Canute the dane biography channel

Canute the Great illustrated in an Initial of a medieval manuscript, c. Descended from royalty, Cnut was the King of England fromDenmark from and Norway from until his death in Today, he is immortalised in various books and films including the Netflix docufiction series Vikings: Valhalla.

Canute the dane biography channel

The date and place of his birth are unknown. From the liber vitae in the British Library. He was a powerful ruler and Anglophile Cnut was an effective statesman who, rather than rejecting the former Anglo-Saxon kings of England, made a point of showing support for them. He made visits and donated gifts to shrines to Anglo-Saxon kings, and even went to Glastonbury Abbey to pay his respects to his old adversary Edmund Ironside.

If Cnut indeed accompanied this expedition, his birthdate may be nearor even If not, and if the skald's poetic verse references another assault, such as Sweyn's conquest of England in —14, it may even suggest a birth date nearer Here see below it says all the Vikings were of "mature age" under Cnut "the king". He had a fair complexion and a fine, thick head of hair.

His eyes were better than those of other men, being both more handsome and keener-sighted. Cnut was likely part of his father's and campaigns in England, although the evidence is not firm. In the winter, Sweyn was in the process of consolidating his kingship, with Cnut left in charge of the fleet and the base of the army at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire.

On the death of Sweyn Forkbeard after a few months as king, on Candlemas Sunday 3 February[26] Harald succeeded him as King of Denmark, canute the dane biography channel the Vikings and the people of the Danelaw immediately elected Cnut as king in England. The restored king swiftly led an army against Cnut, who fled with his army to Denmark, along the way mutilating the hostages they had taken and abandoning them on the beach at Sandwich in Kent.

He lent some Polish troops, [29] likely to have been a pledge made to Cnut and his brother Harald when, in the winter, they "went amongst the Wends " to fetch their mother back to the Danish court. She had been sent away by their father after the death of the Swedish king Eric the Victorious inand his marriage to Sigrid the Haughtythe Swedish queen mother.

In the summer ofCnut's fleet set sail for England with a Danish army of perhaps 10, in longships. The invading army was composed primarily of mercenaries. Landing in Wessex [ edit ] According to the Peterborough Chronicle manuscript, one of the major witnesses of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicleearly in September "[Cnut] came into Sandwich, and straightway sailed around Kent to Wessexuntil he came to the mouth of the Fromeand harried in Dorset and Wiltshire and Somerset ", [32] beginning a campaign of an intensity not seen since the days of Alfred the Great.

Gold shone on the prows, silver also flashed on the variously shaped ships. For who could look upon the lions of the foe, terrible with the brightness of gold, who upon the men of metal, menacing with golden face, Furthermore, in this great expedition, there was present no slave, no man freed from slavery, no low-born man, no man weakened by age; for all were noble, all strong with the might of mature age, all sufficiently fit for any type of fighting, all of such great fleetness, that they scorned the canute the dane biography channel of horsemen.

The 40 ships Eadric came with, often thought to be of the Danelaw[35] were probably Thorkell's. Cnut's occupation of Northumbria meant Uhtred returned home to submit himself to Cnut, [38] who seems to have sent a Northumbrian rival, Thurbrand the Holdto massacre Uhtred and his retinue. Cnut returned southward, and the Danish army evidently divided, some dealing with Edmund, who had broken out of London before Cnut's encirclement of the city was complete, and had gone to gather an army in Wessexthe traditional heartland of the English monarchy.

Part of the Danish army besieged London, constructing dikes on the northern and southern flanks and a channel dug across the banks of the Thames to the south of the city, enabling their longships to cut off communications up-river. There was a battle fought at Penselwood in Somerset — with a hill in Selwood Forest as the likely location [37] — and a subsequent battle at Sherstonin Wiltshirewhich was fought over two days but left neither side victorious.

At this point Eadric Streona went over to King Edmund, [41] and Cnut set sail northwards across the Thames estuary to Essexand went from the landing of the ships up the River Orwell to ravage Mercia. In the ensuing struggle, Eadric Streona, whose return to the English side had perhaps only been a ruse, withdrew his forces from the fray, bringing about a decisive English defeat.

It was agreed that all of England north of the Thames was to be the domain of the Danish prince, while all to the south was kept by the English king, along with London. Accession to the reign of the entire realm was set to pass to Cnut upon Edmund's death. Edmund died on 30 November, within weeks of the arrangement. Some sources claim Edmund was murdered, although the circumstances of his death are unknown.

Cnut ruled England for nearly two decades. The protection he lent against Viking raiders — many of them under his command — restored the prosperity that had been increasingly impaired since the resumption of Viking attacks in the s. In turn, the English helped him to establish control over the majority of Scandinaviatoo. The first year of his reign was marked by the executions of a number of English noblemen whom he considered suspect.

He returned to Denmark and raised an invasion force. King Aethelred died in and his son, Edmund Ironside succeeded as King. Canute invaded and made steady gains. Marriage and Family In Canute married Aelfgifu, daughter of the former ealdorman of Northumbria. It is likely that they were married by the Danish handfasting ceremony which was not recognised by the Church.

They had two children Sweyn and Harold, known as Harefoot. They had two children, Harthacnut and Gunhilda. Some of the English invited Ethelred back. When he arrived the Danes, led by Canute, withdrew. However, they were soon back. They landed at Poole Harbour and occupied southern England. Ethelred finally died in April The people of the Danelaw accepted Canute as king but London supported Edmund.

England was split between the two contestants.