HAROLD I

died March 17, 1040, Oxford, Eng. Harold I Harefoot byname Harold Harefoot king of England from 1035 to 1040. Harold, the illegitimate son of King Canute, the Dane who ruled England from 1017 to 1035, was made regent of England after his father's death because Canute's legitimate son, Hardecanute, king of Denmark and claimant to the English throne, was occupied with affairs in Denmark. In 1036 Harold was responsible for the brutal murder of another royal claimant, Alfred the Aetheling, son of King Ethelred II the Unready (reigned 9781016). Harold then proclaimed himself king and banished Hardecanute's mother. He protected his realm from Welsh and Scot invaders, and on his death Hardecanute ascended the throne.