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Rh thence by way of the Naze to the Continent. Others fled westward into Herefordshire, hoping to find security in another castle, which Osbern Pentecost, one of Earl Ralf's men, was erecting on the Welsh border, probably at Ewyas. These hurried flights made it clear to everyone that Edward's attempt at independence had failed. A fresh witan accordingly was assembled, which formally outlawed many of the foreigners and restored Godwin and his family to their former possessions. Edith also came back to court from Wherwell, while Stigand obtained the see of Canterbury in the place of the fugitive Robert and proceeded to hold it in plurality with Winchester, not to mention many other preferments, such as canonries, all over his province.

For the rest of his life Edward was never able to shake himself free from the domination of the house of Godwin. The great earl, it is true, did not himself long enjoy his restoration to power. He died in 1053, quite suddenly, while attending a banquet at Winchester. His honours and estates thereupon passed to his second son Harold, his ill-fated eldest son Svein having died a few months earlier at Constantinople while making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to atone for his crimes.

The character of the reign changes sensibly after Godwin's death. The king still continued fitfully to play the magnates off against each other, reappointing Aelfgar, for example, to the earldom of East Anglia after Harold's transfer to Wessex. But Edward was fast becoming elderly; and as his energy declined, he centred his attention more and more on sport and church matters to the neglect of politics. Harold, on the other hand, though full of ambition and energy, being little over thirty, was more cautious and better liked than his father, and was always careful to keep on terms with Earl Leofric and the Mercians. There was for a time, therefore, a quiet interval, the only incident of note in 1054 being a Northumbrian expedition beyond the Forth undertaken by Earl Siward in the interests of his Scotch grandson Malcolm Canmore. This young prince on the paternal side was great-grandson of Malcolm II, the victor of Carham, and was being kept out of his patrimony by Macbeth, the famous Mormaer (or Earl) of Moray immortalised by Shakespeare. Some years before Macbeth had slain Malcolm's father, Duncan I, and then usurped the crown. For a number of years Malcolm had lived in Siward's household, becoming quite a Northumbrian in speech and education, but by 1054 he was grown up and eager to regain his crown. The expedition was well managed by Earl Siward, who obtained a notable victory at Dunsinane near Perth, but it was not till three years later that Macbeth was killed and Malcolm III (1057-1093) finally set upon the throne. Siward's intervention beyond the Tweed was of great moment for Scotland, as Malcolm's restoration inevitably