The New King
 |
| Wessex |
The Anglo
Saxon Chronicles informs us that early in 1017, upon becoming king of all
England;
‘Cnut received all the
kingdom of England, and divided it into four, with himself in Wessex, Thurkil
in East Anglia, Eadric in Mercia, and Eric in
Northumbria.’[i]
This was
probably to facilitate military control of the country.
The first
year of Cnut’s reign was about consolidating his hold on the country and as
part of that process a number of English thanes were executed including the
turncoat Eadric Strona of Mercia[ii].
By the end
of 1018 Cnut had dismissed the fleet that had brought him to England; its presence
was no longer necessary. In the spring thirty ships under Cnut’s command had
destroyed a Viking invasion fleet from the north. The citizens of London were
required to pay £10,500[iii] in Danegeld; a further
Danegeld of £72,000[iv]
was imposed on the rest of the country. Cnut retained forty ships and the
remainder returned to Denmark.
Not long
after the fleet was dismissed a national assembly was held in Oxford, which
agreed system of legal relationships between the victorious Danes and the
Anglo-Saxons.
‘Some of the force went to
Denmark, and forty ships were left with king Cnut. Dane and Englishman came to
an agreement at Oxford.’[v]
These led to
a successful integration of the Danes into English life, so much so that the
Anglo Saxon Chronicles are reduced to a bare minimum. They mention four
expeditions by Cnut into the north four times over the period 1019 and 1028.
Marriage Number Two
Coin showing Cnut on the obverse
‘Knut was exceptionally tall
and strong and the handsomest of men except for his nose, which was thin,
high-set and rather hooked. He had a fair complexion and fine thick head of
hair. His eyes were better than those of other men, being both more handsome
and keener sighted.’[vi]
Ever since
the siege of London, Queen Emma had been held prisoner by Cnut’s men[vii]. In marrying Emma Cnut
was following common practise and forging a link between the old and new
regimes. When Aethelred died Emma had tried to get her son, the 9 year old
Edward, recognised as her husband’s heir. Naturally the thanes had preferred
the adult Edmund Ironside, who had already proven his military abilities.
‘Before August 1st
the king commanded brought to him the widow of the other king, Aethelred,
Richard’s daughter [Emma], that he might have her as queen.’[viii]
Some sources
claim that Aelfgyfu was only handfasted[ix] to Cnut, leaving Cnut free to marry
Emma[x], about ten years his
senior. Cnut allowed Aelfgyfu considerable responsibility over the years and
she was certainly not put aside. As the mother of two of his sons, an important
commodity for a king, and as a member of an important Mercian family, she could
not be ignored. 
Encomium Emmae
The Encomium
Emmae informs the reader that Emma herself negotiated her marriage with Cnut
refusing to marry him;
‘Unless he would affirm to
her by oath that he would never set up the son of any wife other than herself
to rule after him………..for she had information that the king had had sons by
some other woman.’[xi]
They married
in either June or July 1017. The couple’s son Harthacnut was born in 1018 and their daughter Gunnhilda[xii] was born in 1020.
The Christian Cnut
That Cnut
was a Christian is beyond all doubt; he was probably baptised before he first
arrived in England. At this time Paganism was already starting to wane, even
among the Viking armies that swept down on the rest of Europe. Cnut was given
the baptismal name of Lambert[xiii].
Cnut and Emma (or Aelfgyfu) donate a cross to the Old Minster
Cnut had a
Christian coronation, in part to give his rule legitimacy. His donations, to
religious foundations[xiv], were in part to ensure
the continuing support of the church. Cnut had a church built on the site of
his victory over Edmund Ironside and Stigand was made the priest there. By 1020 Stigand was a royal chaplain and an
adviser to Cnut.
Cnut must
have been aware of the importance of the church in his new kingdom and
propitiated the clergy by way of gifts of lands, cash and beautiful objects to
further enrich an already powerful institution. In the late 1020s Fulbert,
Bishop of Chartres wrote to Cnut
‘When we saw the gift you
sent us, we were amazed at your knowledge as well as your faith……..since you,
whom we had heard to be a pagan prince, we now know to be not only a Christian,
but also a most generous donor to churches and God’s servants.’[xv]
Cnut’s
generosity was most marked towards the Minster at Winchester, which received a
number of valuable gifts.
However
pious Cnut was, he also allowed poets to link him to the old Norse gods; at a
time when other Christian rulers of the north were insisting on a rigid
Christian line.
‘The prince, battle-bold
reddener of the battle shirt of the breast,
alone rules England and
Denmark; peace becomes easier.
The Freya of the warrior has
also cast under him Norway;
The battle-server diminishes the hunger of the Valkyrie’s
hawks.’[xvi]
And Cnut
also maintained his two wives, Emma and Aelfgyfu, without condemnation from the
establishment he was giving so much financial support to.
An Empire in the North
When his
brother Harald died in 1019 Cnut rushed to Denmark to successfully put forward
his own claim to the throne; also possibly to stop an intended invasion of
England by the Danish thanes. The Anglo Saxon Chronicles merely tells us that
‘King Cnut went to Denmark
and dwelt there all winter.’[xvii]
After the
1019 expedition Cnut explained to his subjects, in a letter, that he was
fending off a great danger that threatened from Denmark, where Cnut’s brother
had died. Cnut made a number of English churchmen bishops in Denmark. Cnut was
back in England by Easter 1020, having made his sister Estrid’s husband Ulf Jarl regent of Denmark in his absence. Estrid and Ulf fostered Harthacnut. 
Coins of Cnut's reign
Thurkil may
have acted as regent in England in Cnut’s absence. He certainly takes pride of
place in witnessing Cnut’s charters throughout 1018-9. But in the autumn of
1021 Thurkil was declared outlaw[xviii] and he went into
exile, taking his wife with him.
In 1022 it
is alleged that Cnut visited the Isle of Wight with the fleet, possibly keeping
them there on battle alert, ready to respond to any attempted invasion. However
it is also posited that, rather than the Isle of Wight, the reference to
Whitland was to a region bordering the Vistula; not that far from Thurkil’s
brother’s stronghold of Jomsberg and Thurkil may have raised an army there.
Given that
Cnut did not return to England until 1023 this would certainly give Cnut time
to have fought there. The location of Cnut’s meeting with Thurkil is unknown
but the two came to an agreement;
‘He [Cnut] gave over Denmark
and his son to Thurkil to hold, and the king took Thurkil’s son with him to
England.’[xix]
It is
unlikely that Cnut would have handed over control of Denmark to a powerless
outlaw.
Again in
1026 the Chronicles tell us that Cnut fought a battle in Denmark against
invaders from Sweden; Thurkil appears to have died sometime after 1023[xx].
‘King Cnut went to Denmark
with ships, to the Holme in the holy river, and there came against Ulf and
Ecglaf, with a very great army, both land-force and ship-force, from Sweden.
There many men died, both Danes and English; and the Swedes had the power of
the battlefield.’[xxi]
Cnut was
caught off guard, but the Chronicles’ claim that the Swedes won the battle is
at odds with other contemporary references to the battle, which seem to imply a
draw between the two sides; certainly the Swedes retreated. While it is not
clear exactly who Ulf and Ecglaf were, it is probable that the Ulf mentioned
was Cnut’s brother-in-law; Ulf died at Roskilde[xxii]. After his death Cnut
gave his sister large grants of lands, doing the same for the church at
Roskilde. 
Coin of the reign of King Olaf (possibly Ecglaf?)
Writing home
to England in 1027 Cnut refers to himself as king of England, Denmark, the
Norwegians and some of the Swedes; indeed there is evidence of a coin struck at
Sigtuna in Sweden, showing Cnut as Cnut
Rex Swein.
Bibliography
The Vikings
– Magnus Magnusson – Tempus Publishing Ltd 2000
Queen Emma
and the Vikings – Harriet O’Brien – Bloomsbury Publishing 2005
The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles – Anne Savage (translator), Colour Library Books 1995
Anglo-Saxon
England – Frank Stenton, Oxford University Press 1997
Cnut – MJ
Trow, Sutton Publishing Ltd 2005
www.wikipedia.en
[i]
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles - Savage
[iii]
At 1245 prices the sum of £10,500 would be worth £10,600,000.00 in 2010, using the retail price
index or £137,000,000.00 using
average earnings www.measuringworth.com
[iv]
At 1245 prices the sum of £72,000 would be worth £72,700,000.00 in 2010 using the retail price index or £940,000,000.00 using average earnings
www.measuringworth.com
[v]
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles - Savage
[vi]
Cnut - Trow
[vii]
She possibly stayed to protect her property
[viii]
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles - Savage
[ix]
Handfasting was apparently accepted by the church, so without repudiation it is
difficult to understand how Cnut managed to persuade the church to allow his marriage
to Emma
[x]
Emma had been given the name Aelfgyfu when she married Aethelred, so
distinguishing between her and Cnut’s first wife is often extremely complicated
[xi]
Queen Emma and the Vikings – O’Brien
[xiii]
Which could imply that the event took place on 17th September, St
Lambert’s Day
[xiv]
In particular to Canterbury, Evesham and Winchester
[xv]
Cnut - Trow
[xvi]
Cnut - Trow
[xvii]
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles - Savage
[xviii]
There is no evidence to show the reason for this aciton
[xix]
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles - Savage
[xx]
There is no mention to him in records after this time
[xxi]
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles - Savage
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