Canute The Great

Canute (or Cnut) I, or Canute the Great (Old Norse: Knútr inn ríki, Danish: Knud den Store, Norwegian: Knut den mektige) (ca. 995 – November 12, 1035) was a Danish king of England, Denmark, Norway, part of Sweden and governor or overlord of Schleswig and Pomerania; ruling a North Sea empire which saw Danish control at its height. He was in treaty with the Holy Roman Emperors, Henry II and Conrad II and maintained good relations with the papacy. Contents

Early career

Canute was the son of king Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark and his queen, the daughter of Mieszko I of Poland. Little is known about his life before 1013. That year, in August, he accompanied his father on his successful invasion of England. While King Sweyn was off conquering England, Canute was left in charge of the remainder of the Danish army at Gainsborough. Upon the sudden death of his father the following February, Canute was proclaimed king by the Danish army. However, the assembly of magnates refused to accept him and instead voted to restore the defeated king Ethelred the Unready from exile in Normandy.

Ethelred quickly raised an army, forcing Canute to abandon England and sail back to Denmark with the remnants of his army. When he sailed past Sandwich, Canute mutilated hostages given to his father as pledges of support from local nobles.

Canute’s older brother Harold became the King of Denmark on their father’s death. Canute suggested that the two brothers should jointly rule the Kingdom, which found little appeal with his brother. However, Harold promised him assistance and support for his conquest of England if Canute renounced his rights to the Danish throne. Canute kept silent and waited for an opportunity to present itself when he would reclaim his throne in England.

Conquest of England

Canute proceeded to England in the summer of 1015 with a Danish force of approximately 10,000 men. This time, he was joined by his Norwegian brother-in-law Eiríkr Hákonarson, who was an experienced soldier and statesman. Fortunately for Canute, a strong mercenary chief, Thorkell the High, pledged alliegance to him. The Earl Eadric also joined the Danes with forty ships.

The invasion force landed in Essex, which was occupied quickly. Northumbria fell next, and Canute executed its Earl Uhtred for breaking an oath pledged to Sweyn Forkbeard two years earlier. In April 1016, Canute entered the Thames with his fleet and besieged London. King Ethelred died suddenly during the siege, and his son Edmund Ironside was proclaimed king. When Edmund left London to raise an army in the countryside, he was intercepted by Canute at Ashingdon, Essex. After a decisive victory for Canute in the Battle of Ashingdon, Edmund was forced to negotiate under unfavourable circumstances.

Meeting on an island in the Severn River, King Edmund II was forced to accept defeat and sign a treaty with Canute in which all of England except for Wessex would be controlled by Canute, and when one of the kings should die, the other king would take all of England; his sons being the heir to the throne. After Edmund's death (possibly murder) on 30 November, Canute ruled the whole kingdom. Canute was recognised by the nobility as the sole king in January 1017.

In order to associate his line with the overthrown English dynasty and to insure himself against attack from Normandy where Ethelred's sons Edward the Confessor and Alfred Atheling were in exile, Canute married (July 1017) Ethelred's widow Emma of Normandy, daughter of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy. He proclaimed their son Harthacanute as heir in preference to Harold, his son by Aelgifu of Northampton.

King of England

As King of England, Canute combined English and Danish institutions and personnel. His mutilation of the hostages taken by his father in pledge of English loyalty is remembered above all as being uncharacteristic of his rule.

By dividing the country (1017) into the four great earldoms of Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria, he instituted the system of territorial lordships which would underlie English government for centuries. The very last Danegeld ever paid, a sum of £82,500, went to Canute in 1018. He felt secure enough to send the invasion fleet back to Denmark with £72,000 that same year.

Canute reinstated the laws passed under King Edgar. However, he reformed the existing laws and initiated a new series of laws and proclamations. Two significant ones were On Heriots and Reliefs, and Inheritance in Case of Intestacy. He strengthened the coinage system, and initiated a series of new coins which would be of equal weight as those being used in Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia. This greatly improved the trade of England, whose economy was in turmoil following years of social disorder.

King of Denmark

In 1018 (or 1019) Canute succeeded his elder brother Harold II as king of Denmark, and appointed his brother-in-law Ulf Jarl as the earl of Denmark. When the Swedish king Anund Jakob and the Norwegian king Saint Olaf took advantage of Canute's absence and attacked Denmark, Ulf convinced the freemen to elect Harthacanute king, since they were discontented with Canute's absenteeism. This was a ruse from Ulf since his role as the caretaker of Harthacanute would make him the ruler of Denmark. When Canute learnt of what had happened in 1026, he returned to Denmark and with Ulf Jarl's help, he defeated the Swedes and the Norwegians at the Battle of Helgeå. This service, did not, however, make Canute forgive Ulf for his coup. At a banquet in Roskilde, the two brothers-in-law were playing chess and started arguing with each other. The next day, the Christmas of 1026, Canute had one of his Housecarls kill Ulf Jarl in the church of Trinity. The accounts of the two brothers and Ulf's death are contradictory.

In 1028, Canute conquered Norway with a fleet of fifty ships from England. At an assembly at Trondheim, he was officially crowned King. His new title was “King of all England and of Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden”. His attempt to govern Norway through Aelgifu of Northampton and his other son by her, Sweyn, ended in rebellion and the restoration of the former Norwegian dynasty under Magnus I on the death of Canute.

Succession

Canute died in 1035, at Shaftesbury in Dorset, and was buried in the Old Minster in Winchester. On his death, Canute was succeeded in Denmark by Harthacanute, reigning as Canute III. Harold took power in England, however, ruling until his death (1040), whereupon the two crowns were again briefly reunited under Harthacanute.