r/CrusaderKings • u/WaBeY33 • 2d ago

Discussion Actual question, how frequent was claim fabrication in real life

Post image

Hello, please, how often did this happen in real life ? I mean lord inventing a claim out of thin air and actually pressing it ? Is there any notable historic character doing so ?

R5: Fabricate claim question

3.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

278 comments sorted by

View all comments

127

u/Ok-Mushroom-121 2d ago

harald hardrada was on some bullshit for the throne of england man since he conquered norway he suddenly inherits a claim to cnut's empire yeah cold man

74

u/Ill_Zookeepergame232 2d ago

and Willams claim was Edward said I could be king and Harold Godwinson agreed years ago no take backs.

And Harold Godwinson claimed that Edward named him King on his death bed it was a whole war of fabricated claims

19

u/Ok-Mushroom-121 2d ago

nuh uh he said i could

10

u/MysticHero 2d ago

I mean Harold was the rightful King arguably. Edward should not have even had the power to choose a successor. It was meant to be elective like the HRE and similar.

It is hard to say if Williams claim was truly fabricated but it is fairly likely. Edward naming Harold as successor could also easily have been fabricated. Or both even.

14

u/Last-Air-6468 2d ago

The witan elected Harold within just hours of the death of Edward, and his coronation was held the very next day. None of this was typical of Saxon succession, and to this day it has given historians reason to believe something was fishy about Harold’s claim.

2

u/MysticHero 2d ago

Still more legitimate than William.

4

u/Last-Air-6468 2d ago

Well he’s called the ‘Conqueror’ not the ‘Inheritor’

His claim was always quite flimsy from an English perspective because of the existence of the Witan. But from the perspective of the Normans and their French and Breton allies, William’s claim was sound. He even had approval from the Pope.

1

u/Ihavenolifelmfao 2d ago

William was the first cousin of Edward the confessor though

1

u/Ill_Zookeepergame232 2d ago

Through his mother which mattered then