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Edward the Confessor

Anglo-Saxon King of England from 1042 to 1066

20 dated entries naming Edward the Confessor, drawn from 20 separate years between 1003 CE and 1245 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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11th century

  • 1003Edward the Confessor, king of England (d. 1066)source
  • 1013Summer – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard (accompanied by his son Cnut) sail from Denmark to attack England. Again London defends itself and the Vikings move elsewhere, plundering Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria. King Æthelred the Unready sends his sons Edward and Alfred to Normandy. Æthelred retreats to the Isle of Wight and follows them later into exile.source
  • 1014March – King Æthelred the Unready sends ambassadors to England, including his own son Edward to negotiate to reclaim of the throne at the invitation of the English nobles.source
  • 1036February 5 – Edward the Confessor's younger brother Alfred Aetheling is blinded and murdered, in an apparent attempt to seize the throne of England from Harold I.source
  • 1041King Harthacnut invites his half-brother Edward the Confessor to return to England from exile in Normandy as his heir as king of England, with the support of Godwin, Earl of Wessex.source
  • 1042June 8 – King Harthacnut collapses and dies while attending a party. His half-brother Edward the Confessor becomes king of England.source
  • 1043April 3 – Edward the Confessor is crowned king of England at Winchester Cathedral. He learns that his mother, Queen Emma of Normandy is plotting with Magnus the Good to take control of the English throne. Edward strips her land and treasure, but she is allowed to stay in England.source
  • 1045January 23 – Edward the Confessor, King of England, marries Edith of Wessex (daughter of Earl Godwin) and she is crowned queen consort at Winchester. This year also in England, Edward begins construction of Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1048King Edward the Confessor goes to war against Flanders, blockading the English Channel with a fleet based at Sandwich, Kent.source
  • 1050King Edward the Confessor unites the English dioceses of Devon and Cornwall. He moves the see from Crediton to Exeter and gives the order to build a cathedral. Leofric becomes the first bishop of Exeter.source
  • 1051Eustace II, count of Boulogne, visits England and is received with honour at the court by King Edward the Confessor. In Dover a fight breaks out between the Norman visitors and the locals, resulting in the deaths of several people. Edward blames the people of Dover and orders Godwin, earl of Wessex, to deal with them. Godwin refuses to obey Edward's order, and in response Edward raises an army and forces the Godwin family into exile.source
  • 1052Summer – Godwin, Earl of Wessex, sails with a large fleet up the Thames to London, forcing King Edward the Confessor to reinstate him into his previous position of power.source
  • 1053April – Harold Godwinson succeeds his father Godwin as earl of Wessex. He invites the exiled Edward the Exile, son of Edmund II, to return in the hope that he can claim the English throne from King Edward the Confessor.source
  • 1055October 24 – Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia, is outlawed by the witan ("meeting of wise men"). In revenge he builds a force and allies himself with the Welsh king Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. After defeating Ralph the Timid (a nephew of King Edward the Confessor), they attack Hereford and raid the church – taking everything of value, leaving the building on fire. The rebels also attack Leominster.source
  • 1065December 28 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated by King Edward the Confessor.source
  • 1066January 5 – Edward the Confessor dies after a 24-year reign at London. The Witenagemot (or Witan) proclaims Harold Godwinson king of England.source

12th century

  • 1102Henry I orders the tomb of Edward the Confessor be opened; the body of the former king is supposedly found undecayed. The Westminster monks start to claim Edward as a saint.source
  • 1161January 5 – Canonization of Edward the Confessor (d. 1066) in England.source

13th century

  • 1239June 17 or June 18 – Edward I ("Longshanks"), first son of King Henry III of England and Queen Eleanor of Provence, is born at the Palace of Westminster. Henry names him after Edward the Confessor and chooses Simon de Montfort as his godfather.source
  • 1245King Henry III starts the work of rebuilding Westminster Abbey, as a tribute to Edward the Confessor.source

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