Which English council elected Harold Godwinson king in 1066?

The Witenagemot elected Harold Godwinson king of England in 1066. The Witenagemot, or Witan, was an assembly of leading nobles and churchmen who advised the Anglo-Saxon king and participated in choosing a successor.

Edward the Confessor died childless on 5 January 1066, leaving a succession crisis. Harold, Earl of Wessex, was England’s most powerful nobleman, while the young Edgar Ætheling had a strong hereditary claim but little political support. The Witenagemot chose Harold, who was crowned on 6 January, probably at Westminster Abbey.

William, Duke of Normandy, disputed Harold’s accession, claiming that Edward had promised him the throne and that Harold had sworn to support his claim. Harald Hardrada of Norway also invaded, but Harold defeated him at Stamford Bridge before marching south to confront William.

A common mix-up is calling the Witenagemot a parliament. Parliament developed much later; the Witan was an earlier royal council, and its role in succession was elective but shaped by aristocratic and ecclesiastical power.