Edward grew up in exile in Normandy. Returning as king without a local power base, Edward needed help from Earl Godwin, the most powerful man in the land. In return, Godwin had his daughter marry Edward – despite Godwin’s part in the death of Edward’s brother, Alfred. In 1051, Edward expelled Godwin and his sons, and put his queen in a convent, but the Godwins returned next year with an army, forcing their reacceptance. The childless Edward made no public proclamation of who he wanted as heir, leaving the throne to be contested when he died in 1066, thus setting in motion the conflagration that would consume the House of Godwin later that year. It’s hard not to see it as Edward’s belated revenge upon a family that he hated but could not dispense with.