Edward the Confessor was an Anglo-Saxon monarch who ruled England from 1042 until his death in 1066. As the final ruler of the House of Wessex, he ascended the throne following the death of Harthacnut. Born in Islip to Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, Edward spent much of his youth in exile, likely in Normandy, due to Danish rule in England. His reign, lasting twenty-four years, ended just before the Norman Conquest, which saw his successor, Harold Godwinson, defeated at the Battle of Hastings.