8 surprising facts about King Cnut

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Thursday 3rd November 2016 Submitted by: Ellie Cawthorne

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A fierce Danish warrior king who conquered vast swathes of northern Europe and ruledover England between 1016 and 1035, Cnut is one of the Anglo-Saxon period’s mostprominent figures. Here, WB Bartlett, author of King Cnut and the Viking Conquest ofEngland 1016, shares eight things you might not know about the ruler…

8 things you (probably) didn’tknow about King Cnut

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1) Cnut descended from some notable Danish rulers The Danish royal dynasty from which Cnut descended was actually relativelyyoung – it had been established by his great-grandfather, Gorm the Old. Gorm wasa confirmed pagan worshipper who respected the old Norse gods such as Thor,Odin and Freya. Gorm’s son Harald was of a different disposition – he adopted Christianity andfirmly established the religion in Denmark for the first time. Harald was known foran unusual distinguishing physical characteristic – his teeth appeared to be blue.This may be because they were just in poor condition and were discoloured as aresult. Another possible explanation is that Harald may have filed his teeth andcarved grooves in them, which he then coloured with blue dye. At any rate, hebecame known as Harald Bluetooth. Modern Bluetooth technology (a jointinitiative between various Scandinavian companies) was named after Harald forthe part that he played in trying to unify Denmark and Norway during his reign. Harald Bluetooth was the father of Sweyn Forkbeard (who in turn was the father ofCnut). Harald and Sweyn came to blows and there was a bitter civil war betweenthem. Harald was eventually defeated and died soon after fleeing from Denmark. 2) Cnut’s first experience of invading England ended inpersonal disaster In 1013, Cnut accompanied his father Sweyn Forkbeard on an invasion of England.As far as we know, this was the first time he had been to the country. Sweyn wasnot just raiding England; by this time, he was trying to conquer it. It soon lookedlike Sweyn was about to become king of the country; he had been so successful inbattle that the current king Æthelred had fled. But then, just as it appeared thatSweyn’s triumph was complete, he suddenly died. Cnut, probably then just a teenager, seems to have been caught with his guarddown. He assumed that he would merely assume the role left vacant by his father’s

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A 15th-century stained glass window from Canterbury Cathedral, depicting King Cnut. (CM Dixon/Print

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death. But he was faced by an unexpected English backlash. An army caught himunawares and a catastrophic defeat followed. Cnut barely escaped. However, when he left England by ship, Cnut left behind a number of hostages –minus their ears and noses. It was a stark warning to those who did not supporthim that they could be in for a seriously difficult time in the future.

Silver penny depicting Cnut. (CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

3) For a brief period in 1016, England had two kings at thesame time Opportunity arose for Cnut in 1016. Following the death of Anglo-Saxon kingÆthelred ‘the Unready’, his son Edmund Ironside became king of England.However, Ironside did not have unanimous support, even from the English. Someseem to have reasoned that Cnut, who had returned to the country with a newly-raised army, was a better bet. Cnut and Edmund fought a vicious and drawn-outwar. After several major clashes, the conflict’s final climactic battle was fought atAshingdon (‘Assandun’) in Essex. Cnut was triumphant and Ironside was forced to flee for his life. Cnut caught upwith him in Gloucestershire in October 1016. However, rather than fight yetanother battle, the two men agreed to divide England between them. Edmund wasto have the kingdom of Wessex and Cnut the rest of England. Whether or not thisunusual arrangement would have ever worked in the long-run we shall neverknow. Conveniently for Cnut, Ironside died just a few weeks later, on 30 November1016. Cnut was now the undisputed king of England. 4) Cnut forked out huge sums to get rid of Viking raiders ‘Danegeld’ was the term used for money paid to troublesome Viking raiders, inorder to make them go away. The late king Æthelred was infamous for his frequentDanegeld payments, but it was not Æthelred who made the largest Danegeldpayment, but Cnut. The idea of paying off raiders was not new; it had been used in Carolingian Franciatwo centuries earlier and even the heroic Alfred the Great had used it as a tactic.However, there were problems with the approach. Even if one party of raiders wentaway, another would soon take their place and the payments would need to berepeated, which was clearly an expensive scenario. Meanwhile, some raiders, suchas Sweyn Forkbeard, might go away for a short time before simply coming back

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again. When Cnut first became king, he was faced with the problem of what to do withthousands of unemployed Viking raiders. His solution was to pay them to go away.The cost was enormous – Cnut raised 10,000 Troy lbs [a measurement used tomeasure gold and silver] of silver from London and 72,500 Troy lbs from the restof England to finance his policy. This was a mammoth sum at the time; while it isdifficult to meaningfully convert into modern currency, it amounted to more than30,000kg of silver. Cnut’s payment was greater than any previous Danegeld sum(the former highest was 48,000 pounds, paid in 1012 during the reign ofÆthelred). But although it must have caused great pain to the taxpayers ofEngland, the policy largely seems to have worked, as Viking raids diminishedsubstantially.

A coin depicting Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred, who was “infamous for his frequent Danegeld

payments”. (Hoberman Collection/UIG via Getty Images)

5) Cnut inherited Denmark from his older brother, not hisfather At the time of Cnut’s rule, the laws of Viking succession were fairly flexible. When agreat leader such as Sweyn Forkbeard died, it was not unusual for his patrimony tobe divided between his sons, rather than the eldest taking everything. In theory,this helped prevent disputes involving disgruntled younger sons, though in realitythese disagreements were still common. Because Sweyn Forkbeard died while he and Cnut were in England, another of hissons, Harald, took over control of Denmark. Cnut was forced to fight for thecountry he was in, otherwise he would have been left with nothing. In 1018, Haralddied without an obvious heir, leaving Denmark available for his brother Cnut. Heseems to have taken the country without too much difficulty and held on to it for

the rest of his reign. Norway was a different matter. Although Sweyn Forkbeard had conquered thecountry at the end of the 11th century, it was never fully assimilated into histerritories and he lost control of it after an uprising there. In 1030 Cnut won adecisive victory against his opponent, King Olaf II of Norway, at the battle ofStiklestad, but his subsequent reign in the country was short-lived. Those heappointed to be his representatives there were not popular, partly due to a periodof extended famine, and they were ejected from the country. Norway was neversecurely integrated into Cnut’s kingdom. 6) Cnut’s wife, Emma, was the only woman to marry twodi!erent kings of England Emma’s first husband was the luckless Æthelred ‘the Unready’. The royal couplehad several children, one of whom would later become King Edward the Confessor.When Æthelred died in 1016, Emma seems to have left the country and returned toNormandy. When she returned to England in 1017, it was as Cnut’s wife. Emma was a loyallieutenant for Cnut and their marriage was a great political success. Emma seemsto have had a strong instinct for political survival. Cnut and Emma had severalchildren together, including Harthacnut, who later became king of both Englandand Denmark for a short time. However, marital alliances at the time could be complicated. When Cnut marriedEmma, he already had a partner, Ælfgifu of Northampton. Whether they were evermarried or not is unclear. It was quite normal at that period for kings andnoblemen to have a concubine rather than an official wife and it would appear thatÆlfgifu fell into that category. Their relationship did produce several children. Oneof them, Harold ‘Harefoot’, was king of England for a short time. Ælfgifu and Emma were bitter rivals for decades, and they both outlived Cnut.

Cnut and his wife Emma, in an engraving from an 11th-century manuscript. (DeAgostini/Getty

Images)

7) Despite being Danish, Cnut was an Anglophile Cnut was an astute statesman. Rather than rejecting the former Anglo-Saxon kingsof England, he went out of his way to show support for them. He did this byvisiting or making gifts to shrines associated with Anglo-Saxon kings, such asShaftesbury Abbey, where King Edward the Martyr lay buried, or Wilton Abbey,linked with St Edith, sister of Æthelred. He even paid his respects to his oldadversary, Edmund Ironside, at Glastonbury Abbey. This Anglophile policy was asmart political move on Cnut’s part, as it was well regarded by his English subjects. He also adopted a new law code, which was regarded as introducing a strong butfair regime to England. Cnut based these laws on those of the Anglo-Saxon kingEdgar, whose reign was regarded as a golden age. Cnut also not only adopted English policies, but also introduced them to hisoverseas territories with a good degree of success. He took full advantage of theEnglish coinage system, which was renowned for its quality at the time. Heensured that this quality was maintained and introduced a vastly improved coinageinto Denmark. There are a number of cases recorded where the moneyers workingin Denmark were of English origin. 8) Cnut made his reputation as a passionate supporter ofthe church

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Cnut was in many senses a Viking, and is probably best known as such today. Heled his army using Viking tactics and launched raids on enemy territory usinginstantly recognisable longships. He was also fond of skalds [Scandinavian bards,or minstrels] who related old Viking sagas and tales. Yet, it was as a patron of the church that Cnut made his reputation; this was quite aturnaround given the fact that Vikings had become renowned as scourges of theinstitution and frequent raiders of monasteries and other religious establishments. This reflected the fact that these were changing times for the Viking world.Christianity had gained a foothold in much of Europe centuries previously, but wasa more recent introduction to the Viking world. Cnut’s family, especially hisgrandfather Harald Bluetooth, had been patrons of the church. However, Cnut’sreign in England, then one of Europe’s richest countries, allowed him to take thispolicy to new heights. He was able to make a number of generous gifts to thechurch and strengthen the fledgling religion in Denmark. Cnut’s recognition of the church reached its height in 1027, when he journeyed toRome to attend the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad II. Whilethere he met Pope John XIX. The fact that a Viking ruler could meet the head ofthe church and be treated as an equal of other mainstream European leadersshows just how much the world had changed. WB Bartlett is the author of King Cnut & The Viking Conquest ofEngland 1016, published by Amberley in October 2016.

Article Type: | BBC History Magazine | Vikings | United Kingdom | Kings &Queens | Feature |

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