1066

In the year of 1066 three men fought over the English throne. The names of the three were Harold Godwinson, William the Conquerer, and Harald Hardrada. After the war cleared, William the Conquerer took hold of England and became their new king. William was standing but who had the best claim to the throne? Shortly before the death of King Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson was named his successor as he had no son and his only nephew was too young. Harold was the most powerful noble and the leader of the army so the King believed him to be a worthy successor. Only to add to his argument to the throne, Harold was also an anglo-saxon meaning that he was a pure blood english man therefor he had a good overall claim to the throne.Harold Godwinson wasn't the only king with a claim. The King of Norway named Harald Hardrada also believe that he had a claim to the throne. His ancestor, King Cnut used to be the King of England so Harald believed that this entitled him to the throne. Only, he didn't try to take England alone. Harold Godwinsons brother, Tostig, helped King Hardrada in order for revenge on his brother. In the end they didn't succeed in their conquest. I would say that his claim to the throne was rather poor because he had no one on his side really and had little reason for taking the throne. Overall he had the worst claim. The third and final man to have a claim on the throne was William the Conqueror. William by far had the best claim of all the men. Before Edward the Confessor died Harold Godwinson had visited Normandy. There William the Conqueror had made Harold give an oath that he would help him claim the throne when Edward died. This obviously never happened. So William went to the pope to his approval to invade England. The pope approved of this decision and declared it a holy crusade. In the end William won the English throne but I also believe that he had the best claim to the throne. It wasn't a lot of things to run off of but he had the best claim because he had already been promised the throne by the successor of the king. Therefor the throne is rightfully his.