in
Kirkdale, North Yorkshire, with Earl Tostig's name in the dedication
IN TOSTI DAGVM EORL+ ('in Earl Tostig's day', at bottom right) In the 19th century, the antiquarian
Edward Augustus Freeman posited a hypothesis claiming that
Edward the Confessor, King of England, was pursuing a policy of "
Normanisation" of England and, by doing so, was reducing the influence of the
House of Godwin. In 1051, Earl Godwin's opposition to Edward's policies had brought England to the brink of civil war. Eventually, the Godwins' opposition convinced Edward to banish them in 1051. Freeman's explanation of the banishment has many critics, as it does not explain fully the relationship between the Godwins and the king. The banished Godwin family, including Gytha and Tostig, together with
Sweyn and
Gyrth, sought refuge with Tostig's brother-in-law the
Count of Flanders. They returned to England the following year with armed forces, gaining support and demanding that Edward restore Tostig's earldom. Three years later in 1055, Tostig became the
Earl of Northumbria upon the death of Earl
Siward. He was on intimate terms with his brother-in-law, Edward the Confessor, and in 1061 he
visited Pope Nicholas II at Rome in the company of
Ealdred, archbishop of York. Tostig appears to have governed in
Northumbria with some difficulty. He was never popular with the Northumbrian ruling class, a mix of Danish invaders and
Anglo-Saxon survivors of the last Norse invasion. Tostig was said to have been heavy-handed with those who resisted his rule, including murdering several members of leading Northumbrian families. In late 1063 or early 1064, Tostig had Gamal son of Orm and Ulf son of Dolfin assassinated when Gamal visited him under safe conduct. The
Vita Edwardi, otherwise sympathetic to Tostig, states that he had 'repressed [the Northumbrians] with the heavy yoke of his rule'. He was frequently absent from the court of King Edward in the south, and, possibly, showed a lack of leadership against the raiding Scots. Their king was a personal friend of Tostig, and Tostig's unpopularity made it difficult to raise local levies to combat them. He resorted to using a strong force of Danish mercenaries (
housecarls) as his main force, an expensive and resented policy (the housecarls' leaders were later slaughtered by rebels). In addition, it is likely that local biases played a part in his unpopularity. Tostig was from the south of England, a distinctly different culture from the north, which had not had a southern earl in generations. In 1063, still immersed in the confused local politics of Northumbria, his popularity apparently plummeted. Many of the inhabitants of Northumbria were
Danes, who had enjoyed lesser taxation than in other parts of England. Yet, the wars in
Wales, of which Tostig's constituents were principal beneficiaries, needed to be paid for. Tostig had been a major commander in these wars attacking in the north while his brother
Harold Godwinson marched up from the south. ==Deposition by his brother Harold and the thegns of Northumbria==