ABSTRACT
On 14 October 1066 Harold, Gyrth and Leofwine, as well, apparently, as their uncle, Ælfwig abbot of Newminster at Winchester, lay dead on the battlefield; Tostig had been killed at Stamford Bridge; and the only surviving male of that generation, Wulfnoth, was a hostage in William the Conqueror's hands. Of the sisters, Ælfgifu was dead; but the widowed queen Edith and the nun Gunhild remained, both childless. Only Harold and Tostig seem to have left offspring. The mother of all these, the Danish noblewoman, Gytha, was, however, still alive and active.
