Edward the Confessor of Edward's lands exceeded that of the greatest earls, but they were scattered among the southern earldoms. He had no personal powerbase, and he does not seem to have attempted to build one. In 1050–51 he even paid off the fourteen foreign ships which constituted his standing navy and abolished the tax raised to pay for it. However, in ecclesiastical and foreign affairs he was able to follow his own policy. King Magnus I of Norway aspired to the English throne, and in 1045 and 1046, fearing an invasion, Edward took command of the fleet at Sandwich. Beorn's elder brother,
George the Confessor George the Confessor Saint George the Confessor (Greek: "Ἅγιος Γεώργιος ὁ Ὁμολογητής"), also known as Saint George of Antioch, was the Bishop of Antioch in Pisidia in the 8th century. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and his feast day is 19 April. In his youth, George became a monk and gained renown for his piety, and was later ordained bishop of Antioch in Pisidia. In 754, George attended the iconoclast Council of Hieria in Constantinople, which banned the veneration of icons. However, as an iconodule, George refused to comply with the rulings of the