| Ruler | Country | Start of Reign | Age at 1050 |
| Edward the Confessor | England | 1042 | ? | | 1051 | Edward abolishes miltary tax  | | 1051 | Edward expels the Godwine family | | 1052 May | Godwines invade England | | 1053 | Edward the Exile invited to England |
| | Macbeth | Scotland | 1040 | ? | | Lulach | Scotland | 1057 | ? | | Malcolm III | Scotland | 1058 | ? | | 1057 Aug | MacBeth is killed and Lulach becomes king | | 1058 Mar | Malcolm III becomes King of the Scots |
| | Henry I | France | 1031 | ? |
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Edward the Confessor and Earl Godwine
| 1050 | | Sweyn pardoned | | | | Sweyn Godwineson was pardoned and allowed to return to England. | | 1051 | | Edward expels the Godwine family | | | | An incident occurred when Eustace II Count of Boulogne visited Edward the Confessor, his brother-in-law. The incident occurred in Dover where a fight broke out between the Norman visitors and the locals. Several people were killed. The area of Dover was under the control of the Godwine family and Edward the Confessor, who blamed the people of Dover for the fight, told Godwine to deal with them. Godwine refused to obey Edward's order and in response Edward raised an army and forced the Godwine family into exile. | | 1052 | May | Godwines invade England | | | | Godwine, Earl of Wessex, his son Harold and a large fleet sailed up the Thames to London forcing Edward to reinstate them into their previous positions of power. | | 1053 | Apr | Harold becomes Earl of Wessex | | | | Godwine, Earl of Wessex, died and Harold inherited his title. |
Reasons for the Norman Invasion
| 1053 | | Edward the Exile invited to England | | | | Harold Godwinson invited the exiled Edward the Exile back to England in the hope that he could claim the English throne from Edward the Confessor. | | 1057 | | Edward (the Exile) dies | | | | Edward the Exile died in mysterious circumstances. Edward was the rightful heir the throne of England and Harold, Earl of Wessex benefited from Edward's death. |
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| People who played important roles in this time period |
Macbeth (Scottish King)
Shakespeare based his play on this Scottish King. Macbeth reigned from 1040 to 1057. He was killed by Malcolm, the son of Duncan I. Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach.
Godwineson, Sweyn
Sweyn was the first son of Godwine, Earl of Wessex.
Leofric (Bishop of Exeter)
Leofric was the first Bishop of Exeter after the see had been moved from Crediton.
Godwine (Earl of Wessex)
King Canute gave Godwine the title of Earl of Wessex and Godwine very quickly rose to be extremely powerful. In 1042 Edward the Confessor married Godwine's daughter Edith and from then on the Earl more or less ran the country. He opposed Edward's Norman advisors and in 1051 the Godwines revolted aga (more...)
Eustace (II, Count of Boulogne)
Eustace of Boulogne married Godgifu the daughter of Athelred the Unready and sister of Edward the Confessor.
HAROLD (II, Godwinson, King of England 1066)
ExpelledHarold was the son of Godwine, the Earl of Wessex and was expelled from England with the rest of his family in 1051 by the King, Edward the Confessor. A year later the King was forced to accept the family back when they sailed up the Thames to London with a large force of men. In (more...)
WILLIAM (I, the Conqueror, King of England 1066-1087)
Origins William was born in 1028. He was the son of Robert, Duke of Normandy and Herleva. Because Robert and Herleva were not married, William was known to his contemporaries as William 'the Bastard'. To us he is known as William the Conqueror. In 1035 at the age of seven or eight, William (more...)
Edward (The Exile)
Edward was the son of Edmund II (Ironside), king of England. When Edmund died and Canute became king in 1016, Edward fled to Hungary where he married into the country's ruling family. In 1053 Edward was invited back to England by (Harold Godwinson / Edward the Confessor ?) with his three children. E (more...)
Lulach (Scottish King)
Scottish king from 1057 until 1058. He was the stepson of Macbeth and became king of the Scots after Macbeth was killed by Malcolm. Lulach was also killed by Malcolm who became the next king. Lulach was known as the 'fool' or the 'simple'.
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| Battles that took place in this time period |
No battles found for this time period in the current database. |
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| Building work undertaken in this time period |
No building work found for this time period in the current database. |
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