Harold Godwinson

Back in October, I wrote an article for the Hastings Independent about research being undertaken to find the final resting place of Harold Godwinson, King Harold II of England, here is an update, as such, and a revamped version... 

On the 948th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, a scan was carried out at Waltham Abbey in Essex looking for evidence to re-write the history books and help prove that Harold Godwinson (Harold II) had survived the battle. 

Novelist and amateur historian Peter Burke believes that Harold recovered and lived for another 40 years, his theory being based on an early 12th Century document, Vita Harold, stored at the British Library. This document states that an old pilgrim called 'Christian' declared on his death bed that he was 'Harold Godwinson'.  

The Vita Harold was written by a novice priest who took the last rites of the older man. Mr Burke, whose trilogy, 'The Promise' is based on this premiss, believes that Harold had been "hidden in Winchester and brought back to health by a Moorish nurse. He tried to raise an army in Germany, but couldn't raise sufficient support, and he spent the rest of his life travelling as a pilgrim."

The scan was carried out by the same team that helped to locate the remains of Richard III under a car park in Leicester 2 years ago, and the results were said to be available within a week. However, no results have been published yet.  

As I said before, though, even if they do find the remains of a headless figure there, this would still be inconclusive, as they could be the remains of a fellow knight falsely identified by his common-law wife, Edith Swannesha, to hide the fact he had been taken away to another location, or even of one of Harold's 2 brothers, also said to have been buried at Waltham Abbey.  

A previous attempt to prove that Harold was buried secretly by the sea, as 'William the Bastard' decreed (the contemporary name of William the Conqueror), was turned down in 2003, when the Chichester Diocese Consistory Court refused permission to re-open a tomb that had been mistakenly opened in 1954 at Holy Trinity Church in Bosham, West Sussex. A coroner had examined the bones in 1954, which were said to be missing the head, the right leg and part of the left leg, the same injuries suggested by alternative legends to his being shot in the eye.

Statue in Marina Gardens, St Leonards

The Chancellor of the Diocese of Chichester, the Worshipful Mark Hill, said that he was far from satisfied with the proposal, it was a "matter of conjecture whether any human remains will be found in the coffin; such remains as may be found are highly unlikely to be those of Harold since the vast preponderance of academic opinion points to him having been buried at Waltham Abbey."

The research continues, though, and we eagerly await the latest results. I previously conjectured that the head and legs may be at Waltham Abbey, and the rest of the body at Bosham, but we'll have to wait to find out! 

I have contacted Peter Burke for an update, and he told me "the scan went well. the results will be revealed through the up-coming documentary on Harold in the spring."

The wait goes on...