England’s childless Anglo-Saxon king, Edward, called the Confessor, on his deathbed in the first days of January 1066, allegedly names Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, heir to the English throne; he dies on January 4 or 5.

In any case, the Witenagemot, gathering at Thorney Island where Edward's Westminster Abbey had been dedicated days before he died, proclaims Harold, the richest and most powerful of the English aristocrats, King of England.

He is crowned as Harold II on January 6, by Ealdred, Archbishop of York, probably in the new Westminster Abbey, although Norman propaganda will claim the ceremony had been performed by Stigand, the uncanonically elected Archbishop of Canterbury.

Later in the month, Harold marries Ealdgyth, daughter of the late Earl Ælfgar, and widow of Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.

Harold is at once challenged by two powerful neighboring rulers.

Duke William of Normandy claims that he had been promised the throne by King Edward and that Harold had sworn agreement to this.

Harald III of Norway, commonly known as Harald Hardrada, also contests the succession.

His claim to the throne is based on an agreement between his predecessor Magnus I of Norway, and the earlier King of England Harthacanute, whereby if either died without heir the other would inherit both England and Norway.

William and Harald immediately set about assembling troops and ships for separate invasions.

Stigand had worked with Earl Edwin and Earl Morcar, as well as Archbishop Ealdred of York, to put Edgar the Ætheling on the throne after the death of Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

This plan had not come to fruition, however, due to opposition from the northern earls and some of the other bishops.

William moves up the Thames valley to cross the river at Wallingford, where he receives the submission of Stigand.

Stigand perhaps assists at William’s coronation on Christmas Day, 1066, although the coronation is performed by Ealdred.

William had taken Stigand with him to Normandy in 1067, although whether this was because William did not trust the archbishop, as the medieval chronicler William of Poitiers alleges, is not certain.

When William was preparing to invade England, his wife Matilda had outfitted a ship, the Mora, out of her own money and gave it to him.

This indicates that she must have owned rich lands in Normandy to be able to do so.

Additionally, William had entrusted Normandy to his wife during his absence.

Matilda had successfully guided the duchy through this period in the name of her fourteen-year-old son; no major uprisings or unrest had occurred.

Even after William conquered England and became its king, it takes her more than a year to visit her new kingdom.

Matilda is crowned queen on May 11, 1068, in Westminster during the feast of Pentecost, in a ceremony presided over by the archbishop of York; Stigand is present as well.

Three new phrases are incorporated to cement the importance of English consorts, stating that the Queen is divinely placed by God, shares in royal power, and blesses her people by her power and virtue.

William had adopted a policy of conciliation towards the church after the first rebellions broke out in late 1067, giving Stigand a place at court, as well as giving administrative positions to Ealdred of York and Æthelwig, Abbot of Evesham.

Archbishop Stigand appears on a number of royal charters in 1069, along with both Norman and English leaders.

He even consecrated Remigius de Fécamp in 1067 as Bishop of Dorcester.

Once the danger of rebellion is past, however, William has no further need of Stigand.

At a council held at Winchester at Easter 1070, the bishops meet with papal legates from Alexander II.

Stigand is deposed on April 11, 1070, by the papal legate, Ermenfrid, Bishop of Sion in the Alps, and is imprisoned at Winchester.

His brother Æthelmær, Bishop of Elmham, is also deposed at the same council.

Shortly afterwards, Aethelric the Bishop of Selsey, Ethelwin the Bishop of Durham and Leofwin Bishop of Lichfield, who is married, sre deposed at a council held at Windsor.

There are three reasons given for Stigand's deposition: that he held the bishopric of Winchester in plurality with Canterbury; that he not only occupied Canterbury after Robert of Jumièges fled but also seized Robert's pallium which was left behind; and that he received his own pallium from Benedict X, an antipope.

Some accounts state that Stigand did appear at the council which deposed him, but nothing is recorded of any defense that he attempted.

The charges against his brother are nowhere stated, leading to a belief that the depositions were mainly political.

That spring he had deposited his personal wealth at Ely Abbey for safekeeping, but King William confiscates it after his deposition, along with his estates.

The king appoints Lanfranc, a native of Italy and a scholar and abbot in Normandy, as the new archbishop.

King William appears to have left the initiative for Stigand's deposition to the papacy, and had done nothing to hinder Stigand's authority until the papal legates arrived in England to depose the archbishop and reform the English Church.

Besides witnessing charters and consecrating Remigius, Stigand appears to have been a member of the royal council, and able to move freely about the country.

But after the arrival of the legates, William had done nothing to protect Stigand from deposition, and the archbishop will later accuse the king of acting with bad faith.

Stigand may even have been surprised that the legates wished him deposed.

It was probably the death of Ealdred in 1069 that had moved the pope to send the legates, as that left only one archbishop in England; and he is not considered legitimate and unable to consecrate bishops.

The historian George Garnett draws the parallel between the treatment of King Harold in Domesday Book, where he is essentially ignored as king, and Stigand's treatment after his deposition, where his time as archbishop is as much as possible treated as not occurring.