Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 24.djvu/435

 posal that the duke should succeed to the throne (, pp. 129-30, vii. 31 ; p. 492), or, according to others, to obtain the return of his brother Wulfnoth and his nephew Hakon, who are said to have been sent to the duke as hostages by Earl Godwine in 1052 (, Hist. Nov. i. 5 ;  ii. 183), or more probably (Norman Conquest, iii. 219-22) that he sailed from England merely for some purpose of pleasure (. ii. 228 ; the Bayeux tapestry which represents him as embarking with dogs and hawks, favours this view). He was wrecked on the coast of Ponthieu, and imprisoned by Count Guy at Beaurain. William demanded his release, and Guy delivered him to the duke at Eu. He went with William to Eouen, and remained with him as his guest. While there he is said to have promised the Duchess Matilda to marry one of her daughters, and also agreed that his sister, perhaps Ælfgifu or Ælfgyva, who appears from the tapestry to have been with him, should marry a Norman (Norman Conguest, iii. 227). He marched with the duke against Conan, count of Brittany, and saved several Norman soldiers from drowning near Mont-Saint-Michel. It seems likely that he also took part in a second expedition (ib. pp. 239, 711). Probably on his return he was knighted by William at Bayeux. There he took an oath to the duke that he would uphold his cause in England, that he would do his best to procure the duke's succession on the king's death, that he would deliver Dover Castle to the Normans, and that he would marry William's daughter (, p. 108 ;, u.s.), the duke promising that with his daughter he would give him half the realm of England (, vii. 31). Harold, who was of course in the duke's power, swore in these, or like terms, on a phylactery called the 'bull's-eye,' which contained the relics of saints. The story from the 'Roman de Rou,' that he did not know what the phylactery contained, and that he was horror-struck when, after he had sworn, he was shown the relics, is likely enough, and seems to receive some confirmation from the fact that in the tapestry one of the duke's attendants seems to be making a sign of silence while the earl is touching two chests, one of which evidently represents the ' bull's-eye ' (on the oath see, Norman Conquest, iii. 241-54, 677-707).

It was probably on Harold's return to England that he married Gruffydd's widow, Ealdgyth or Aldgyth, the sister of Eadwine, who had succeeded his father Ælfgar as earl of the Mercians. Harold's former love, and the mother of his children, Eadgyth Swan-neck, was still living. The marriage marks a change in his policy. In the earlier years of his power he did what he could to depress the rival house of Mercia; but as the prospect of the succession opened to him he became anxious to secure the support of the Mercian earl. In August 1065 he was engaged in building a house for the king at Portskewet, in the present Monmouthshire, in order that Eadward might there enjoy his favourite pastime of hunting. He made great preparations for this house, and while it was building Caradoc ap Gruffydd, the dispossessed prince of South Wales, gathered a band, slew many of his workmen, and carried off his goods. This raid was probably connected with a revolt in England which broke out shortly afterwards. In the following October Harold heard that the Northumbrians, weary of the misgovernment of their earl Tostig and his lieutenants, had risen in revolt, and held an assembly at York, where they decreed the outlawry of Tostig, and elected as their earl Morkere, the brother of Eadwine of Mercia, and brother-in-law of Harold. After slaying Tostig's men, they marched southwards, and at Northampton were joined by Eadwine with a large force of Mercians and Welshmen. Harold went to Northampton with a message from the king, aidding them lay down their arms, and state ;heir grievances in a meeting of the witan. For answer they charged Harold to say that they desired Morkere for their earl. In a council which Eadward held at Britford in Wiltshire, Tostig declared before the king and his lords that the revolt had been stirred up by the machinations of Harold, and challenged him to deny the charge on oath. This Harold promptly did. The accusation was no doubt untrue ; Harold had nothing to gain by such a course. Many messages passed, and he tried hard to bring about a pacification. Finding that no means were taken to crush them, the rebels became more violent. The king was anxious to put down he revolt by force, but Harold was determined to satisfy the insurgents and to have no bloodshed. He overruled the king, and met the rebel forces at Oxford, whither they had advanced while the attempts at negotiation were being carried on. A great assembly at Oxford was held, at which Harold granted all their demands ; Tostig was outlawed, and Morkere received the Northumbrian earldom. Harold is said on this occassion to have thought more of the interests of his country than of his brother (. i. 200) ; it is urged that he acted as 'a