June 8, 1042. Harthacnut dies
Edward the Confessor becomes king of all England
Easter (April 3), 1043. Edward consecrated king at Winchester
A more detailed account of Edward the Confessor's reign will be provided in a later edition. For the moment, in addition to the skeletal notes presented here, see the primary sources (conveniently collected in EHD II) and the other items on the bibliography; note especially the Life of King Edward, which was written 1065-6 and commissioned by Edward's queen Edith.
The two main points of Edward's reign are perhaps the rival importances of the House of Godwine and of the Normans.
The Godwines (Godwine, earl since 1018, and his daughter Edith, who married the king, and sons Swein, Harold, Tostig, Gyrth, Leofwine, and Wulfnoth) at times controlled much of the country. A guarded Biblical allusion in the Life of King Edward suggests that they were quite determined to provide Edward's successor, either as a child of Edward and Edith or (when that marriage was childless) more directly by providing the next king on Edward's death. Edward was not fond of the Godwines, and exiled the whole lot of them in 1051 when he had the chance, but they were too strong and came back the following year.
Edward's support for the Normans, bewailed by later patriotic historians, is probably the natural result of his having been exiled to Normandy during Cnut's reign and apparently beat back there when he tried to return to England in 1036. Especially if Godwine was directly responsible for the death of Edward's brother Alfred in 1036/7, it would be hard for Edward to avoid the conclusion that the Normans were his friends and supporters and the House of Godwine was powerful and unfortunately inescapable (after he tried and failed to oust them in 1051/2), but nonetheless nothing but trouble.
D. Douglas and G. Greenaway (eds), English Historical Documents II: 1042-1189 (London: 1953)
F. Barlow, Edward the Confessor, 2nd edn (London: 1997)
F. Barlow (ed.), The Life of King Edward Who Rests at Westminster, 2nd edn (Oxford: 1992)
S. Keynes, "The Æthelings in Normandy", Anglo-Norman Studies 13 (1991), pp.173-205