Gyrth Godwinson - Misplaced Pages

11th-century English earl

Gyrth and his brother's death at the Battle of Hastings, scene 52 of the Bayeux Tapestry.
HIC CECIDERUNT LEWINE ET GYRD FRATRES HAROLDI REGIS
(Here have fallen dead Leofwine and Gyrth, brothers of King Harold)

Gyrth Godwinson (Old English: Gyrð Godƿinson; c. 1032 – 14 October 1066) was the fourth son of Earl Godwin, and thus a younger brother of Harold Godwinson. He went with his eldest brother Sweyn into exile to Flanders in 1051, but unlike Sweyn he was able to return with the rest of the clan the following year. Along with his brothers Harold and Tostig, Gyrth was present at his father's death-bed.

Biography

Following the death of his father in April 1053, the Godwinsons managed to retain their hold on England. Harold inherited the Earldom of Wessex and became second in power only to the king. Gyrth was made Earl of East Anglia, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire some time between 1055 and 1057. Together with his brother Leofwine's Earldoms of Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Hertford, Surrey and probably Buckinghamshire the Godwinsons now controlled the entirety of East England.

According to Orderic Vitalis and William of Malmesbury, Gyrth tried (ineffectually) to prevent Harold from engaging William of Normandy in battle, saying that he instead could lead the English forces and that he must stay in London to lead another battle and reminding him of the oath which he had sworn to William. Harold, however, ignored Gyrth's advice. Gyrth fought at and was killed in the Battle of Hastings alongside his brothers Harold and Leofwine.

Popular culture

Gyrth was portrayed by actor Malcolm Webster in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest (1966), part of the series Theatre 625.

Citations

Barlow, Vita Ædwardi pp. 7–8.
DeVries, The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066, pp. 114–115.
DeVries, The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066, pp. 115.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D and E), 1066

Sources

Barlow, Frank (ed.). Vita Ædwardi.
DeVries, Kelly (1999). The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066. Boydell Press. pp. 108–114. ISBN 1-84383-027-2.

External links

Gyrth 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England

Peerage of England
Preceded byÆlfgār	Earl of East Anglia 1057	Succeeded by?

v t e Norman Conquest
Leaders	William the Conqueror Harold Godwinson Harald Hardrada Sweyn II of Denmark
Battles	Battle of Fulford Battle of Stamford Bridge Battle of Hastings Burning of Southwark Siege of Exeter (1068)
Combatants	Gyrth Godwinson Odo of Bayeux Leofwine Godwinson Hereward the Wake Edwin Morcar Tostig Waltheof Eustace of Boulogne Eadric the Wild Robert of Mortain Ralph de Gael Roger de Breteuil Companions of William the Conqueror
Associated people	Edward the Confessor Stigand Edith the Fair Edgar Ætheling Ealdred Malcolm III of Scotland Matilda of Flanders
Locations	Battle Abbey Battle, East Sussex Pevensey Tower of London
Events	Northumbrian Revolt of 1065 Council of Lillebonne Coronations of William the Conqueror and Matilda Harrying of the North Danish attacks Council of Winchester Revolt of the Earls Council of London Trial of Penenden Heath
Miscellaneous	Bayeux Tapestry Domesday Book Carmen de Hastingae Proelio Norman yoke William of Poitiers
Portrayals	1066 The Battle for Middle Earth

v t e House of Godwin
Members of the comital branches	Wulfnoth Cild Godwin, Earl of Wessex Sweyn, Earl of Hereford (Hakon) Tostig, Earl of Northumbria (Skuli, Ketel) Gyrth, Earl of East Anglia Leofwine, Earl of Kent Wulfnoth Edith, Queen of England Ælfgifu Gunhild Related: Ancestry of the Godwins
Members of the royal branch	Harold, King of England (Godwin, Edmund, Magnus, Harold, Ulf, Gunhild, Gytha)
Major events	Battle of Fulford Battle of Stamford Bridge Battle of Hastings

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