Harold
historical figure · 2 works · 2 mentions · 2 anchored passages
Harold the usurper
in the texts
An Essay on the Trial by Jury
English king described as a usurper, said to be the one actually conquered by William the Conqueror.
Not the conqueror of the English people, (as the friends of liberty maintain,) but only of Harold the usurper.
Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John
Anglo-Saxon claimant to the English throne whose renunciation is invoked in William's claim.
Not content to depend entirely on the right of conquest, he insisted on having his title confirmed by a body claiming to represent the Witenagemot, and alleged that he had been named successor by his kinsman, Edward Confessor, a nomination strengthened by the renunciation of Harold in his favour.