1066 - Who had the Best Claim to the Throne?

   In my opinion, Harold Godwinson definitely had the best claim to the throne, and here are my reasons to think this. First off, Harold Godwinson was British, so he was a local, and usually people want someone who is a local to rule their country, not some weird foreigner like Hadrada or William. Next, Harold was the person who was originally chosen to be the king's successor, so he had the rights to the throne, and would have become king had Hadrada and William not decided to invade England. Thirdly, Harold was the king's brother in law, because the king had married his sister, so in a way Harold was part of the royal family. This made Harold the only member of the royal family old enough to rule England, because the king's nephew was too young. Also, Harold was known as a strong leader who wouldn't just run the country into the ground, and this reputation was a big part of why he was chosen as the next king. The nobles also agreed with Harold becoming king, because it would benefit him. Due to the fact that Harold was such a good leader, he would be able to make sure that the nobles remained powerful and wouldn't be overthrown.
   The other two competitors for the throne didn't have as good claims as Harold.
 Hadrada's claim to the throne was that a distant relative of his (Cnut) had ruled England a long time ago, so he thought that this made him the rightful king of England, which it didn't. He would only have the rights to becoming king if Cnut's son had become king, and then the family had managed to retain they're power over England. However, the British took back control over England, and the Norwegians had to go back to their country.
  William's claim to the throne was much better. He said that Edward (the king of England), had made a promise stating that he would make William the next king of England. William also captured Harold, and made Harold make an oath saying that he would help William become king. Niether of these things happened. Instead of William, Edward chose Harold to be his successor, and when William found out about this, he was outraged. He called Harold an oath-breaker for not helping him become king. Now, you may think being called an oath-breaker isn't a very bad thing, but it was back then. When William accused Harold of this, he gained support to forcibly take over England from the Pope, who said that the invasion of England would be a "Holy Crusade".
 Overall, I think that Harold definitely had the best claim to the throne, because he had the most reasons to become king, and he was in a way related to the king.