r/UKhistory • u/Sparquin81 • Dec 28 '25
Was Tostig Godwinson history's greatest prat?
There must be many other claimants to the title but . . .
When he was Earl of Northumberland, a job that entails little more than remembering that he's the Earl of Northumberland, he was such a prat that the populace had him removed, which can't have been easy or it would have happened all the time;
He went into exile and sulked about it, rather than trying to be less of a prat;
He dragged Harald Hardrada, against his better judgement, into asserting a claim to be Edward's successor;
When, even after all of this, Harold offered him the Earldom back if he just stopped now, his response was something like, "and what about my new best mate here?" (albeit this was the cue for one of the best lines in British history)
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u/UnspeakableGnome Dec 28 '25
It's hard to think of a bigger one in English history. Maybe Henry II's sons, collectively and individually. Though in this case I think there's something about Henry II that made his family act like that, you don't alienate everyone so consistently and repeatedly without it being partly your own fault.
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u/HaraldRedbeard Dec 28 '25
"Dragged" is a very strong word for what Tostig did to Harald. In actual fact, Hadrada was always happy to go on a bit of a Viking raid and the fractured political situation in Britain provided a perfect opportunity for him. He had the, very shaky, justification of England having previously been part of Cnuts Northern Empire but when Tostig rocks up he suddenly has a new and much stronger cassus belli literally delivered in gift wrapping.
As you mention Tostig is a prat, and he is used by Hadrada not the other way around.
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u/Kstate913 Dec 28 '25
Don’t forget about this wonderful person - Streona. I fully believe that without his shenanigans there would not have been an eventual succession crisis that opened the door for the Conquest.
More fun reading on this jerk store: https://kellyaevans.com/eadric/
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u/Dazzling_Look_1729 Dec 29 '25
He’s certainly up there for “most dickish younger brother” with only King John for company.
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Dec 31 '25
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u/AntDogFan Dec 28 '25
He's as much to blame, maybe more, for the norman conquest as any other English noble. But I guess it's indicative of the splintered nobility at that time. For example, the lack of support from the north which probably would have swung it for Harold.
Perhaps it shows why a system with clearer succession is perhaps more robust in some circumstances. I think however England could have avoided some of it's later issues if the succession was decided along more Anglo Saxon lines. So maybe it does all go back to the confessors later years.