Page "Stigand" Paragraph 1

Stigand served King Cnut as a chaplain at a royal foundation at Ashingdon in 1020, and as an advisor then and later.

He continued in his role of advisor during the reigns of Cnut's sons, Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut.

When Cnut's stepson Edward the Confessor succeeded Harthacnut, Stigand likely became England's main administrator.

Monastic writers of the time accused Stigand of extorting money and lands from the church, and by 1066, the only estates richer than Stigand's were the royal estates and those of Harold Godwinson.