edgar atheling. harold and edgar were the omly two saxon contenders. the witsnwrre only going to pick a saxon, so if it wasn't harold, it would have been edgar
You can not actually say who is the best out of the three contenders, William Duke of Normandy, Harold Godwinson and Harald Hardrada. William Duke of Normandy became the King of England, in 1066, after beating Harold Godwinson in the battle of Hastings. Harold Godwinson was promised the throne by Edward the Confessor on his deathbed, which was approved by a witan. Harald Hardrada was beaten by Harold Godwinson in Stamford bridge, but was also promised the throne by his father King Cnut. By Hammiixx
Harold Godwinson or Harold II, assumed the throne after the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066. The Witenagemot Assembly met and chose Harold out of the eligible Anglo-Saxons they deemed fit to rule as king.
One of the strengths that Harold Godwinson had was that he was a good leader. He was also courageous, and a good speaker. He could get others to follow his lead.
Nothing, Harold became king because the WITAN, the government at that time, choose him out of 3 people, Harold Hardrada, William and, of course, Harold Godwin. After that the other 2 people tried to take the crown, only William succeeded and was crowned on 25th December 1066.
It is not known exactly, but there seems to be a couple of reasons--first and foremost is that historians believe it is very possible that King Edward the Confessor, upon his dying bed, at the last moment, said that the best thing England could do was to choose Harold as his successor. This seems to have made an impact on the Witan and they chose him. It also may have been that the Witan recognized that Harold was the strongest military leader and wisest leader in the land and that even if King Edward did not suggest him, they would have made him king anyway. It is probably a combination of the two. Also Harold is Edward's brother-in-law,
The assembly of Anglo-Saxon "regional kings", called Witan.
You can not actually say who is the best out of the three contenders, William Duke of Normandy, Harold Godwinson and Harald Hardrada. William Duke of Normandy became the King of England, in 1066, after beating Harold Godwinson in the battle of Hastings. Harold Godwinson was promised the throne by Edward the Confessor on his deathbed, which was approved by a witan. Harald Hardrada was beaten by Harold Godwinson in Stamford bridge, but was also promised the throne by his father King Cnut. By Hammiixx
Harold Godwinson or Harold II, assumed the throne after the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066. The Witenagemot Assembly met and chose Harold out of the eligible Anglo-Saxons they deemed fit to rule as king.
One of the strengths that Harold Godwinson had was that he was a good leader. He was also courageous, and a good speaker. He could get others to follow his lead.
Nothing, Harold became king because the WITAN, the government at that time, choose him out of 3 people, Harold Hardrada, William and, of course, Harold Godwin. After that the other 2 people tried to take the crown, only William succeeded and was crowned on 25th December 1066.
It is not known exactly, but there seems to be a couple of reasons--first and foremost is that historians believe it is very possible that King Edward the Confessor, upon his dying bed, at the last moment, said that the best thing England could do was to choose Harold as his successor. This seems to have made an impact on the Witan and they chose him. It also may have been that the Witan recognized that Harold was the strongest military leader and wisest leader in the land and that even if King Edward did not suggest him, they would have made him king anyway. It is probably a combination of the two. Also Harold is Edward's brother-in-law,
Answer There is some confusion of names in this question. At the start of the year 1066 the King of England was Edward I, known as Edward The Confessor because he was a deeply pious Christian. He was later made a Saint. Harold Godwinson was Edward's brother-in-law (Edward was married to Harold's sister) and was extremely powerful as The Earl of Wessex. When Edward died on 5th January 1066, Harold Godwinson was proclaimed King by the Witan - an early forerunner of the English Parliament. Duke William of Normandy was a distant cousin of King Edward and he claimed that Edward had named him to be his successor - a claim also made by Harold Godwinson. Both claims may be true - it is possible that Edward had made the same promise to both men. In October 1066, Duke William invaded England and at the Battle of Hastings defeated King Harold and became King William I of England. Because he won the throne by means of invasion and battle, he is also known as William the Conqueror.
The Person who had the best claim to the throne is Harold godwinson. This is because he had the stingiest relationship to King Edward. Also Harold was the only One that was declaired King by the Wotan. The witan were the kings advisitory council
The main reason often given for why Harold should not be king was because he had promised his support to William of Normandy. Oaths (promises) were taken very seriously in Medieval times and Harold was considered by William and the Pope to be an oath breaker, which was a very serious accusation in those days.
Harold was touched by Edward the Confessor before he died, which Harold and the Witan took as a sign for him to become king. The problem was that before all of this Harold swore loyalty to William as his knight on a saint's bones. But, not many people knew about that.
King Edward the Confessor, and since he didn't have a son or daughter, the crown was chosen by the WITAN
Edward the Confessor had promised the crown of England to two different men. When he had lived in exile in Normandy, he had promised the crown to the young William, Duke of Normandy. At the time of his death, he promised it Harold Godwinson, a local English hero. War erupted, ending in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the victory of William.