Legacy and Legend
Harold's daughter Gytha of Wessex married Vladimir Monomakh Grand Duke (Velikii Kniaz) of Kievan Rus' and is ancestress to dynasties of Galicia, Smolensk, and Yaroslavl. Isabella of France (consort of Edward II) was also a direct descendant of Harold via Gytha.
Subsequently, undocumented claims that the Russian Orthodox Church has recently recognised Harold as a martyr have been made.
Harold's son Ulf, along with Morcar and two others, were released from prison by King William as he lay dying in 1087. Ulf threw his lot in with Robert Curthose, who knighted him, and then disappeared from history.
Two of Harold's other sons, Godwine and Edmund, invaded England in 1068 and 1069 with the aid of Diarmait mac Mail na mBo. They raided Cornwall as late as 1082, but died in obscurity in Ireland.
In a pedigree in the Book of Baglan a Harold Godwinson, earl of Wessex and Cornwall, is listed as a male line descendant of the Dukes of Cornwall.
Read more about this topic: Harold Godwinson
Famous quotes containing the words legacy and/or legend:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
—Willis Goldbeck (1900–1979)