the items from the altar and forbade any other bishop from doing so. The tale goes on that Harold failed to sway Æthelnoth, as both bribes and threats proved ineffectual. The despairing Harold reportedly rejected Christianity in protest. He refused to attend church services while uncrowned, preoccupying himself with hunting and trivial matters. The Encomium stays silent on an event reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other sources. Harold was accepted as monarch in a Witenagemot held at Oxford. His chief supporter in the council was Leofric, Earl of Mercia, while the opposition was led by Godwin, Earl of Wessex. There is evidence that Ælfgifu of Northampton was attempting to secure her son's position through bribes to the nobles. In 1036, Gunhilda of Denmark, sister to Harthacnut and half-sister to Harold, married Henry III, King of Germany. On this occasion Immo, a priest serving at the court of the Holy Roman Empire, wrote a letter to Azecho, Bishop of Worms. It included information on the situation in England, with messengers from there reporting that Ælfgifu was gaining the support of the leading aristocrats through pleas and bribery, binding them to herself and Harold by oaths of loyalty. Initially the Kingdom of England was divided between the two half-brothers. Harold ruled the areas north of the River Thames, supported by the local nobility. The southern nobility under Godwin and Emma continued to be ruled in the name of the absent Harthacnut. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Godwin and the leading men of Wessex opposed the rule of Harold for "...as long as they could, but they could not do anything against it." With the north at least on Harold's side, in adherence to the terms of a deal, which Godwin was part of, Emma was settled in Winchester, with Harthacnut's huscarls. Harold soon "sent and had taken from her all the best treasures" of Cnut the Great. The situation could not last for long, and Godwin eventually switched sides. William of Malmesbury asserts that Godwin had been overwhelmed "in power and in numbers" by Harold. In 1037, Emma of Normandy fled to Bruges, Flanders, and Harold "was everywhere chosen as king". The details behind the event are obscure. The account of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, version E, jumps from Harold being a mere regent to Harold being the sole king. Versions C and D do not even make a distinction between the