April 3, 1043: Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England

Edward was born between the years 1003 and 1005 in Islip, Oxfordshire, England. He was born to King Ethelred the Unready and his wife, Emma of Normandy. Edward's great-great-great grandfather, Alfred the Great had fought off the Viking hordes and united the warring Kingdoms of England. By the time of Ethelred's reign, the Viking raids had began anew. Edward and his mother fled to her holdings in Normandy when Viking chief Sweyn Forkbeard seized the throne from his father. His father died in 1014, and Edward's brother, Edmund Ironside resumed the fight against the Vikings. When Edmund died in 1016, Sweyn's son, Cnut usurped the throne of England. In 1036, Cnut died and throne fell to Harthacnut. Edward bided his time, forming alliances in Normandy and on the Continent. In 1041, Harthacnut was dying, and invited Edward back to England to be his heir. When he died a year later, Edward was proclaimed king. On April 3, 1043, Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England. He would reign for 25 years. He died childless in 1066. His death would spark a succession crisis that would culminate in the Norman invasion later that year.

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