Tostig Godwinson (d. 25 September 1066) was an Anglo-Saxon earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England.
Tostig was the third child of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Kent, and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir. In 1051, he married Judith, the daughter of Count Baldwin IV, half-sister of Baldwin V of Flanders, and aunt of Matilda who married William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book recorded twenty-six vills...
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Tostig Godwinson (d. 25 September 1066) was an Anglo-Saxon earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England.
Tostig was the third child of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Kent, and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir. In 1051, he married Judith, the daughter of Count Baldwin IV, half-sister of Baldwin V of Flanders, and aunt of Matilda who married William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book recorded twenty-six vills or townships as being held by Earl Tostig forming the Manor of Hougun.
In 1051, Tostig and his father were banished from England to which they forcefully returned in 1052. Three years later in 1055, Tostig became the Earl of Northumbria upon the death of Earl Siward.
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...
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