Knut was born in 995, the son of King Svein Forkbeard of
Denmark. Knut (also known as Cnut or Canute) was brought up as a royal Dane,
with martial training. His brother, Harold was the expected heir to the throne.
Whether Svein favored Knut over Harold is not known. A contemporary of Knut
wrote that he was tall, fall, and had a hooked nose.
Prior to the Viking invasions, Anglo-Saxon England was
divided into small kingdoms: Kingdom of the Picts, Dalriada, Strathclyde, Northumbria,
Northern Mercia, Mercia, East Anglia, Kent, Essex, Wessex, West Wales, Hwicce, and
Magonsaete). In the 600’s, Wessex, Kent, Mercia, and Northumbria had become the
dominant lands and absorbed the smaller kingdoms. Mercia and Wessex slowly emerged
as the strongest of the lands. Wessex had London and its ruler; Offa’s ties to
the Frankish court on the mainland which helped his land gain the edge over
Mercia.
Viking raids had brought part of Angle-Saxon England
under their rule by in the 990’s, highlighted by the Battle of Maldon in 991,
which was won by King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway. During this fight, the
ealdorman of Essex, Byrthnoth, was killed. People often chose to pay tribute (Danegeld)
to the invaders rather than fight the Vikings. The search for fertile farmlands
was part of the draw to conquer the islands and one reason Svein wanted England
under his control. Naturally, Olaf wanted the lands for his own realm.
Svein and Olaf were bitter rivals.
Knut first made the trip to England in 1013 as part of an
invasion force with his father, Svein. While in England, Knut met Aegilfu of
Northumbria. She bore him two sons, Sven and Harold Harefoot. Knut carried on
the landings in his attempt to gain new territory. Svein died in 1014 and
Harold took the throne. Knut was encouraged to continue in the quest to make
England part of Denmark.
When the Mercian King, Aethelred died it was a different
story when it came to the succession. Two different witans (councils) voted on
the new king. The Southampton witan chose Edmund Ironside (Aethelred’s son),
while the London witan picked Knut. The
choice was deadlocked. War was inevitable.
Knut and his Danes invaded England in 1016, determined to
take the English throne. The new Danish King united the split country. Knut may
have achieved his goal of winning the English throne but he spent much of his
time in his native land fighting his archenemy, King Olaf II of Norway. In
1028, Olaf lost the war and his lands to Knut. Meanwhile, Knut’s rival in
England conveniently died in November of 1016.
Typical for the Norse, Knut rewarded his compatriots by
taking lands from the natives. He demanded Danegeld of 83,000 pounds of
precious metals, primarily silver, in order to pay off his soldiers. A ruthless
leader, he ordered Edmund’s brother, Eadric, killed. To head off any potential
rebellion, the earls of Mercia and East Anglia were killed. In 1017 Knut gave the lands to men who were
loyal to him: Eric of Hlathir was given Northumbria and Thorkell the Tall
received East Anglia. Thorkell was
removed of his office and outlawed in 1021 to Denmark. The former confidant
stirred up problems for Knut. In 1018 Knut became the new King of Sweden after
his brother died.
Eliminate troublemakers and replace them with men whose
loyalties were unquestionable; tactics later used by the Mafia and the modern
corporate world of business. To help legitimize his rule, he married Emma, the
widow of Aethelred. It was a political move for Emma was old enough to be his
mother. This stopped the late King’s sons from making any moves to topple his
rule.
Knut eventually softened and appointed some native
Englishmen in high roles in place of those Danes he felt were untrustworthy.
Emma even persuaded him to convert to Christianity: a move which he eventually
brought to all of his lands. Knut must have felt the love for he made a
pilgrimage to Rome and met with Conrad II, the Hoy Roman emperor. Knut used his
sweet talking manner and convinced Conrad to reduce the road tolls between
England and Rome for English travelers and traders. Knut had a good rapport
with his northern neighbors. Knut never forgot where he came from. One of his
deals gained lands north of the Eider River and Schleswig from the Holy Roman Emperor
as part of marriage negotiations for Knut’s daughter Gunhild to Henry.
By the time he died 12 of November, 1053, Knut ruled
Denmark, Norway, and England.
The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas
Edited by Susan Tyler Hitchcock
2009 National Geographic
ISBN #978-1-4262-0533-0
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
By Matthew Bunson
1995 Facts On File Inc
ISBN #0-8160-2456-1
A History of the Vikings
By Gwyn Jones
1984 Oxford University Press
ISBN #0-19-215882-1
A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World?
3000BC-AD1603
By Simon Schama
2000 Hyperion Books
ISBN #0-7868-6675-6
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