Harold Godwinson's descendants?

As we know, Harold Godwinson- alledged to relate distantly to King Athelred I (older brother of Alfred the Great)- had several sons and daughters by Edith Swanneck, a mysterious English noble lady who was his handfast wife. Two or three of their sons tried to invade England in 1068 only to be bloodily repulsed (ironically) by men who had served their father.

Another child (son?) was in the womb of Harold's official wife, Eadgyth Leofricson, the sister of earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria, at the time of the doomed battle of 'Hastings' on 14th October, 1066. But after the surviving Godwinson family fled abroad to Europe after 1066, what became of them, and their descendants?

We can't know if any of his sons sired issue, but one of Harold's daughters, Gytha, had over 7 or 8 children by her Russian husband, Prince Vladimir of Smolensk. Just one of the lineages through their many issue seems to have gone-

King Harold II Godwinson, father of:
Gytha of Wessex, mother of:
Grand Duke Mstislav I of Kiev, father of:
Euphrosyne, mother of:
King Bela III Arpad of Hungary, father of:
King Andras II of Hungary, father of:
Yolanda (Violante) of Hungary, mother of:
Isabella of Aragon, mother of:
King Philippe IV of France, father of:
Isabella of France, mother of:
King Edward III of England


Via Harold's descendents, the 'English' monarchy thus eventually came full circle?

Atheling Athelstan's will, 1014

Drawn up on June 25th 1014, the will of aethling Athelstan stresses the atheling’s legitimacy to the title of his estates in that he was either given them by the king (his father) or by senior nobles.

There are clues to some tension between him and his father, the king (Ethelred II), in that it makes a direct appeal to the witan and nobles to ensure that the king kept his word.
In other words, he believed that his own father would continue to turn his back on him, even after death.

The beneficiaries were;

• Sigeferth and Morcar, leading thegns from the Danelaw (brothers of Canute's first wife, Aelfgifu of Northampton), whom he must have known well (he had given Sigeferth a mailcoat previously- v.expensive).

• Athelstan’s brother Edmund would later take Siferth’s widow as his wife, disobeying the king.

• Thurbrand the Hold (whom Canute had bidded assassinate Earl Uhtred), another beneficiary, had given Athelstan a horse

• Leofwine, maybe the earldorman of the W.Mercian region of the Hwicce,had given him a fine white horse.

• Ulfkitel Snilling -the hero who had resisted the Vikings successfully many times during Ethelred's dire reign, had once given the atheling a silver-hilted sword.

• We can make out from the Will that Aethelwold, father of Aethelmaer (both slain in the purges of 1005-6), had left a widow when he died and the atheling had cared for her.

• The atheling had taken BYGRAVE from a certain 'Leofmere,' but restored it by his will. It was still in his hands during the Confessor’s reign.

• One notable mention in the will is the son of Sussex thegn Wulfnoth- Godwin. He was ‘restored’ to his father’s estate at Compton by the atheling. His sons would be earls, and one a future king

Those who gained the most from this Will;

The atheling’s brothers Eadwig and Edmund, mostly the latter- a fine sword, trumpet, athelstan’s E.Anglian estates and another sword which had once belonged to King Offa of Mercia.

The E.Anglian connection is significant because it links the atheling with with the patrimony of the descendants of his namesake Athelstan ‘half-king’ who were firmly committed to the Edmund lobby.
By this inheritance, Edmund’s roots would be firmly in the Danelaw and the symbolic gift of the sword is revealing that atheling Athelstan is giving Edmund the nod to rule the kingdom- not Edward (son by Emma).
Even their names Athelstan and Edmund are revealing- they too had had wealthy, powerful ancestors of those exact names, where an Edmund succeeded his brother Athelstan too!

So on his deathbed, the atheling lay dying knowing that the king, his own father, had forsaken him for Edward and Alfred, and so he preferred Edmund to succeed his estates than to half-brother (half-Norman).
He and his full brothers had made alliances with powerful nobles across the country who had a grievance against Ethelred. They had either been sidelined by the king in his governmental purges (engineered by his father's chief advisor, the slimy Edric of Mercia) or had a background on the Edwardian side in the accession crisis of 975.

Sign the Petition! Save the 'Hastings' battlesite...

http://www.englistory.com/t1239-sign-the-petition

"English Heritage begins process to review 1066 battlefield registration
Local resident starts legal action against ESCC to preserve battlefield
Legal action update: 28th January 2013

Today, Michael's solicitor wrote again to ESCC to say that tree works alone are affecting over 6.3 hectares of land and the loss of 589 trees and that these works are subject to conditions that have not yet been discharged.

Things have been developing rapidly in relation to the 2nd Battle of Hastings. Early in the week the national press reported that there was new evidence unfolding about the site of the Battle of Hastings (see Daily Telegraph, 14 January 2013). The following day, a local resident, Michael Bernard, applied to English Heritage for an urgent review of the battlefield site registration of the Battle of Hastings in the light of new evidence about the extent and nature of the site. English Heritage responded by return on 16 January 2013, acknowledged the application and explained that it would start the validation and initial assessment process."