Bayeaux Illuminated - Coronation

Following the oath that he swore in Bayeux, Normandy, Harold returns to England where he is at the aging King Edward’s bedside as he passes away. It is thought that Edward’s final action was to bequeath the English crown to Harold, who willingly accepted, and was coronated the very next day on 6th January 1066. Coronation depicts this moment, as Harold sits on his throne wearing the royal crown and holding an orb and a sceptre, symbols of Christian rule and royal authority.The new King’s loyal subjects offer him praise from the edges of the scene.

Beside King Harold stands Archbishop Stigand, the Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury who is believed to have officiated the ceremony. Aside from the fact that Harold had broken his sworn oath to William by accepting the English crown, William and the Normans claimed that the Archbishop’s presence invalidated Harold’s coronation as King of England, as Stigand had been excommunicated by the papacy who refused to recognise his legitimacy.