#Canute Rex

[henryfitzempress]

𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝘩𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦.

[canuterex]

"1002 was a seminal year in the life of the king and his kingdom. The first significant event that took place was the marriage to Aethelred to Emma of Normandy.

In 1002 Emma was about seventeen years of age. She was the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, the place where the Vikings had taken up permanent residence under Duke Rollo not so many years before. Emma was herself the great-granddaughter of Rollo and the blood of her Viking ancestors still coursed through her veins.

The blood relationship was cemented still further by the fact that her mother was Gunnar, a woman of Danish descent. Gunnar was originally Richard’s concubine, though she eventually became his wife in a probable attempt to legitimize their children.

The attribution of concubinage to Emma’s mother gives an interesting insight into the mores of the age. It was not uncommon at the time for marriages to be undertaken in traditional (opponents would say pagan) fashion without Christian blessing; they may not then always have been regarded as legitimate from a Christian perspective. Revealing in the light of our subject, such relationships were called more danico- in the Danish way- though the practice was also common in earlier Anglo-Saxon times in England and indeed appeared to have remained so into the more recent Christian epoch in the country. [...]

Emma’s life was written in the book known as Encomium Emmae Reginae. This is an incredible survival from the times, giving us an insight into the role played by a formidable woman in what was very much a man’s world. [...] The very word ‘Encomium’, now a rather archaic one, is Latin and means a work written in praise of a person or thing. [...]

The marriage to Aethelred was a step up for Emma. Allowing for any perceived personal faults and the extent of the challenges facing him, he was still a king, a man who owed allegiances to no other, unlike the dukes of Normandy, who were vassals to the King of France. This presumably also helped compensate to some extent for the substantial age difference between the young bride and her husband, who already had a large number of children from previous relationships. Their existence made life potentially complicated in terms of succession planning. It seems that right from the off it was decided that any offspring from this match with Emma were to take precedence over those of previous relationships in matters of succession. It is likely that this formed a key part in negotiations leading up to the marriage.

[...] Other later chronicles commented on the match, not always favourably. With the precious gift of hindsight and writing from the safe distance of the middle of the twelfth century, the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon saw the marriage as a turning point in English History:

I mean that on one side the persecution by the Danes was raging, and on the other the connection with the Normans were growing, so that even if they were to escape the obvious lightning fire of the Danes, valour would not help them to escape the insidious danger from the Normans. This became apparent from subsequent events, since from this union of the English king with the daughter of the Norman duke, the Normans were justified according to the law of peoples, in both claiming and gaining possession of England.

[...] It gave him [Aethelred] the opportunity to cement an alliance with a powerful warlord from across the Channel who was potentially a crucial supporter of Viking raiders. The deal was duly struck and some of Aethelred’s senior advisers made the crossing to Normandy to escort Emma back to their country, which was to be home for most of the rest of her days.

She was crowned Queen of England soon after arriving, a coronation of a queen in those days being a rare event (though Elfrida, the king’s mother, had also had one). [...] Emma was given the Saxon name Aelfgifu (which means ‘noble gift’) on her arrival to England [...]. She was granted properties in Oxfordshire, Rutland, Suffolk and Devon as well as ownership of Exeter and Winchester.”

From: “King Cnut and the Viking Conquest of England”, by W.B. Bartlett. 

[mary-tudor]

“A.D. 1016. This year came King Knut with a marine force of one hundred and sixty ships, and Alderman Edric with him, over the thames into Mercia at Cricklade; whence they proceeded to Warwickshire, during the middle of the winter, and plundered therein, and burned, and slew all they met. Then began Edmund the etheling to gather an army, which, when it was collected, could avail him nothing, unless the king were there and they had the assistance of the citizens of London. 

The expedition therefore was frustrated, and each man betook himself home. After this, an army was again ordered, under full penalties, that every person, however distant, go forth; and they sent to the king in London, and besought him to come to meet the army with the aid that he could collect. When they were all assembled, it succeeded nothing better than it often did before; and, when it was told the king, that those persons would betray him who ought to assist him, then forsook he the army, and returned again to London. Then rode Edmund the etheling to Earl Utred in Northumbria; and every man supposed that they would collect an army King Knute; but they went into Stafforddhire, and to Shrewsbury, and to Chester; and they plundered on their parts, and Knute on his. He went out through Buckinghamshire to Bedfordshire; thence to Huntingdonshire, and so into Northamptonshire along the fens to Stamford. Thence into Lincolnshire. Thence to Nottinghamshire; and so into Northumbria toward York. When Utred understood this, he ceased from plundering, and hastened northward, and submitted for need, and all the Northumbrians with him; but, though we gave hostages, he was nevertheless slain by the advice of Alderman Edric, and Thurkytel, the son of Nafan, with him. After this, King Knute appointed Eric earl over Northumbria, as Utred was; and then went southward another way, all by west, till the whole army came, before Easter, to the ships. Meantime Edmund Etheling went to London to his father: and after Easter went King Knute with all his ships toward London; but it happened that King Ethelred died ere the ships came. He ended his days on St. George’s day; having held his kingdom in much tribulation and difficulty as long as his life continued. 

After his decease, all the peers  that were in London, and the citizens, chose Edmund king; who bravely defended his kingdom while his time was. Then came the ships to Greenwich, about the gang-days, and within a short interval went to London; where they sunk a deep ditch on the south side, and dragged their ships to the west side of the bridge. Afterwards they trenched the city without, so that no man could go in or out, and often fought against it: but the citizens bravely withstood them. King Edmund had ere this gone cut, and invaded the West-Saxons, who all submitted to him; and soon afterward he fought with the enemy at Pen near Gillingham. 

A second battle he fought, after midsummer, at Sherston; where much slaughter was made on either side, and the leaders themselves came together in the fight. Alderman Edric and Aylmer the darling were assisting the army against King Edmund. Then collected he his force the third time, and went to London, all by north of the Thames, and so out through Clayhanger, and relieved the citizens, driving the enemy to their ships. It was within two nights after that the king went over at Brentford; where he fougt with the enemy, and put them to flight: but there many of the English were drowned, from their own carelessness; who went before the main army with a design to plunder.

After this the king went into Wessex, and collected his army; but the enemy soon returned to London, and beset the city without, and fought strongly against it both by water and land. But the almighty God strongly delivered them. The enemy went afterward from London with their ships into the Orwell; where they went up and proceeded into Mercia, slaying and burning whatsoever they overtook, as their custom is; and, having provided themselves with meat, they drove their ships and their herds into the Medway. Then assembled King Edmund the fourth time all the English nation, and forded over the Thames at Brentford; whence he proceeded into Kent. The enemy fled before him with their horses into the Isle of Shepey; and the king slew as many of them as he could overtake. Alderman Edric then went to meet the king at Aylesford; than which no measure could be more ill-advised. The enemy, meanwhile, returned into Essex, and advanced into Mercia, destroying all that he overtook. When the king understood that the army was up, then collected he the fifth time all the English nation, and went behind them, and overtook them in Essex, on the down called Assingdon; where they fiercely came together. Then did Alderman Edric as he often did before--he first began the flight with the Maisevethians, and so betrayed his natural lord and all the people of England. There had Knute the victory, though all England fought against him! There was then slain Bishop Ednoth, and Abbot Wulsay, and Alderman Elfric, and Alderman Godwin of Lindsey, and Ulfktel of East-Anglia, and Ethelward, the son of Alderman Ethelsy (59). And all the nobility of the English nation was there undone! 

After this fight went King Knute up with his army into Glocestershire, where he heard say that King Edmund was. Then advised Alderman Edric, and the counsellors that were there assembled, that the kings should make peace with each other, and produce hostages. Then both the kings met together at Olney, south of Deerhurst, and became allies and sworn brothers. There they confirmed their friendship both with pledges and with oaths, and settled the pay of the army. With this covenant they parted: King Edmund took to Wessex, and Knute to Mercia and the northern district. The army then went to their ships with the things they had taken; and the people of London made peace with them, and purchased their security, whereupon they brought their ships to London, and provided themselves winter-quarters therein. 

On the feast of St. Andrew died King Edmund; and he is buried with his grandfather Edgar at Gastonbury. In the same year died Wulfgar, Abbot of Abingdon; and Ethelay took to the abbacy.”

Source: “The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.”

 http://omacl.org/Anglo/part4.html

[encomium-emmae]

Last Line Tag

I was tagged by the lovely @ladyyennefer to post the last lines of a WIP. As always, thank you (and apologies for not posting this sooner)!

Here's a little something I've been working on (in the midst of all the other things I've been working on) where Canute finally gets to see his face on a coin:

In the center was a king, draped in a rich cloak, a crown sitting authoritatively atop his brow. His profile was surrounded by a ring of letters, an unbroken circle of thick, raised capitals.

CNVT REX ANGLORVM

Emma traced her thumb along the words, the indentations smooth, unyielding. The coin was so small, clasped in her fingertips, and yet it contained so much. It spoke of wealth and stability, of dreams conjured into something stable and real, lasting far beyond her life and those of her children, a glittering future made possible by the nearly weightless object she held in her hand.

Tagging @mercurygray, @vikingstrash, and @ulfrsmal, but as always, no pressure!

[thebritishmonarchycouk]

Kings and Queens - 1000 years of history . . King Edward The Confessor (1042-1066) . Born: c.1004 at Isli, Oxfordshire . Parents: King Ethelred II & Emma of Normandy . House of: Wessex . Ascended to the throne: 8 June, 1042 . Crowned: 3 April, 1043 at Winchester Cathedral . Married: Edith, Daughter of Earl Godwin of Wessex . Children: None . Died: 5 January 1066 at Westminster . Buried at: Westminster Abbey . Reigned for: 23 years, 6 months . Succeeded by: his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson . . Edward the Confessor (Old English: Ēadƿeard Andettere [æːɑdwæɑrˠd ɑndetere],  also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, was among the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. . He succeeded Cnut the Great’s son – & his own half brother – Harthacnut. He restored the rule of the House of Wessex after the period of Danish rule since Cnut (better known as Canute) conquered England in 1016. When Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was defeated & killed in the same year by the Normans under William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. Edgar the Ætheling, who was of the House of Wessex, was proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but never ruled & was deposed after about eight weeks.  . Historians disagree about Edward’s fairly long reign. His nickname reflects the traditional image of him as unworldly & pious. Confessor reflects his reputation as a saint who did not suffer martyrdom, as opposed to King Edward the Martyr. Some portray Edward the Confessor’s reign as leading to the disintegration of royal power in England & the advance in power of the House of Godwin, due to the infighting that began after his heirless death. . Biographers Frank Barlow & Peter Rex, on the other hand, portray Edward as a successful king, one who was energetic, resourceful & sometimes ruthless; they argue that the Norman conquest shortly after his death tarnished his image. However, Richard Mortimer argues that the return of the Godwins from exile in 1052 “meant the effective end of his exercise of power”, citing Edward’s reduced activity as implying “a withdrawal from affairs”. .  About a century later, in 1161, Pope Alexander III canonised the king. Saint Edward was one of England’s national saints until King Edward III adopted Saint George as the national patron saint in about 1350. Saint Edward's feast day is 13 October, celebrated by both the Church of England & the Catholic Church in England & Wales. . . (at England) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Uf0SdA_-L/?igshid=o4t5vodqci7a

[canuterex]

NOV. 12, 1035. DEATH OF CANUTE REX, KING OF ENGLAND, NORWAY AND DENMARK. CREATOR OF 'EMPIRE OF THE SEAS'.

"On 12th November 1035 Cnut the Great, King of England and Emperor of the North, died at Shaftesbury and was buried at Winchester Old Minster. He was succeeded in England by his son Harald, while his other son, Harðacnut, took and fought to hold the throne of Denmark.

According to the Knytlinga Saga:

“Knut was exceptionally tall and strong, and the handsomest of men, all except for his nose, that was thin, high-set, and rather hooked. He had a fair complexion none-the-less, and a fine, thick head of hair. His eyes were better than those of other men, both the handsomer and the keener of their sight.”

Cnut was the son of Sweyn Forkbeard, the Dane who was briefly King of England (by right of conquest), having finally driven out Æþelred Unrede in 1013 after extorting tribute from him for a number of years. However, Sweyn did not live long to enjoy the fruits of his victory and died in February 1014.

On Sweyn’s death the Danelaw came out in support of Cnut but the other English nobles recalled Æþelred from Normandy where he was in exile. Æþelred returned to England, and, in a pre-cursor to the events of Runnymede in 1215 when John agreed the Magna Carta, Æþelred swore to be a better king and rule more justly. 

Cnut at this time was a young warrior, relatively untried as a leader of men, and despite his support in parts of the country he was driven out by the English until he returned in full force in 1015. He was much more effective in this later campaign and took most of the country, with the only meaningful resistance being brought by Edmund Ironside, son of Æþelred.

After Æþelred’s death in 1016 Edmund fought back even more vigorously against Cnut so that by November the two were brought to an agreement at Deerhurst to split the country between them. However, Edmund died soon after and Cnut became sole ruler of England with his coronation taking place on Christmas Day. 

Things moved on smartly in 1017, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us: 

“AD 1017. In this year king Cnut obtained the whole realm of the English race, and divided it into four parts: Wessex to himself, and East Anglia to Thurkyll, and Mercia to Eadric, and Northumbria to Irke. And in this year was Eadric the ealdorman slain in London, very justly, and Northman, son of Leofwine the ealdorman, and Aethelweard, son of Aethelmaer the great, and Brihtric, son of Aelfeh, in Devonshire. And king Cnut banished Eadwigthe etheling, and afterwards commanded him to be slain, and Eadwi, king of the churls. And then, before the kalends of August, the king commanded the relict of king Aethelred, Richard's daughter, to be fetched for his wife, 'that was Elfgive in English, Ymma in French.” You read that right – he married Æþelred’s widow, Emma of Normandy, daughter of Richard of Normandy and mother of Edward and Alfred. The couple had two children, Gunnhilda and Harðacnut, while Cnut also had a “Danish” wife Ælfgifu of Northampton, with whom he had a son Harald (Harefoot).

Cnut ruled from 1016-1035. He established the earldoms of England and although he initially controlled Wessex directly he eventually created the Earldom of Wessex which was given to Godwin, cementing that family’s rise to power. 

Cnut’s brother Harald died in 1018 and Cnut then took the throne of Denmark as well as England. In Norway, Olaf had replaced Sweyn Forkbeard as king but in 1029 his nobles supported the invasion of Cnut and so Cnut became King of Norway as well.

England took up Cnut’s main attention and he placed Ælfgifu and Harald as regents in Norway with disastrous consequences. Their rule was so unpopular that they were driven out by Magnus, the son of Olaf, in 1035, when as an eleven year old boy he was proclaimed king by the Norwegian nobles. Olaf’s brother Harald was to return later and to have a significant effect on English history, for he became better known as Harald Hardrada.

Cnut worked with the church, particularly Bishop Wulfstan, to rule England according to English laws and customs from the time of King Edgar. He promoted men he trusted from the English ranks as well as Danish. In 1027 he was able to leave the kingdom securely while he travelled to Rome to witness the coronation of Conrad, the Holy Roman Emperor. 

While in Rome he negotiated fiercely for better terms for English merchants, pilgrims and churchmen. He wrote in a letter to his nobles:

“I spoke with the Emperor himself and the Lord Pope and the princes there about the needs of all people of my entire realm, both English and Danes, that a juster law and securer peace might be granted to them on the road to Rome and that they should not be straitened by so many barriers along the road, and harassed by unjust tolls; and the Emperor agreed and likewise King Robert who governs most of these same toll gates. And all the magnates confirmed by edict that my people, both merchants, and the others who travel to make their devotions, might go to Rome and return without being afflicted by barriers and toll collectors, in firm peace and secure in a just law.”

Henry of Huntingdon, writing in the 12th century, records a summary of his reign including the curious story of the King Cnut and the Tide:

“A few words must be devoted to the power of this king. Before him there had never been in England a king of such great authority, He was lord of all Denmark, of all England, of all Norway, and also of Scotland. In addition to the many wars in which he was most particularly illustrious, he performed three fine and magnificent deeds. The first is that he gave his daughter in marriage to the Roman emperor, with indescribably riches. The second, that on his journey to Rome, he had the evil taxes that were levied on the road that goes through France, called tolls or passage tax, reduced by half at his own expense. The third, that when he was at the height of his ascendancy, he ordered his chair to be placed on the sea-shore as the tide was coming iin. The he said to the rising tide, “You are subject to me, as the land on which I am sitting is mine, and no one has resisted my overlordship with impunity. I command you, therefore, not to rise onto my land, nor to presume to wet the clothing or limbs of your master.” But the sea came up as usual, and disrespectfully drenched the king’s feet and shins. So jumping back, the king cried, “Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and worthless, and there is no king worthy of the name save Him by whose will heaven, earth and sea obey eternal laws.” Thereafter King Cnut never wore the golden crown, but placed it on the image of the crucified Lord, in eternal praise of God the great king. By whose mercy may the soul of King Cnut enjoy rest.”

Cnut was buried at the Old Minster in Winchester, which he and Queen Emma had richly endowed, and his bone translated to a mortuary chest when the cathedral was rebuilt. In the English Civil War (17th century) his bones were scattered and trampled with others by soldiers, and only later collected and placed back in the mortuary chests, although in a muddled fashion with the other victims of the desecration.

Coincidentally on 12th November 1041 Cnut’s son, Harthacnut, laid waste to Worcester after the murder of his tax collectors on 4th May – (...)."

Credits to facebook page "Anglo-Saxon History in Yorkshire."

[canuterex]

Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (2)

“(...) About the same time, king Canute arrived in the port of Sandwich with a large fleet, and shortly afterwards, sailing round the coast of Kent, entered the mouth of the river Frome, and swept off much booty in Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, and Wiltshire.

King Ethelred then lying sick at Corsham, his son Edward the etheling, on the one hand, and Edwin Streon, the ealdorman, who was steeped in stratagems and deceit, on the other, levied a great army. But when their forces were united, the ealdorman laid all manner of snares for the etheling, and plotted his death; which being found out, they presently parted same ealdorman inveigled the crews of forty ships of the royal fleet, which were manned by Danes, to follow his fortunes and joining Canute with them placed himself at his service.

The West- Saxons also submitted to him , giving him hostages, and afterwards furnished horses for his army. On the death of Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester, he was succeeded by Elsy, called also Elfwin.

[A.D.1016] Canute, king of the Danes, and the ealdorman Edric Streon, the traitor, having before our Lord's Epiphany [6th May ] crossed the river Thames at Cricklade, with a powerful body of horse, commenced hostilities in Mercia, laying waste and burning many vills in Warwickshire, and massacring all the people they met with.

When this came to the ears of the etheling Edmund, surnamed Ironside, he lost no time in collecting troops; but when the army was mustered, the Mercians refused to engage with the West -Saxons and Danes, unless they were joined by king Ethelred and the Londoners; in consequence, the army was disbanded, and every one returned home.

The feast (of Epiphany) being over, Edmund the etheling gathered a still larger army, and, when it was assembled , sent messengers to London requesting his father to join him as soon as possible with all the troops he eould muster; upon which, the king levied a number of united, it was intimated to the king, that unless he took precautions, some of the auxiliaries would betray him to the enemy.

In consequence, disbanding his troops, he returned to London, and the etheling went into Northumbria; from which many conjecture that it was his intention to assemble a still larger army against Canute; but as Canute and Edric on the one side, so he and Uhtred, earl of Northumbria, on the other, ravaged several provinces.

They first laid waste Staffordshire, then Shropshire and Leicestershire, because the people of those districts refused to take arms against the Danish army. Meanwhile, Canute and Edric Streon devastated, first, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire, and after wards Northumbria.

On learning this, the etheling Edmund desisted from ravaging the country, and hastened to his father at London. Earl Uhtred hurried home, and, compelled by necessity , submitted, with all the Northumbrians, to Canute, and gave him hostages; nevertheless, by Canute's command or permission, he was put to death by Thurbrand, a noble Dane, and Thurketil, the son of Neavan, fell with him.

This crime being perpetrated, Canute appointed Egric earl (of Northumbria) in Uhtred's place, and then returning south with great expedition by another road, he regained his ships with his entire army before the feast of Easter.

But the citizens of London, and some of the nobles who were then at London, unanimously chose Edmund, the etheling, to be king. Raised to the royal throne the intrepid Edmund went without delay to Wessex, and being received with great joy by the whole population, he quickly brought it under his rule; and the people of many provinces in England, hearing this, gave him their voluntary submission .

Meanwhile, Canute sailed up to London, about the Rogation days [7th May], with his whole fleet, and on his arrival there they dug a broad ditch on the south side of the Thames, and dragged their ships to the west of the bridge.

They then surrounded the city with a broad and deep trench, so as to cut off all ingress and egress, and made frequent assaults on it, but the citizens resisting them manfully drove them to a distance from the walls.

Therefore, raising the siege for the present, and leaving part of the army to guard the ships, they made a forced march into Wessex, and allowed king Edmund Ironside no time to get together his army.

However, with such troops as he was able to muster in so short a space of time, he boldly encountered them in Dorsetshire, giving them battle at a place called Pen, near Gillingham, where he defeated and put them to flight.

After midsummer, having again assembled an army larger than before, he determined to attack Canute with spirit, and fell in with him in Hwiccia, at a place called Scearstan."

[canuterex]

Letter written by Cnut on the year of 1027.

“I, as I wish to be made known to you, returning by the same route that I tokk out, am going to Denmark to arrange peace and a firm treaty, in the counsel of all the Danes, with those races and people who would have deprived us of life and rule if they could, but they could not, God destroying their strenght. May he preserve us by his bounteous compassion in rule and honour and henceforth scatter and bring to nothing the power and might of all our enemies!

And finally, when peace has been arranged with our surrounding peoples and all our kingdom here in the east has been properly ordered and pacified so that we have no war to fear on any side or the hostility of individuals, I intend to come to England as early this summer as I can to attend to the equipping of a fleet.”

EDITORS, Charles River. “Cnut the Great. The life and legacy of Scandinavia’s most famous king.”

[canuterex]

“Cnut inherited from his royal Scandinavian and English predecessors relations of an often threatening as well as potentially profitable sort with a very wide range of territories. Once in control of Denmark (possibly from 1019...), he became concerned, like Swegen, Harald Bluetooth and probably Gorm the Old before him, with Norway, Sweden, the German empire and the Slav peoples east of the Elbe, including the Poles. Both Harald and Swegen had taken Slavonic consorts and thought it desirable to subjugate Norway.

Swegen also had dealings with the Swedes, and involved himself with Normandy and in the Irish Sea, perhaps selling his ill-gotten gains and fraternising not only with Duke Richard II in Rouen, but also the rulers of Norse settlements in Ireland such as Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick. King AEthelred II too had troubles with the Irish Sea and Normandy, sending expeditions against both, marrying Richard’s sister Emma, and going into exile with her kin in 1013. He may have asked for Normand help against his enemies in 1009, and a continental source records that he at some point appealed to the French monarch Robert the Pious for assistance, conceivably in the hope he could exert pressure on the Normans. Like other English kings, he had relations with the Welsh and the Scots too. We have seen the former being raided by Eadric Streona in 1012 and fighting for Edmund Ironside in 1016, while the latter are said to have attacked Durham in 1006, and by AEthelred’s death King Malcolm II was planning a further incursion. 

Hence, Cnut's inheritance was international and many-faceted: there were numerous opportunities to be taken, pitfalls to be avoided and problems to be overcome, both at home and abroad, before his dominition and influence extended over much of the northern world, and merited the title by which his fellow Scandinavians know him today: Knut den store- Cnut the Great”

Taken from: “Cnut England’s Viking King 1016-1035″ by M.K.Lawson

[canuterex]

“Royal 1 D IX f. 44″

"A charter of Cnut, in Anglo-Saxon (promulgated probably c. 1017 [...]), [...] confirming the privileges of the church"

[canuterex]

ＣＮＵＴ ＴＨＥ ＧＲＥＡＴ

“ʟᴇᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴍᴇɴ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʜᴏᴡ ᴇᴍᴘᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀʟᴇss ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴋɪɴɢs. ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs ɴᴏɴᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ʙᴜᴛ ɢᴏᴅ, ᴡʜᴏᴍ ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ, ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ ᴀɴᴅ sᴇᴀ ᴏʙᴇʏ“

[mary-tudor]

The will of King Alfred and the list of kings, probably done in the reign of King Cnut as his is the last name of the list. ~

“The will of King Ælfred; with preface, incipit: 'Ic Ælfred cingc mid godes gife', and explicit: '[s a] ic hit sylf ge [c eðe] æt þam nyhstan dæge'. The will incipit: 'Ic Ælfred þest seaxena cingc', and explicit: '[s a] ge me for gyfan [ yllan].  Printed in The will of King Alfred, ed. by O. Manning (Oxford 1788); J. M Kemble, Codex Diplomaticus aevi saxonici (London: English Historical Society, 1839-48), no. ccxiv; Diplomatarium anglicum aevi saxonici, ed. by B. Thorpe (Macmillan, 1865) p. 484; Liber Monasterii de Hyda; comprising a chronicle of the affairs of England, ed. by Edward Edwards, Rolls Series, 45 (London, Longman 1866), p. 52; Walter de Gray Birch, Cartularium saxonicum: a collection of charters relating to Anglo-Saxon history (Whiting, 1883-1893), no. 553; and (with a facsimile) in the Ordnance Survey Facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts, ed. by G. F. Warner, and H. Ellis, 3 vols (Southampton, 1878–84), III (f. 29v-33r); [...]  5. 'Nomina Regum': a chronological list of Kings of Wessex, with duration of their reigns, from Ine to Cnut (ff. 39r-39v).”

Source: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=stowe_ms_944_f029v

[mary-tudor]

“The Cnut's Gospels”. Royal 1 D., ix, f. 6.

“Inscriptions in this book identify King Cnut as a benefactor of the monastic community at Christ Church, Canterbury, and it is likely that the manuscript was a royal gift to the monastery”.

Source: http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourPopup.asp?TourID=585

[mary-tudor]

“A.D. 1020. This year came King Knute back to England; and there was at Easter a great council at Cirencester, where Alderman Ethelward was outlawed, and Edwy, king of the churls. This year went the king to Assingdon; with Earl Thurkyll, and Archbishop Wulfstan, and other bishops, and also abbots, and many monks with them; and he ordered to be built there a minster of stone and lime, for the souls of the men who were there slain, and gave it to his own priest, whose name was Stigand; and they consecrated the minster at Assingdon. And Ethelnoth the monk, who had been dean at Christ’s church, was the same year on the ideas of November consecratd Bishop of Christ’s church by Archbishop Wulfstan.”

Source: “The Anglo-Saxons Chronicles.” http://omacl.org/Anglo/part4.html

[mary-tudor]

“A.D. 1017. This year King Knute took to the whole government of England and divided it into four parts: Wessex for himself, East-Anglia for Thurkyll, Mercia for Edric, Northumbria for Eric. 

This year also was Alderman Edric slain at London, and Norman, son of Alderman Leofwin, and Ethelward, son of Ethelmar the Great, and Britric, son of Elfege of Devonshire. King Knute also banished  Edwy etherling, whom he afterwards ordered to be slain, and Edwy, king of thechurls; and before the calends of August the king gave an order to fetch him the widow of the other king, Ethelred, the daughter of Richard, to wife.”

Source: “The Anglo-Saxons Chronicle.” 

http://omacl.org/Anglo/part4.html

[canuterex]

He also received support for his claim to the throne from a number of continental abbots, particularly Robert, abbot of the Norman abbey of Jumièges, who was later to become Edward's Archbishop of Canterbury. Edward was said to have developed an intense personal piety during this period, but modern historians regard this as a product of the later medieval campaign for his canonisation. In Frank Barlow's view "in his lifestyle would seem to have been that of a typical member of the rustic nobility". He appeared to have a slim prospect of acceding to the English throne during this period, and his ambitious mother was more interested in supporting Harthacnut, her son by Cnut. “Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeeded Cnut the Great's son – and his own half brother – Harthacnut. He restored the rule of the House of Wessex after the period of Danish rule since Cnut (better known as Canute) conquered England in 1016. When Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was defeated and killed in the same year by the Normans under William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. Edgar the Ætheling, who was of the House of Wessex, was proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but never ruled and was deposed after about eight weeks.

Historians disagree about Edward's fairly long (24-year) reign. His nickname reflects the traditional image of him as unworldly and pious. Confessor reflects his reputation as a saint who did not suffer martyrdom, as opposed to King Edward the Martyr. Some portray Edward the Confessor's reign as leading to the disintegration of royal power in England and the advance in power of the House of Godwin, due to the infighting that began after his heirless death. Biographers Frank Barlow and Peter Rex, on the other hand, portray Edward as a successful king, one who was energetic, resourceful and sometimes ruthless; they argue that the Norman conquest shortly after his death tarnished his image. However, Richard Mortimer argues that the return of the Godwins from exile in 1052 "meant the effective end of his exercise of power", citing Edward's reduced activity as implying "a withdrawal from affairs".

About a century later, in 1161, Pope Alexander III canonised the king. Saint Edward was one of England's national saints until King Edward III adopted Saint George as the national patron saint in about 1350. Saint Edward's feast day is 13 October, celebrated by both the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Edward was the seventh son of Æthelred the Unready, and the first by his second wife, Emma of Normandy. Edward was born between 1003 and 1005 in Islip, Oxfordshire, and is first recorded as a 'witness' to two charters in 1005. He had one full brother, Alfred, and a sister, Godgifu. In charters he was always listed behind his older half-brothers, showing that he ranked behind them.

During his childhood, England was the target of Viking raids and invasions under Sweyn Forkbeard and his son, Cnut. Following Sweyn's seizure of the throne in 1013, Emma fled to Normandy, followed by Edward and Alfred, and then by Æthelred. Sweyn died in February 1014, and leading Englishmen invited Æthelred back on condition that he promised to rule 'more justly' than before. Æthelred agreed, sending Edward back with his ambassadors.

Æthelred died in April 1016, and he was succeeded by Edward's older half-brother Edmund Ironside, who carried on the fight against Sweyn's son, Cnut. According to Scandinavian tradition, Edward fought alongside Edmund; as Edward was at most thirteen years old at the time, the story is disputed. Edmund died in November 1016, and Cnut became undisputed king. Edward then again went into exile with his brother and sister; in 1017 his mother married Cnut. In the same year Cnut had Edward's last surviving elder half-brother, Eadwig, executed, leaving Edward as the leading Anglo-Saxon claimant to the throne.

Edward spent a quarter of a century in exile, probably mainly in Normandy, although there is no evidence of his location until the early 1030s. He probably received support from his sister Godgifu, who married Drogo of Mantes, count of Vexin in about 1024. In the early 1030s, Edward witnessed four charters in Normandy, signing two of them as king of England. According to the Norman chronicler, William of Jumièges, Robert I, Duke of Normandy attempted an invasion of England to place Edward on the throne in about 1034, but it was blown off course to Jersey.

He also received support for his claim to the throne from a number of continental abbots, particularly Robert, abbot of the Norman abbey of Jumièges, who was later to become Edward's Archbishop of Canterbury. Edward was said to have developed an intense personal piety during this period, but modern historians regard this as a product of the later medieval campaign for his canonisation. In Frank Barlow's view "in his lifestyle would seem to have been that of a typical member of the rustic nobility". He appeared to have a slim prospect of acceding to the English throne during this period, and his ambitious mother was more interested in supporting Harthacnut, her son by Cnut.

Cnut died in 1035, and Harthacnut succeeded him as king of Denmark. It is unclear whether he intended to keep England as well, but he was too busy defending his position in Denmark to come to England to assert his claim to the throne. It was therefore decided that his elder half-brother Harold Harefoot should act as regent, while Emma held Wessex on Harthacnut's behalf. In 1036 Edward and his brother Alfred separately came to England. Emma later claimed that they came in response to a letter forged by Harold inviting them to visit her, but historians believe that she probably did invite them in an effort to counter Harold's growing popularity. Alfred was captured by Godwin, Earl of Wessex who turned him over to Harold Harefoot. He had Alfred blinded by forcing red-hot pokers into his eyes to make him unsuitable for kingship, and Alfred died soon after as a result of his wounds. The murder is thought to be the source of much of Edward's later hatred for the Earl and one of the primary reasons for Godwin's banishment in autumn 1051. Edward is said to have fought a successful skirmish near Southampton, and then retreated back to Normandy. He thus showed his prudence, but he had some reputation as a soldier in Normandy and Scandinavia.

In 1037, Harold was accepted as king, and the following year he expelled Emma, who retreated to Bruges. She then summoned Edward and demanded his help for Harthacnut, but he refused as he had no resources to launch an invasion, and disclaimed any interest for himself in the throne. Harthacnut, his position in Denmark now secure, did plan an invasion, but Harold died in 1040, and Harthacnut was able to cross unopposed, with his mother, to take the English throne.

In 1041, Harthacnut invited Edward back to England, probably as heir because he knew he had not long to live. The 12th-century Quadripartitus, in an account regarded as convincing by historian John Maddicott, states that he was recalled by the intervention of Bishop Ælfwine of Winchester and Earl Godwin. Edward met "the thegns of all England" at Hursteshever, probably modern Hurst Spit opposite the Isle of Wight. There he was received as king in return for his oath that he would continue the laws of Cnut. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Edward was sworn in as king alongside Harthacnut, but a diploma issued by Harthacnut in 1042 describes him as the king's brother. Following Harthacnut's death on 8 June 1042, Godwin, the most powerful of the English earls, supported Edward, who succeeded to the throne. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the popularity he enjoyed at his accession – "before he [Harthacnut] was buried, all the people chose Edward as king in London. Edward was crowned at the cathedral of Winchester, the royal seat of the West Saxons, on 3 April 1043. 

Edward complained that his mother had "done less for him than he wanted before he became king, and also afterwards". In November 1043 he rode to Winchester with his three leading earls, Leofric of Mercia, Godwin and Siward of Northumbria, to deprive her of her property, possibly because she was holding on to treasure which belonged to the king. Her adviser, Stigand, was deprived of his bishopric of Elmham in East Anglia. However, both were soon restored to favour. Emma died in 1052.

Edward's position when he came to the throne was weak. Effective rule required keeping on terms with the three leading earls, but loyalty to the ancient house of Wessex had been eroded by the period of Danish rule, and only Leofric was descended from a family which had served Æthelred. Siward was probably Danish, and although Godwin was English, he was one of Cnut's new men, married to Cnut's former sister-in-law. However, in his early years Edward restored the traditional strong monarchy, showing himself, in Frank Barlow's view, "a vigorous and ambitious man, a true son of the impetuous Æthelred and the formidable Emma."[1]

In 1043 Godwin's eldest son Sweyn was appointed to an earldom in the south-west midlands, and on 23 January 1045 Edward married Godwin's daughter Edith. Soon afterwards, her brother Harold and her Danish cousin Beorn Estrithson, were also given earldoms in southern England. Godwin and his family now ruled subordinately all of Southern England. However, in 1047 Sweyn was banished for abducting the Abbess of Leominster. In 1049 he returned to try to regain his earldom, but this was said to have been opposed by Harold and Beorn, probably because they had been given Sweyn's land in his absence. Sweyn murdered his cousin Beorn and went again into exile, and Edward's nephew, Ralph was given Beorn's earldom, but the following year Sweyn's father was able to secure his reinstatement.

The wealth of Edward's lands exceeded that of the greatest earls, but they were scattered among the southern earldoms. He had no personal powerbase, and he does not seem to have attempted to build one. In 1050–51 he even paid off the fourteen foreign ships which constituted his standing navy and abolished the tax raised to pay for it. However, in ecclesiastical and foreign affairs he was able to follow his own policy. King Magnus I of Norway aspired to the English throne, and in 1045 and 1046, fearing an invasion, Edward took command of the fleet at Sandwich. Beorn's elder brother, Sweyn II of Denmark "submitted himself to Edward as a son", hoping for his help in his battle with Magnus for control of Denmark, but in 1047 Edward rejected Godwin's demand that he send aid to Sweyn, and it was only Magnus's death in October that saved England from attack and allowed Sweyn to take the Danish throne.

Modern historians reject the traditional view that Edward mainly employed Norman favourites, but he did have foreigners in his household, including a few Normans, who became unpopular. Chief among them was Robert, abbot of the Norman abbey of Jumièges, who had known Edward from the 1030s and came to England with him in 1041, becoming bishop of London in 1043. According to the Vita Edwardi, he became "always the most powerful confidential adviser to the king". Edward crowned/King of the English).

In ecclesiastical appointments, Edward and his advisers showed a bias against candidates with local connections, and when the clergy and monks of Canterbury elected a relative of Godwin as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1051, Edward rejected him and appointed Robert of Jumièges, who claimed that Godwin was in illegal possession of some archiepiscopal estates.

 In September Edward was visited by his brother-in-law, Godgifu's second husband, Eustace II of Boulogne. His men caused an affray in Dover, and Edward ordered Godwin as earl of Kent to punish the town's burgesses, but he took their side and refused. Edward seized the chance to bring his over-mighty earl to heel. Archbishop Robert accused Godwin of plotting to kill the king, just as he had killed his brother Alfred in 1036, while Leofric and Siward supported the king and called up their vassals. Sweyn and Harold called up their own vassals, but neither side wanted a fight, and Godwin and Sweyn appear to have each given a son as hostage, who were sent to Normandy. The Godwins' position disintegrated as their men were not willing to fight the king. When Stigand, who was acting as intermediary, conveyed the king's jest that Godwin could have his peace if he could restore Alfred and his companions alive and well, Godwin and his sons fled, going to Flanders and Ireland. 

Edward repudiated Edith and sent her to a nunnery, perhaps because she was childless, and Archbishop Robert urged her divorce. Sweyn went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem (dying on his way back), but Godwin and his other sons returned with an army following a year later, and received considerable support, while Leofric and Siward failed to support the king. Both sides were concerned that a civil war would leave the country open to foreign invasion. The king was furious, but he was forced to give way and restore Godwin and Harold to their earldoms, while Robert of Jumièges and other Frenchmen fled, fearing Godwin's vengeance. 

Edith was restored as queen, and Stigand, who had again acted as an intermediary between the two sides in the crisis, was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in Robert's place. Stigand retained his existing bishopric of Winchester, and his pluralism was to be a continuing source of dispute with the pope. Edward's nephew, Earl Ralph, who had been one of his chief supporters in the crisis of 1051–52, may have received Sweyn's marcher earldom of Hereford at this time. Until the mid-1050s Edward was able to structure his earldoms so as to prevent the Godwins becoming dominant. Godwin himself died in 1053 and although Harold succeeded to his earldom of Wessex, none of his other brothers were earls at this date. His house was then weaker than it had been since Edward's succession, but a succession of deaths in 1055–57 completely changed the picture. In 1055 Siward died but his son was considered too young to command Northumbria, and Harold's brother, Tostig was appointed. In 1057 Leofric and Ralph died, and Leofric's son Ælfgar succeeded as Earl of Mercia, while Harold's brother Gyrth succeeded Ælfgar as Earl of East Anglia. The fourth surviving Godwin brother, Leofwine, was given an earldom in the south-east carved out of Harold's territory, and Harold received Ralph's territory in compensation. Thus by 1057 the Godwin brothers controlled all of England subordinately apart from Mercia. It is not known whether Edward approved of this transformation or whether he had to accept it, but from this time he seems to have begun to withdraw from active politics, devoting himself to hunting, which he pursued each day after attending church.

In the 1050s, Edward pursued an aggressive, and generally successful, policy in dealing with Scotland and Wales. Malcolm Canmore was an exile at Edward's court after his father, Duncan I, was in 1040 killed in battle against men led by Macbeth who seized the Scottish throne. In 1054 Edward sent Siward to invade Scotland. He defeated Macbeth, and Malcolm, who had accompanied the expedition, gained control of southern Scotland. By 1058 Malcolm had killed Macbeth in battle and taken the Scottish throne. In 1059 he visited Edward, but in 1061 he started raiding Northumbria with the aim of adding it to his territory.

In 1053 Edward ordered the assassination of the south Welsh prince Rhys ap Rhydderch in reprisal for a raid on England, and Rhys's head was delivered to him. In 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn established himself as the ruler of all Wales, and allied himself with Ælfgar of Mercia, who had been outlawed for treason. They defeated Earl Ralph at Hereford, and Harold had to collect forces from nearly all of England to drive the invaders back into Wales. Peace was concluded with the reinstatement of Ælfgar, who was able to succeed as Earl of Mercia on his father's death in 1057. Gruffydd swore an oath to be a faithful under-king of Edward. Ælfgar appears to have died in 1062 and his young son Edwin was allowed to succeed as Earl of Mercia, but Harold then launched a surprise attack on Gruffydd. He escaped, but when Harold and Tostig attacked again the following year, he retreated and was killed by Welsh enemies. Edward and Harold were then able to impose vassalage on some Welsh princes. In October 1065 Harold's brother, Tostig, the earl of Northumbria, was hunting with the king when his thegns in Northumbria rebelled against his rule, which they claimed was oppressive, and killed some 200 of his followers. They nominated Morcar, the brother of Edwin of Mercia, as earl, and invited the brothers to join them in marching south. They met Harold at Northampton, and Tostig accused Harold before the king of conspiring with the rebels. Tostig seems to have been a favourite with the king and queen, who demanded that the revolt be suppressed, but neither Harold nor anyone else would fight to support Tostig. Edward was forced to submit to his banishment, and the humiliation may have caused a series of strokes which led to his death. He was too weak to attend the dedication of his new church at Westminster, which was then still incomplete, on 28 December.

Edward probably entrusted the kingdom to Harold and Edith shortly before he died on 5 January 1066. On 6 January he was buried in Westminster Abbey, and Harold was crowned on the same day. Starting as early as William of Malmesbury in the early 12th century, historians have puzzled over Edward's intentions for the succession. One school of thought supports the Norman case that Edward always intended William the Conqueror to be his heir, accepting the medieval claim that Edward had already decided to be celibate before he married, but most historians believe that he hoped to have an heir by Edith at least until his quarrel with Godwin in 1051. William may have visited Edward during Godwin's exile, and he is thought to have promised William the succession at this time, but historians disagree how seriously he meant the promise, and whether he later changed his mind.

Edmund Ironside's son, Edward Ætheling, had the best claim to be considered Edward's heir. He had been taken as a young child to Hungary, and in 1054 Bishop Ealdred of Worcester visited the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry III to secure his return, probably with a view to becoming Edward's heir. The exile returned to England in 1057 with his family, but died almost immediately. His son Edgar, who was then about 6 years old, was brought up at the English court. He was given the designation Ætheling, meaning throneworthy, which may mean that Edward considered making him his heir, and he was briefly declared king after Harold's death in 1066. However, Edgar was absent from witness lists of Edward's diplomas, and there is no evidence in the Domesday Book that he was a substantial landowner, which suggests that he was marginalised at the end of Edward's reign.

After the mid-1050s, Edward seems to have withdrawn from affairs as he became increasingly dependent on the Godwins, and may have become reconciled to the idea that one of them would succeed him. The Normans claimed that Edward sent Harold to Normandy in about 1064 to confirm the promise of the succession to William. The strongest evidence comes from a Norman apologist, William of Poitiers. According to his account, shortly before the Battle of Hastings, Harold sent William an envoy who admitted that Edward had promised the throne to William but argued that this was over-ridden by his deathbed promise to Harold. In reply, William did not dispute the deathbed promise, but argued that Edward's prior promise to him took precedence.

In Stephen Baxter's view, Edward's "handling of the succession issue was dangerously indecisive, and contributed to one of the greatest catastrophes to which the English have ever succumbed."Edward's Norman sympathies are most clearly seen in the major building project of his reign, Westminster Abbey, the first Norman Romanesque church in England. This was commenced between 1042 and 1052 as a royal burial church, consecrated on 28 December 1065, completed after his death in about 1090, and demolished in 1245 to make way for Henry III's new building, which still stands. It was very similar to Jumièges Abbey, which was built at the same time. Robert of Jumièges must have been closely involved in both buildings, although it is not clear which is the original and which the copy.

Edward does not appear to have been interested in books and associated arts, but his abbey played a vital role in the development of English Romanesque architecture, showing that he was an innovating and generous patron of the church.”

Credits go to author Lucas Paul Hersey, who published this article on the facebook group “Norman & Plantagenet Wars 1050-1487″. 

Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/256568925025428/permalink/416691152346537/