in France. This act of mercy and compassion toward the Normans made them loyal to Harold and not Robert, Duke of Normandy who looked powerless to help his people. Many Norman nobles who had holdings in England moved their court to England in 1068 further weakening Robert.

Two days after Christmas in 1069 Harold made his son, Godwin the Earl of Wessex, just like his grandfather. This move made Godwin the most powerful Earl in England just behind the Earl of Northumbria. Throughout the years Harold continued to have children, mostly boys with his legal wife, Edith as well as one son, Eadbert with Ealdgyth, his former common-law wife. Although Edith was accepting of this son the clergy and nobility where not and Eadbert was viewed as a bastard. By 1077 Harold would have nine boys and two girls.

Early in 1075 Harold’s stepson Maredudd, King of Deheubarth would fight his cousins over the Welsh throne. His cousin Bleddyn Cynfyn was attempting to be King of all of Wales. He was successful in November 1175 when Maredudd was killed in battle and his army defeated. Bleddyn’s victory did not last long as he died, possibly by poison in December 1075. After his death the Wales was again broken into small kingdoms again. His son Mareddud became King of Gwynedd and his cousin Cadwgan became King of Deheubarth. This move angered Cadwgan Cynfyn, Bleddyn’s other son as he thought he would be crowned as well, instead he was given the newly formed Duchy of Warwick. Warwick was mostly Anglo-Saxon and shared a border with England as a result of this close economic arrangement and Cadwgan’s alienation with his family he joined Harold as his vassal as the Duke of Warwick on New Year’s Eve 1075. As a ducal title this made Cadwgan the most powerful man besides the King in England. This should have meant a possible appointment to King when Harold passed. In reality though he was Welsh and the Witan at this point would never allow a Welshman to be King of England. Using the death of his stepson as justification for war Harold, his son Godwin and his brilliant son Edgar invade the Kingdom of Deheubarth in June of 1076. The Kingdom was easily defeated in a few days and completely subdued in six months. Harold made Godwin the Duke of Deheubarth in February 1076. Now that he possessed a ducal title, Godwin was now easily the most powerful man besides his father in England. The granting of a ducal title and the Norman immigration into England started the shift from a Danish/Saxon form of government to a more Norman/Frankish one.



Maredudd, King of Deheubarth, Harold's stepson



Bleddyn Cynfyn, the brief King of Wales



Maredudd, Bleddyn's son



Cadwgan, Duke of Warwick

The crusading movement began on May 14, 1077 with Pope Alexander II calling the First Crusade to capture Jerusalem from the Heretics. Harold hardly noticed the announcement. Along with his father and Edward he would toy with Eastern Orthodoxy for most of his life. As a result he paid little attention to Rome and its Pope.



England, 1077



Harold's family tree, 1077

[RGB]

Excellent family tree, clear and sraightforward description of events, and a nice overview of the mess that is Mediaeval Wales.

Eastern Orthodoxy?

[stnylan]

Looking very good. He's not lacking in allies so far.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Originally Posted by RGB

Eastern Orthodoxy?

The late Saxons had very close relations to Russia for no particularly satisfactory reason. Edgar Aetheling and his father Edward the Exile spent time in Kiev (and Edgar was born there); Harold's daughter married a Russian prince; plus a few other points of note. I suppose an interest in the religion (which in any case had been officially divided from Catholicism for a grand total of 12 years by 1066 ) could explain it.

Originally Posted by MichOrion

The granting of a ducal title and the Norman immigration into England started the shift from a Danish/Saxon form of government to a more Norman/Frankish one.

Oh, great, an influx of Normans. We need this like a hole in the head.

[RGB]

Originally Posted by Judas Maccabeus

The late Saxons had very close relations to Russia for no particularly satisfactory reason. Edgar Aetheling and his father Edward the Exile spent time in Kiev (and Edgar was born there); Harold's daughter married a Russian prince; plus a few other points of note. I suppose an interest in the religion (which in any case had been officially divided from Catholicism for a grand total of 12 years by 1066 ) could explain it.

Oh I know that. Gyta was the wife of Vladimir Monomach. I just never knew there was a religious interest.

Kiev was one of the richest cities in Europe and always hiring mercenaries; also it was on the shortest, safest way to Constantinople. They knew "vikings" well and there was an entire district full of Northmen in Kiev (like there were Jewish, Armenian and Polish districts). I thought that was explanation enough. Now I'll have to look into it.

[Sarmatia1871]

Excellent - good to see someone is playing using the mod!

[MichOrion]

RGB - Read this article here about the possiblity of orthodox saxons. http://orthodoxwiki.org/Harold_of_England Also see the thread for the mod at http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...2&page=2&pp=20 maybe orthodox is not the right term for the English church. Any suggestions to how I could edit the text to show this complex relationship better? I just want to show that Rome did not have dominance over the pre-Norman church and that the Saxons would not care about papal decrees. William did receive a blessing from Rome for his invasion to gain the support of the Norman barons etc. Maybe I'll mention that in the text as well.

stnylan - Thanks for reading!

Sarmatia1871 - Like I said, thank you for doing most of the work for me. I only had to make a few additions changes to suit my interpretation of the events instead of doing the whole thing by scratch. Any hope for another version for 1.07?

Playing some more tonight, hopefully I'll post an update soon. I'm not playing ahead of the AAR at all right now. I try not to because I'll forget stuff. Today and yesterday where busy with Army stuff, you know making the world safe for democracy one latrine at a time.

[MichOrion]

PART 3

While Harold was fighting in Wales, Edgar would cement his position in Scotland. Through his own ability and cunning he would be made Duke of Lothian by Malcolm King of Scotland. Edgar had also swayed Malcolm to take a more aggressive stance toward Harold. Harold had other problems with family members besides his daughter-in-law’s brother. His second youngest son by Eadgyth, Osric was not as capable as his brothers. He did not do as well with his studies even though he tried hard. Osric was also easily swayed by his friends who would manipulate Osric for their own gain. In May 1077 Osric’s friends convinced him that he should hold a place in his father’s court. Osric came before his father and angrily demanded control of the royal treasury and his father’s house. Harold refused as Osric was an incompetent accountant and threw him out of his chamber. Osric left for Ireland the next day and made his way to the Isle of Man, bitter toward his father and his older brothers. Edgar, Harold’s second son meanwhile had troubles of his own. His Danish wife Katarina never could get used to life in England. She spoke no English or French and could only communicate with her husband and his family. She despised the bleak Salisbury plain where Harold made his court. She also could not adapt to the busy court life as the wife of the King’s general. Edgar was a hard man to live with as well. He was a hard taskmaster both in the field and at home with his family. They also had not had much luck with children, losing three out of six to illness. All these pressures where too much for Katarina and in October of 1077 she started to behave strangely. It is said that she began speaking in tongues and having religious visions. By December of the same year she would be kept out of sight from the rest of the court.



Edgar the clamant

Maredudd the King of Gwynedd had been raiding the newly acquired Duchy of Deheubarth and his brother, the Duke of Warwick. Harold however did not want a war with is neighbor even though his wife Edith was still mourning her son Maredudd, the former King of Deheubarth who was killed in battle by the former King of Gwynedd. Harold was attempting a diplomatic solution until his eldest son and the successor to the crown, Godwin was kidnapped and held for ransom by Welsh raiders that had traveled way into Wessex and captured Godwin while he was hunting. Harold sent a party led by Edgar his son and trusted general to liberate Godwin. The plan successes and Godwin was returned to Wessex. Before his return Harold invaded Gwynedd on August 6, 1077. The Welsh fought bravely but could not withstand the Saxons from Wessex, Warwick and Essex. Both of Harold’s sons fought bravely and brilliantly. Edgar would now be considered one of the best generals of his time. Harold was crowned the King of Wales on March 6, 1078. He would immediately make Edgar Duke of Gwynedd and his other son Ceowulf, Earl of Dyfed. This war against Gwynedd further strained relations with Scotland as Malcolm was allied with Maredudd. Soon after Harold coronation all English diplomats would be expelled from Scotland and all lands owned by Saxons would be seized by Malcolm. War with Scotland seemed inevitable. The former King of Gwynedd strangely was allowed to stay in Wales with the court of Edgar, the new Duke of Gwynedd.



Edgar, Duke of Gwynedd



Ceowulf, Earl of Dyfed

By this time Harold was seen less and less. He left the running of the kingdom to his sons and had little to do with his court after the war with the Welsh. On July 19, 1079 his first wife Eadgyth died. Harold was said to be heartbroken and died a few months later in his sleep on October 30, 1079. Harold named his son, Godwin his successor before the second Welsh war and he was approved by the Witan as King. He would be crowned in Bristol on November 1, 1079. His father would be buried at the church of Waltham Holy Cross in Essex which he reestablished in 1060.



England at Harold's death



The family tree in 1079