Godwin, Earl of Wessex

In 1036 Alfred Ætheling, younger son of Emma of Normandy and Æthelred the Unready, attempted an invasion of England, but he was intercepted by Godwin, who handed him to Harold Harefoot.

His reign restored to the throne of England the "native" royal house of Wessex, a branch now in blood intertwined with the Danish-Norman dynasty of Emma of Normandy.

[6] As Edward drew advisors, nobles and priests from his – and his mother's – Normano-French circle to develop his own power base, Godwin led opposition to the influx of the nascent European Norman dominion.

This time, however, Godwin refused, choosing to champion his own countrymen against a visiting foreign power and defying his own king.

They all returned to England the next year with armed forces, gaining the support of the navy, burghers, and peasants, so compelling Edward to restore the earldom.

The year after his restoration to earldom, on 15 April, Godwin died suddenly, days after collapsing at a royal banquet at Winchester.

According to the Abingdon version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, under the year 1053: "On Easter Monday, as he was sitting with the king at a meal he suddenly sank towards the footstool bereft of speech, and deprived of all his strength.

"[7] But according to one colourful account by the 12th-century writer Aelred of Rievaulx, which appears to be no more than Norman propaganda, Godwin tried to disclaim responsibility for Alfred Ætheling's death with the words "May this crust which I hold in my hand pass through my throat and leave me unharmed to show that I was guiltless of treason towards you, and that I was innocent of your brother's death!".

Thus this "House of Godwin" looked set to found a multi-generational royal dynasty, but instead Harold was overthrown and killed in the Norman Conquest.