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 council and was subsequently exiled by Emperor Constantine V. He later returned from exile and attended the restoration of the veneration of icons at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. George criticised the restoration of iconoclasm at the onset of the reign of Emperor Leo V, and once more refused to remove icons from churches within his diocese. The emperor banished George, who died in exile in 814. For his dedication to the Orthodox Church, George was named a Confessor of the Faith. George the Confessor Saint George the Confessor (Greek: "Ἅγιος Γεώργιος ὁ Ὁμολογητής"), also known as Saint