Editing Harold Godwinson (section)

=== In northern France ===
[[File:Bayeux Tapestry scene23 Harold sacramentum fecit Willelmo duci.jpg|thumb|''HAROLD SACRAMENTUM FECIT VVILLELMO DUCI'' ("Harold made an oath to Duke William"): the [[Bayeux Tapestry]] shows Harold touching two altars at Bayeux as the duke watches.]]

In 1064, Harold was apparently shipwrecked at [[Ponthieu]]. There is much speculation about this voyage. The earliest post-conquest Norman chroniclers state that King Edward had previously sent [[Robert of Jumièges]], the archbishop of Canterbury, to appoint as his heir Edward's maternal kinsman, Duke [[William II of Normandy]], and that at this later date, Harold was sent to swear [[fealty]].<ref name=Howarth69>{{Harvnb|Howarth|1983|pp=69–70}}.</ref> Scholars disagree as to the reliability of this story. William, at least, seems to have believed he had been offered the succession, but some acts of Edward are inconsistent with his having made such a promise, such as his efforts to return his nephew [[Edward the Exile]], son of King [[Edmund Ironside]], from Hungary in 1057.{{Efn|Edward may not have been blameless in this situation, as at least one other man, Sweyn II of Denmark, also thought Edward had promised him the succession.<ref name=Howarth69/>}} 

Later Norman chroniclers suggest alternative explanations for Harold's journey: that he was seeking the release of members of his family who had been held hostage since Godwin's exile in 1051, or even that he had simply been travelling along the English coast on a hunting and fishing expedition and had been driven across the [[English Channel]] by an unexpected storm. There is general agreement that he left from [[Bosham]], and was blown off course, landing at Ponthieu. He was captured by Count [[Guy I of Ponthieu]], and was then taken as a hostage to the count's castle at [[Beaurainville|Beaurain]],{{Efn|[[Bayeux Tapestry]], in which the place is called in Latin ''Belrem''}} {{Cvt|24.5|km}} up the [[Canche|River Canche]] from its mouth at what is now [[Le Touquet]]. William arrived soon afterward and ordered Guy to turn Harold over to him.<ref>{{Harvnb|Howarth|1983|pp=71–72}}.</ref>

Harold then apparently accompanied William to battle against William's enemy, [[Conan II, Duke of Brittany]]. While crossing into [[Brittany]] past the fortified abbey of [[Mont Saint-Michel]], Harold is recorded as rescuing two of William's soldiers from [[quicksand]]. They pursued Conan from [[Dol-de-Bretagne]] to [[Rennes]], and finally to [[Dinan]], where he surrendered the fortress's keys at the point of a [[lance]]. William presented Harold with weapons and arms, knighting him. The [[Bayeux Tapestry]], and other Norman sources, then state that Harold swore an oath on sacred relics to William to support his claim to the English throne. After Edward's death, the Normans were quick to claim that in accepting the crown of England, Harold had broken this alleged oath.{{Sfn|Freeman|1869|pp=165–166}}

The chronicler [[Orderic Vitalis]] wrote of Harold that he "was distinguished by his great size and strength of body, his polished manners, his firmness of mind and command of words, by a ready wit and a variety of excellent qualities. But what availed so many valuable gifts, when good faith, the foundation of all virtues, was wanting?"{{Sfn|Ordericus Vitalis|1853|pages=459–460}}

Due to a doubling of taxation by Tostig in 1065 that threatened to plunge England into civil war, Harold supported [[Northumbrian Revolt of 1065|Northumbrian rebels]] against his brother, and replaced him with [[Morcar, Earl of Northumbria|Morcar]]. This led to Harold's marriage alliance with the northern earls but fatally split his own family, driving Tostig into alliance with King [[Harald Hardrada]] ("Hard Ruler") of Norway.{{Sfn|DeVries|1999|p=230}}