Right, so the Norman Conquest happened because William of Normandy staked his claim to the throne of England, a throne which also had claimants from the Danish and Norse kings and also two native claimants from the Houses of Godwin and Wessex. Each had their own claim, of varying sincerity and validity. Harold Godwinson was clearly the favorite among the notables of England and was elected in spite of their being a claimant left to the House of Wessex.
Given that Godwin himself was elected in defiance of outside claims, could there be a way in OTL where rather than simply elect Godwin, the Anglo-Saxon lords ask that each claimant lord arrive himself at London to stake a claim (or send a representative). The five claimants agree to do so (even if they're already preparing armies, escape plans, intervention plans, cutting deals, etc...) and have themselves or their representatives. Already fairly out there I know, but supposed they do. If they do do so, who wins a game of bribery and rhetoric? Does Godwinson still pull it out, or does the Bastard of Normandy have some room to play? And what of the other three? Or do we just go back into the OTL War, with different or same end results?
For some reason I'm seeing this whole thing play out as a Shakespearean play, with the claimants (or their reps) scheming in London against one another in order to claim the crown of England. The eventual winner is probably also the client funding this play, so you'd have maybe Godwinson trumpeted as the trueborn man of England, or Wessex as the promised prince or William as the Christian king, etc...
Given that Godwin himself was elected in defiance of outside claims, could there be a way in OTL where rather than simply elect Godwin, the Anglo-Saxon lords ask that each claimant lord arrive himself at London to stake a claim (or send a representative). The five claimants agree to do so (even if they're already preparing armies, escape plans, intervention plans, cutting deals, etc...) and have themselves or their representatives. Already fairly out there I know, but supposed they do. If they do do so, who wins a game of bribery and rhetoric? Does Godwinson still pull it out, or does the Bastard of Normandy have some room to play? And what of the other three? Or do we just go back into the OTL War, with different or same end results?
For some reason I'm seeing this whole thing play out as a Shakespearean play, with the claimants (or their reps) scheming in London against one another in order to claim the crown of England. The eventual winner is probably also the client funding this play, so you'd have maybe Godwinson trumpeted as the trueborn man of England, or Wessex as the promised prince or William as the Christian king, etc...