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 temporaries believed, or at least declared, that he caused the ætheling to be put to death. The evidence against him appears conclusive [for the contrary view see, Norman Conquest, i. 543–59]. It is probable that Godwine, dissatisfied with his own position, and finding that Harold would before long become master of the whole kingdom, was anxious to make himself acceptable to the winning side; and that he set on the ætheling in order to gain Harold's favour, and very likely at his instigation. The next year he openly changed sides, for the West-Saxons forsook Harthacnut, and accepted Harold as their king. It is evident that Godwine was at once admitted to favour with Harold, for Bishop Lyfing, one of the chief men of his party, received ecclesiastical promotion (ib. p. 563).

When Harthacnut came to the throne in 1040 he sent Godwine with other great officers to disinter and dishonour the body of Harold. The earl was regarded with suspicion by the king. His enemies accused him and Bishop Lyfing of the murder of Ælfred, who was the king's uterine brother. Lyfing lost his bishopric for a time, and Godwine was compelled to clear himself of the charge by oath. A large number of earls and thegns joined with him in swearing that it was by no counsel or wish of his that the ætheling was blinded, and that what he did was done by order of King Harold (ib.) If these words are a fair representation of the oath, they go far to prove that the earl was a principal agent in the attack on the ætheling. He purchased peace of the king by presenting him with a ship with a gilded beak, manned with eighty warriors splendidly equipped. In 1401 he was sent by the king, along with Earls Leofric and Siward and other nobles, to quell an insurrection in Worcestershire, and punish the rebels. The earls burnt Worcester on 12 Nov. and harried the neighbouring country, but evidently took care not to slay or make captive many of the people, for the insurrection was not unprovoked.

When Harthacnut died in 1042 Godwine appears to have at once proposed, at an assembly held in London, that Eadward should be chosen as king, and he probably with others crossed over to Normandy and persuaded him to accept the crown. He came back to England with Eadward, and urged his right at a meeting of the witan held at Gillingham. It is evident that he met with some opposition, and it is not unlikely that this proceeded from a party in favour of Swend Estrithson, his wife's nephew, and the nephew of his old master Cnut. Godwine, however, used all his influence and his power of eloquent speech on the side of the representative of the old English line. Men looked on him as a father as he thus pleaded the cause of the ætheling of their race (Vita, p. 394), and followed his counsel. It may be that he saw that the election of Swend would have been bitterly opposed, and would have entailed a war. This would have been grievous to him, for there is no reason to doubt that, selfish as he was, the lives of his countrymen were dear to him. It is also reasonable to suppose that he saw that the election of Eadward was likely to lead to a perpetuation of his own power; for it is said that he bargained with Eadward that he and his sons should be secured in their offices and possessions, and that the king should marry his daughter (Gesta Regum, i. 332). From this time forward he was the head of the national party in the kingdom. He had to contend with the prejudices of the king and with the foreigners whom Eadward promoted to offices in church and state, as well as with the jealousy of the Earls Leofric and Siward and the great men of middle and northern England. Yet he was not unequal to the conflict. His earldom was by far the wealthiest and most important part of the kingdom; it was also the part which was especially under the king's control, and for some years his influence with the king was supreme. Already immensely wealthy, he had now abundant opportunities of adding to his possessions. He appears to have been grasping, and is accused, not without some reason, of enriching himself at the expense of ecclesiastical bodies (Norman Conquest, ii. 543–8); he neither founded nor enriched monasteries or churches. During the early years of Eadward's reign, not only was Wessex under his government, but his eldest son, Swegen, was earl of the Mercian shires of Hereford, Gloucester, and Oxford; his second son, Harold, held the earldom of East Anglia; and his wife's nephew, Beorn, an earldom which included Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. His daughter Eadgyth [see or  (d. 1075)] was married to the king in 1045. Godwine was also strong in the affection of the men of his own earldom, for he kept good order and enforced a respect for law. Indeed, as he became identified with the national cause of resistance to the government of foreigners he gained the love of the nation at large. At Eadward's coronation in 1048 he is said to have presented the king with a magnificent ship (Vita, p. 397; this, Mr. Luard suggests, is probably a confusion with the ship which he undoubtedly gave to Harthacnut). He was sent by Eadward along with Earls Si-