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,
Iste confessor pius, prudens, humilis, pudicus, 3 Cuius ob præstans meritum frequenter, 4 Noster hinc illi chorus obsequentem 5 Sit salus illi, decus, atque virtus, Iste confessor Domini sacratus <poem> 1 Iste Confessor Domini sacratus, 2 Qui pius, prudens, humilis, pudicus, 3 Ad sacrum cuius tumulum frequenter, 4 Unde nunc noster chorus in honorem 5 Sit salus illi, decus, atque virtus, </poem> Due to differences between the Latin versions of the hymn, and due to the demands of rendering the original Latin into metrical English which was suitable for singing, the translations below are thematically accurate, rather than literal translations. This is