The sixth son of Earl Godwin of Wessex, Wulfnoth was given as a hostage in childhood, and, as a result of war and political intrigue, was subsequently held in captivity for 43 years before dying, the longest-ever imprisonment of a member of British royalty.
[1] According to Historia novorum in Anglia by English historian Eadmer, the reason for Harold's excursion to Normandy in 1064 or 1065 was that he wished to free Wulfnoth as well as his nephew Hakon.
To this end he took with him a vast amount of wealth, all of which was confiscated by Count Guy I of Ponthieu when Harold and his party were shipwrecked.
Harold's assumption of the crown broke this alleged agreement and Wulfnoth was not released until 1087, by the dying King William I in an amnesty.
[3] On screen, Wulfnoth was portrayed by Michael Pennington in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest (1966), part of the series Theatre 625.