Philip I of France and a daughter of Harold Godwinson

Is it possible for King Philip I of France to marry a daughter of Harold Godwinson? How would this possible marriage affect the battle of Hastings?
 
It wouldn't. France was extremely decentralized during this period, which is why a French Duke was able to launch an invasion and become King of England without England becoming a part of France in the first place.
 
Philippe I of France was born in 1052. By the time of Hastings, he was only 14 but I guess he would have been eligible for marriage. However, from what I read, all of Harold's daughters were 10 if not 20 years older than the King of France: thus, the possibility of such a marriage is low.

It wouldn't be impossible for Philippe to marry a daughter of Harold of course, but I don't think it's very likely. I'm also not sure if this would have any real result on Hastings: the Kings of France were very weak at the time. You had to wait for Philippe II Augustus (great grandson of Philippe I) before the French King could do anything to challenge his own nobility.

Plus, the royal dosmaine only had one port in the days of Philippe I and it was very easy to attack. So it would be kind of difficult for Philippe I to send troops to Hastings. He could always attack Normandy while William is away but I'm not sure the invasion would be successful. The only thing a marriage between Philippe I and a daughter of Harold Godwinson could bring would be an earlier Anglo-Norman*/Capetian rivarly... Which is probably not a good thing for the King of France at the time.

*The Plantagenêts are partially Anglo-Normans via Mathilda of England, mother of Henry II.
 
Wikipedia's article on Harold has his daughters born in 1053 and 1055; if it's correct, age would be no barrier.

If the marriage took place before Hastings, the king could have forbidden William from invading England, with the threat that his Norman estates would be forfeited. William, obviously, could retort something like 'you and whose army' to the challenge, and he would have been right that the royal army wouldn't have been strong enough on its own for the king to enforce the threat.

The other consequence, which doesn't require the marriage to have been before Hastings, is that a son of the marriage will have a claim to the English crown of his own.
 
Bee said:
Wikipedia's article on Harold has his daughters born in 1053 and 1055; if it's correct, age would be no barrier.

I just checked... In fact, I used the French version of Wikipedia (because I'm French). I thought the first bit of it was dealing with his family. It does, but it talks about his brothers and sisters :eek:. So, sorry for the misunderstanding... You're the one who's right.

Bee said:
If the marriage took place before Hastings, the king could have forbidden William from invading England, with the threat that his Norman estates would be forfeited. William, obviously, could retort something like 'you and whose army' to the challenge, and he would have been right that the royal army wouldn't have been strong enough on its own for the king to enforce the threat.

The other consequence, which doesn't require the marriage to have been before Hastings, is that a son of the marriage will have a claim to the English crown of his own.

We agree on this.

I do wonder how the last part would have played out in the relationship between the Duke of Normandy-King of England and the King of France-Claimant King of England in this kind of scenario... Especially if we had an ATL Philip Augustus showing up on the French throne.
 
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