Tostiq Godwinson

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Tostig Godwinson (1026? – September 25, 1066) was an Anglo-Saxon earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold II of England, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England.

Early life

Tostig was the third child of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Kent, and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir. In 1051, he married Judith, the daughter of Count Baldwin IV, half-sister of Baldwin V of Flanders, and aunt of Matilda who married William the Conqueror. This made him William's uncle-in-law.

Earldom

That same year, 1051, Tostig and his father were banished from England to which they forcefully returned in 1052. Three years later in 1055, Tostig became the Earl of Northumbria upon the death of Earl Siward.

Tostig appears to have governed in Northumbria with some difficulty. He was never popular with the Northumbrian ruling class, a mix of Danish invaders,and Anglo Saxon survivors of the last Norse invasion. The reasons for this are not clear. Tostig was known to have taken a heavy hand against those who resisted his rule, including the murder of several scions of Northumbrian families. The reasons for this resistance include frequent absences at the court of King Edward in the south, and possibly a lack of leadership against the Scots, voracious raiders, whose king was a personal friend of Tostig. This was a Catch-22 situation, however; Tostig's unpopularity made it difficult to raise local levies to combat the Scots. He resorted to using a strong force of Danish mercenaries (housecarles) as his main force, an expensive and resented policy (the housecarle's leaders were later slaughtered by rebels). Local biases probably also played a part. Tostig was of the south of England, a distinctly different culture from the north, which had not bent its head to a southern earl in many lifetimes. In 1063, still immersed in the confused local politics of Northumbria, his popularity apparently plummeted to a new and dangerous level. Many of the inhabitants of Northumbria were Danes, who had enjoyed lesser taxation than in other parts of England. Yet the wars in Wales, of which Tostig's constituents were principal beneficiaries, needed paying for. Tostig had been a major commander in these wars attacking in the north whilst his brother Harold marched up from the south.

In late 1063 or early 1064, Tostig had Gamal, son of Orm and Ulf, son of Dolfin, assassinated when they visited him under safe conduct. Also, the Vita Edwardi, otherwise sympathetic to Tostig, states that he had 'repressed [the Northumbrians] with the heavy yoke of his rule'. This may refer to any or all of the situations discussed above.

On 3 October 1065, the thegns of Yorkshire and the rest of Yorkshire descended on York and occupied the city. They killed Tostig's officials and supporters, then declared Tostig outlawed for his unlawful action and sent for Morcar, younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia. The northern rebels marched south to press their case with King Edward. They were joined at Northampton by Earl Edwin and his forces. There, they were met by Earl Harold, who had been sent by King Edward to negotiate with them and thus did not bring his forces. After Harold had spoken with the rebels at Northampton, he realised that Tostig would not be able to retain Northumbria. When he returned to Oxford, where the royal council was to meet on 28 October, he had probably already made up his mind.

Exile and rebellion

Harold persuaded the king to agree to the demands of the rebels. Tostig was outlawed a short time later, possibly early in November, because he refused to accept his deposition as commanded by Edward. This led to the fatal confrontation and enmity between the Godwinsons. At a meeting of the king and his council, Tostig publicly accused Harold of fomenting the rebellion, truly an outrageous claim to make, unless there was a grain of truth. Harold certainly rid himself of a troublesome and ambitious brother, one who may have been angling for the throne. Also, Harold was keen to unify England in the face of the grave threat from William of Normandy, who had openly declared his intention to take the English throne. Perhaps Harold sold out his unpopular brother to ensure peace and support. Tostig certainly thought so.

Tostig took ship with his family and some loyal thegns and took refuge with his father-in-law, Count Baldwin IV. He even attempted to form an alliance with William. Baldwin provided him with a fleet and he landed in the Isle of Wight in May 1066, where he collected money and provisions, and he raided the coast as far as Sandwich. King Harold called out land and naval forces and Tostig retreated. He moved north and after an unsuccessful attempt to get his brother Gyrth to join him, he raided Norfolk and Lincolnshire. The Earls Edwin and Morcar defeated him decisively, and deserted by his men, he fled to his sworn brother, King Malcolm III of Scotland. Tostig spent the summer of 1066 in Scotland.

He made contact in some way with King Harald III Hardrada of Norway and persuaded him to invade England. One of the sagas claims that he sailed for Norway, and greatly impressed the Norwegian king and his court, managing to sway a decidedly unenthusiastic Harald, who had just concluded a long and inconclusive war with Denmark, into raising a levy to take the throne of England. With Hardrada's aid, Tostig sailed up the Humber and defeated Morcar and Edwin at Gate Fulford.

Battle of Stamford Bridge

Hardrada's army invaded York, taking hostages after a peaceful surrender, and likely agreed with the local inhabitants to gather commandeered supplies at Stamford Bridge, near York, a conveniently central spot, well fed by streams and roads. King Harold Godwinson raced northward with an English army from London and, on September 25, 1066, surprised Tostig and about 6,000 of his men, basking in the sun and awaiting supplies. The Norwegians, and the Flemish mercenaries hired by Tostig, were largely without armor and carried only personal weapons. The day was very hot and no resistance was expected. The remainder of the 11,000 man force remained guarding the Norse ships, beached miles away at Riccall. After a brief meeting of the two kings, where Harald refused to surrender, and Tostig to abandon him, a long battle ensued. Despite making a brave stand, and reinforced late in the day by a desperate, sweating column from Riccall, the Norwegians suffered a complete and utter defeat. Fewer than twenty of the three hundred Norwegian ships returned home. King Harald of Norway died there, as did Tostig Godwinson.

After his death, Tostig's two sons took refuge in Norway, while his wife Judith married Duke Welf of Bavaria. It is believed that after Stamford Bridge his body was taken to York and buried at York Minster.

His two sons with Judith:

   * Skuli Tostisson Kongsfostre (born 1052)-his great-great-granddaugther Helena Guttormsdotter was the mistress of Valdemar II of Denmark and mother of Vlademar son Canute, Duke of Reval.

* Ketil Tostisson (born 1054)

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Earl of Northumbria from 1055 until his exile in 1065 following a revolt

against his misrule. He allied with Harold III Hardraade of Norway and

invaded N England but was killed by his brother Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (River Derwent).

Reference: http://www.lillebye.no/ane12.htm

Earl of Northampton and Nottingham.

(Universal Identifier from University of Hull Royal Database England:

0CFDCBED0D75452BBC595D3B767B701DDE78)

Death

On September 25, 1066, King Harold II of England (Tostig's brother) marched his army from the south of England where they were awaiting the Normans up to York and halted the Norwegian invasion at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, in which Tostig and Harald III were both killed. After the death of Tostig, his two sons took refuge in Norway, while his wife Judith married Duke Welf of Bavaria. It is believed that after Stamford Bridge his body was taken to York and buried at York Minster.[2]

Trivia

In Julian Rathbone's historical novel, "The Last English King", Tostig is depicted as Edward the Confessor's catamite.

Notes

^ Harold: The Last Anglo-Saxon King, by Ian W. Walker, 1997.

^ Accurate Description of the Cathedral and Metropolical Church of St. Peter, by Francis Drake 1786

Tostig in Non-Fiction Books

Popular (as opposed to scholarly) non-fiction books that cover Tostig's life and role in history include:

1066: The Year of the Conquest (1977) by David Howarth (ISBN 0-88029-014-5)

The Making of the King 1066 (1966) by Alan Lloyd (ISBN 0-88029-473-6)

Tostig in Fiction

The Last English King (2000) by Julian Rathbone (ISBN 0-349-11385-8)

Harold, The Last of the Saxon Kings, by Lord Bulworth-Lytton

The King's Shadow, by Elizabeth Alder

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(Omdirigert fra Toste Godwinsson)

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Toste Godwinson, jarl av Northumbria (født ca. 1026, død 25. september 1066), benevnes også som Tostig. Toste var alliert med kong Harald Hardråde (1015–25. oktober 1066) og en rival til broren kong Harald Godwinson (ca. 1020–1066) til den engelske trone. Han døde i slaget ved Stamford Bridge i 1066. Det hevdes at Toste var far til Skule Kongsfostre som fikk godset Rein og ble stamfar til blant annet kong Inge Bårdsson og Hertug Skule. Dette slektskapet tilbakevises av en del engelske forskere, men blant annet Frank Barlow og Emma Mason mener det ikke er usannsynlig.

[rediger] Bakgrunn

Toste Godwinson var tredje sønn av den mektige angelsaksiske jarl Godwin av Wessex (død 15. april 1053) av Wessex og Kent og Gyda Torkelsdatter (død etter 1067). I september 1051 giftet Toste seg med grevinne Judith av Flandern (død 5. mars 1094), datter av grev Balduin IV av Flandern, halvsøster til Balduin V av Flandern og på morsiden tante til Matilda som ble gift Vilhelm Erobreren av Normandie. I 1061 reiste Toste med Judith som pilegrim til Roma og ble meget ærefullt mottatt av Paven.

[rediger] Hensynløs jarl

Det samme året som han ble gift ble Toste og hans far jaget fra Northumbria, men de kom sterkt tilbake året etter. Tre år senere i 1055 utnevnte kong Edvard Bekjenneren Toste til jarl av Northumbria etter at jarl Siward døde i 1055. For å sikre sitt herredømme over de nordlige distriktene av Northumbria introduserte Toste den hensynsløse krigsloven (engelsk «martial law»). De som utfordret hans autoritet ble meget strengt straffet, og det gjorde ham ekstremt upopulær og forhatt.

Innbyggerne gjorde opprør og erstattet ham med Morcar, bror av Edwin, jarl av Mercia, som erklærte Toste for fredløs. Opprørerne tvang Toste på flukt sørover, hvor de ble møtt av jarl Harald Godwinson ved Oxford som, på grunn av sine egne ambisjoner om den engelske tronen, aksepterte opprørernes krav til tross for kong Edvard Bekjennerens ønske. Toste fikk ikke høye tanker om broren etter dette.

[rediger] På flukt

Etter å ha seilt til Flandern søkte Toste å innynde seg hos hertug Vilhelm i Normandie som holdt på å forberede en invasjon av England. Han hadde også kontakt med Svein Estridsson i Danmark for å få den danske kongen til å gå mot broren Harald, men uten å lykkes. Det rapporteres at Toste herjet på den engelske øya Wight og på kystene av Kent og Lincolnshire før han dro nordover mot Skottland, derfra dro han til Norge og ble tatt vel imot av kong Harald Hårfagre. Disse gjorde felles planer om å invadere England. Harald Hardråde hadde en stor hær av erfarne og profesjonelle krigere. Snorre Sturlason skriver i Harald Hardrådes saga at:

Kong Harald tenkte nøye over det jarlen sa, og skjønte at det var mye sant i det, og dessuten fikk han også lyst til å vinne riket. Siden talte de sammen, kongen og jarlen, lenge og ofte, og de avtalte da at om sommeren skulle de fare til England og vinne landet. Kong Harald sendte et bud over hele Norge og bød ut leidang, halv almenning. Overalt ble det nå talt om dette, og det var mange slags gissinger om hvorledes det ville gå på denne ferden. Noen regnet opp storverkene til Harald, og sa at ingenting ville være umulig for ham; noen sa at England ville det ikke være lett å vinne, der var mange folk...

Ved elven Tyne møtte Toste sin allierte kong Harald av Norge og med støtte fra norske krigere seilte han opp Humber, kom i slag med sin fiende Morcar og Edwin ved Fulford. Harald Hardrådes hær invaderte og tok den store byen Jorvik, nåværende York.

Tostes bror, kong Harald Godwinson, marsjerte med hæren nordover fra det sted hvor de ventet på normannernes invasjon. De møtte deler av den norske hæren overraskende ved Stamford Bridge den 25. september 1066. Både kong Harald Hardråde og Toste Godwinson døde i slaget, mens kong Harald Godwinson skyndte seg sørover for å møte normannerne ved Hastings hvor han falt den 14. oktober og ble den siste angelsaksiske konge i England.

Etter at Toste døde tok hans to sønner, Skule Tostesson Kongsfostre og Kjetil krok, tilflukt i Norge under beskyttelse av kong Olav Kyrre. Tostes kone Judith ble derimot igjen i England og giftet seg senere med hertug Welf I av Bayern.

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Earl av Northumbria från 1055 fram till sin exil 1065 efter ett uppror mot hans vanstyre. Han allierade sig med Harald III Hårdråde av Norge och invaderade Norra England men blev dödad av sin bror Harald i slaget vid Stamford Bridge. Earl av Northampton och Nottingham.

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Tostig was the third son of Godwin (d. 1053), Earl of Wessex and Kent, and Gytha, daughter of Thorgils Sprakaleg. In 1051, he married Judith, the daughter of Count Baldwin IV, half-sister of Baldwin V of Flanders, and aunt (or sister) of Matilda who married William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book recorded twenty-six vills or townships as being held by Earl Tostig forming the Manor of Hougun..

Tostig, Earl Of Northumbria
d. Sept. 25, 1066, Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire [now in East Yorkshire], Eng. Anglo-Saxon earl who became a mortal enemy of his brother Earl Harold, who became King Harold II of England.

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Jarl av Northumbria

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Tostes bror, kong Harald Godwinson, marsjerte med hæren nordover fra det sted hvor de ventet på normannernes invasjon. De møtte deler av den norske hæren overraskende ved Stamford Bridge den 25. september 1066. Både kong Harald Hardråde og Toste Godwinson døde i slaget, mens kong Harald Godwinson skyndte seg sørover for å møte normannerne ved Hastings hvor han falt den 14. oktober og ble den siste angelsaksiske konge i England. Etter at Toste døde tok hans to sønner, Skule Tostesson Kongsfostre og Kjetil Krok, tilflukt i Norge under beskyttelse av kong Olav Kyrre. Tostes kone Judith (datter av Eleanora av Normandie) ble derimot igjen i England og giftet seg senere med hertug Welf I av Bayern.

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Leo: Nachkommen Gorms des Alten, 1978 , Brenner, S. Otto, Reference: page 247.

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Earl of Northumbria

In 1051, Tostig and his father were banished from England, to which they forcefully returned in 1052. Three years later in 1055, Tostig became the Earl of Northumbria upon the death of Earl Siward.

Tostig appears to have governed in Northumbria with some difficulty. He was never popular with the Northumbrian ruling class, a mix of Danish invaders and Anglo Saxon survivors of the last Norse invasion. Tostig was said to have been heavy-handed with those who resisted his rule, including the murder of several members of leading Northumbrian families. In late 1063 or early 1064, Tostig had Gamal, son of Orm and Ulf, son of Dolfin, assassinated when they visited him under safe conduct.[2] Also, the Vita Edwardi, otherwise sympathetic to Tostig, states that he had 'repressed [the Northumbrians] with the heavy yoke of his rule'.

He was also frequently absent at the court of King Edward in the south, and possibly showed a lack of leadership against the raiding Scots. Their king was a personal friend of Tostig, and Tostig's unpopularity made it difficult to raise local levies to combat them. He resorted to using a strong force of Danish mercenaries (housecarles) as his main force, an expensive and resented policy (the housecarls' leaders were later slaughtered by rebels). Local biases probably also played a part. Tostig was from the south of England, a distinctly different culture from the north, which had not had a southern earl in several lifetimes. In 1063, still immersed in the confused local politics of Northumbria, his popularity apparently plummeted. Many of the inhabitants of Northumbria were Danes, who had enjoyed lesser taxation than in other parts of England. Yet the wars in Wales, of which Tostig's constituents were principal beneficiaries, needed to be paid for. Tostig had been a major commander in these wars attacking in the north while his brother Harold Godwinson marched up from the south.

Deposition by his brother Harold and the thegns of Northumbria

On 3 October 1065, the thegns of Yorkshire and the rest of Yorkshire descended on York and occupied the city. They killed Tostig's officials and supporters, then declared Tostig outlawed for his unlawful actions and sent for Morcar, younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia. The northern rebels marched south to press their case with King Edward. They were joined at Northampton by Earl Edwin and his forces. There, they were met by Earl Harold, who had been sent by King Edward to negotiate with them and thus did not bring his forces. After Harold, by then the king's right hand man, had spoken with the rebels at Northampton, he likely realized that Tostig would not be able to retain Northumbria. When he returned to Oxford, where the royal council was to meet on 28 October, he had probably already made up his mind.

Exile and rebellion

Harold Godwinson persuaded the King Edward the Confessor to agree to the demands of the rebels. Tostig was outlawed a short time later, possibly early in November, because he refused to accept his deposition as commanded by Edward. This led to the fatal confrontation and enmity between the two Godwinsons. At a meeting of the king and his council, Tostig publicly accused Harold of fomenting the rebellion. Harold was keen to unify England in the face of the grave threat from William of Normandy, who had openly declared his intention to take the English throne. It was likely that Harold had exiled his brother to ensure peace and loyalty in the north. Tostig, however, remained unconvinced and plotted vengeance.

Tostig took ship with his family and some loyal thegns and took refuge with his brother-in-law, Count Baldwin V. He even attempted to form an alliance with William. Baldwin provided him with a fleet and he landed in the Isle of Wight in May 1066, where he collected money and provisions. He raided the coast as far as Sandwich but was forced to retreat when King Harold called out land and naval forces. He moved north and after an unsuccessful attempt to get his brother Gyrth to join him, he raided Norfolk and Lincolnshire. The Earls Edwin and Morcar defeated him decisively. Deserted by his men, he fled to his sworn brother, King Malcolm III of Scotland. Tostig spent the summer of 1066 in Scotland.

He made contact with King Harald III Hardrada of Norway and persuaded him to invade England. One of the sagas claims that he sailed for Norway, and greatly impressed the Norwegian king and his court, managing to sway a decidedly unenthusiastic Harald, who had just concluded a long and inconclusive war with Denmark, into raising a levy to take the throne of England. With Hardrada's aid, Tostig sailed up the Humber and defeated Morcar and Edwin at Gate Fulford.

Battle of Stamford Bridge

Hardrada's army invaded York, taking hostages after a peaceful surrender, and likely agreed with the local inhabitants to gather commandeered supplies at Stamford Bridge, near York, a conveniently central spot, well-fed by streams and roads. King Harold Godwinson raced northward with an English army from London and, on 25 September 1066, surprised his brother Tostig and about 6,000 of his men, basking in the sun and awaiting supplies. The Norwegians and the Flemish mercenaries hired by Tostig were largely without armour and carried only personal weapons. The day was very hot and no resistance was expected. The remainder of the 11,000 man force remained guarding the Norse ships, beached miles away at Riccall. Tostig and most of his men were killed

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Since someone just disconnected the son Skule from his father Tostig Godwinsson, jarl av Northumbria, I put up this man again, Snorre Sturlason stated that Skule was a son of an English noble origin.

1. See sources:
2. Den Store Norske Lexikon: https://snl.no/Krok
3. https://no.wikisource.org/wiki/Det_norske_Folks_Historie/3/37
4. http://www.thepeerage.com/p10218.htm#i102178
5. http://www.thepeerage.com/p10668.htm#i106672

Toste Godwinsson

Aus der Ehe mit Judith stammen vermutlich seine Söhne Skuli Tostisson Kongsfostre (* um 1052) und Ketil Krok Tostisson (* um 1054). https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toste_Godwinsson