The Royal and noble families of Saxon and Norman Britain
A Little Royal Genealogy
The House of Wessex
King Harold (Harold II) was the son of the powerful Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and brother-in-law of Edward The Confessor.
When Edward died childless in January 1066, the Witan elected Harold as his successor.
The House of Normandy
Duke William of Normandy was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert of Normandy and a tanner's daughter, hence the name 'Bastard'. They were descendants of the first Duke of Normandy Rollo; the Vikings (men of the North) had so harried the French coast that the French King granted lands to Rollo. In time these northmen absorbed french culture and language, and by the time of the Conquest were indeed Norman French.