Canute's second marriage, that the crown was to go to a son of Emma. Such a son there was, Hardicanute by name, who had been sent by his father to act as his viceroy in Denmark.

The question now arose-who was to succeed Canute? Hardicanute had the better right, but he was away, and he showed no desire to return. He preferred to remain, for the present at least, in Denmark, which was indeed threatened by the new rulers of Norway. Harold, on the other hand, had the advantage of being on the spot. A council was held soon after Canute's death to determine this matter of the succession, and its deliberations showed a great difference of opinion. Godwin, the Earl of Wessex, supported the claim of Hardicanute. But Wessex stood alone; the rest of England, led by Leofwin of Mercia, took up the cause of Harold; London, where a great Danish colony had now been established, was strongly in his favour. Finally a compromise was agreed upon. Mercia and Northumbria, in other words, the Midlands and the North, to which we should probably add, the East of England, were to belong to Harold; Hardicanute was to have the South and West. Till he should return from Denmark, Emma, holding her Court at Winchester, was to act as regent. The administration really lay in the hands of Godwin.

But there were other claimants to the throne of whom the assembly at Oxford took no accountEmma's two sons by Ethelred-the Athelings, Alfred and Edward. They had resided from early childhood at the Court of their kinsman, the Duke of Normandy,

1 The son of St. Olaf had been recalled to the throne.

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and they now made an attempt to recover their inheritance. The history of this attempt is involved from beginning to end in much obscurity. The Atheling Edward is said to have sailed from Normandy with a fleet of forty ships, to have landed near Southampton, and to have made his way to his mother at Winchester. But neither she nor the people generally gave him a welcome. His Norman followers, too, began to plunder the country, and excited much hatred. Finally matters began to have so threatening a look, that Edward retreated to the coast, embarked, and made his way back to Normandy. The story may be true; but if it is, it shows Edward in a much more vigorous character than we ever find him in again.

About the adventurer of the other Atheling, Alfred, we know more; but here, also, much is doubtful. The young prince certainly landed in England. It is equally certain that he was seized, and cruelly put to death. He did not come with a large military force; he seems, in fact, to have declined the offer of help from Baldwin of Flanders, and to have relied on the support that his countrymen would give him as the son of their old king, Ethelred. The commonly

accepted story runs that he landed at Dover; that at Guildford he was met by Godwin, who pretended to welcome him, and hospitably entertained him and his followers. Then we are told that during the night Godwin's men seized and bound the whole party, that some were killed, and others sold as slaves; that Alfred himself was sent to King Harold at London ; that Harold caused him to be blinded, and sent him

to Ely, where he died, the weapon with which his sight had been destroyed having wounded his brain. Finally, we are told that Godwin acted in the matter as Harold's agent. That many people at the time, and afterwards, believed that Godwin had some share in the deed is manifest. The earl, indeed, was formally accused and tried on the charge about four years afterwards. But it has been pointed out that Godwin was not a minister of Harold, but the principal counsellor of Hardicanute, or rather of the Queen-regent Emma. Further, we have to remember that the trial of Godwin, when the case was regularly examined, resulted in his acquittal. And, finally, we must take into account that, even if the story is true, Alfred did but meet the fate which an unsuccessful pretender must expect. That death was inflicted in a barbarous way is doubtless true; the agreement of testimony on this point is too strong to be set aside. But there is no strong evidence to bring home this cruelty to Godwin, and we may fairly give credit to his own persistent and solemn denials of any guilt in the matter. There is no difficulty, on the other hand, in crediting King Harold with this or any other atrocity. Still it is not unlikely that Godwin had some share, not in the Atheling's death, but in his arrest. Alfred's attempt had it succeeded, would have been as fatal to Hardicanute, Godwin's master, as to Harold; and the earl would have been failing in his duty if he had not done his best to crush it.

The arrangement by which England was divided.

1 By Professor Freeman, who has examined the question exhaustively in his "Norman Conquest."

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between the two sons of Canute did not remain long in force. Hardicanute still remained in Denmark, and the nobles of Wessex, vexed at his refusal to return, deposed him, and Harold Harcfoot (a name given him on account of his speed of foot) became king over the whole realm (1037). Queen Emma was banished, but Godwin succeeded in gaining the new king's favour, and kept his place and power. Little is told us of Harold's other doings during his short reign. We hear of the Welsh under Griffith making a successful inroad into England, and fighting a battle in which Edwin, brother of the Mercian earl, was killed along with other English nobles. Duncan of Scotland also invaded the country and got as far as Durham. Durham, which we have heard of as uninhabited long after the time of St. Cuthbert, had now become a populous and well-fortified city, crowned by a splendid minster. The Scottish king was defeated with great loss before its walls, and was glad to make his escape to his own dominions.

In 1039 Hardicanute left Denmark, which, now that he had concluded a peace with Magnus of Sweden, he felt to be safe. He spent the winter. with his mother, who had found shelter with Baldwin of Flanders, and made preparations for an invasion of England in the following spring. The invasion, however, was never made, for the crown came to him in the course of nature. On March 17th, Harold Harefoot died at Oxford after a long illness. He could not have been more than twenty-six years of age. Of his character we know little, and that little is not in his favour. The Chronicles speak of his irreligion,