User:Lgbrandt

Canute the Great
(Poul Skaaning 2010) or The Rise and Fall of the North Sea Empire

Swein Forkbeard’s son Canute got the opportunity of his life when his father let him participate in the Viking raid that led to the conquest of England in 1013, but which also was to be Swein’s last raid. Harald, Canute’s elder brother about whom very little is known, stayed at home during the raid and governed Denmark together with some experienced chiefs. Swein’s victory was of no great importance, although Æthelred II, his enemy and predecessor, had fled to Normandy with Queen Emma and their two sons Edward and Alfred. Swein suddenly died onboard his ship in Gainsborough in February 1014 without having made any major decisions about the future of England. Æthelred returned from Normandy and was received in triumph by the English population. The Norwegian Viking Olav Haraldson and his men accompanied him as a military escort. Thorkild the Tall, Earl of Scania and commander of Wollin refused to recognize the election. He entered the service of the English and received as reward 21,000 pound silver as danegeld from the English king. Canute fled Denmark to get reinforcements so that he could resume the war. His brother Harald received him well in Roskilde and let him dispose of the Danish summoned navy. Some weeks later Thorkild the Tall arrived with nine ships in Roskilde, while 30 remained in England as insurance of his security. From now on he would serve Canute. If he had not submitted he would probably have lost the Earldom of Scania and the naval base Wollin. Canute an Thorkild became very good friends in Roskilde. They planned the war against Æthelred and conspired to get the Norwegians involved. Canute persuaded Earl Erik, his Norwegian vassal to join him with a considerable number of warriors and Thorkild got Olav to leave the service of Æthelred and instead acquire the Norwegian throne at a low cost while Erik and his men were absent. Erik participated in the campaign with a considerable number of ships, and Olav withdrew his allegiance from Æthelred and went to Norway with about one hundred warriors. He became King of Norway in 1015 after some minor fights and a naval battle at Nesjar. At the same time Canute went to England with a fleet of about 200 ships. His warfare differed from that of his father because with a few exceptions he prohibited plundering by his Vikings. He recognised that he would only become the real King of England if he governed the country in accordance with English laws and traditions. That caused a discord with the Vikings that had participated in raids with the objective to become rich through plundering. Canute vanquished the English in some battles. The most important took place near Sherston and Ashingdon, where the English were commanded by Edmund Ironside. In spite of the defeats Edmund was far from being put out of action. Eadric Streona, the prime minister of late King Æthelred negotiated a peace agreement between the two young kings. They concluded “friendship” and shared the kingdom, so that Canute got the northern part (including London), while Edmund besides East Anglia and Essex got England south and west of Watlingastreet. That was by far the richest part, but Eadric Streona forced him to accept the indisputable condition of Canute that his half of the kingdom would pay tax to Canute’s army. Only a few months later Edmund died, and after some pressure at the ensuing witenagemot Canute could call himself King of England. Canute made Thorkild the Tall his prime minister. He had a number of individuals eliminated, among others Eadric Streona, several descendants of Alfred the Great and others who disputed his power. He was already married to Ælfgifu of Northampton who had given him the sons Swein and Harald, but now he also married Emma, the widow of Æthelred II to insure his throne. She was the daughter of the Duke of Normandy and with Æthelred she had the sons Edvard and Alfred. With Canute she got the son HardeCanute and the daughter Gunhild. They agreed that Hardecanute was to inherit the kingdom at the detriment of Emma’s sons with Æthelred and Canute’s with Ælfgifu. When the”Viking tax” had been paid and the Vikings sent home, and Canute’s throne seemed fairly secure he made his first trip to Denmark after the war. Harald II had died, so the kingdom was Canute’s, but the trip was not the triumphal procession he had expected. The Vikings thought that the king had become more English than Danish, and that the raids should continue. After having installed and then deposed Earl Ulf his brother in law as his ”vice regent” Canute  appointed his sister Estrid together with Thorkild the Tall to represent his Danish royal authority. He gave them his son Hardecanute, so that he could get a Danish upbringing and be presented to the Danes as the successor of his father to the throne. Canute turned to Norway. He wanted to create a North Sea Empire consisting of Denmark, Norway, England with dependencies. Olav Haraldson was not popular when alive. To a large extent he forced pagan peasants to become Christians and displeased the big landowners by undermining their power. Canute exploited the situation and bribed the chiefs to betray Olav. Olav strived to ensure his position with an alliance with Sweden. He succeeded, and in 1026 he acted by making a naval attack against Sealand at the same time as the Swedes attacked Scania at Helgeå. Canute immediately prepared for fight. Han sailed to Sealand, chased Olav’s navy away to the east and vanquished easily the united Norwegians and Swedes at Helgeå. The Swedes withdrew from the war and Olav had to retreat humiliated on foot through Sweden. Canute installed his sister’s son Hakon as his Earl in Norway. Olav attempted to recapture his kingdom. He failed, but he felled one of his main opponents Erling Skjalgson the leading chief of Western Norway. That was the signal to general defection and Olav had to flee through Sweden to his brother in law Grand Duke Jaroslav of Novgorod. Earl Hakon died in 1029, and two Norwegian chiefs Einar Tambarskjelve and Kalv Arnesson tried separately to take over his position, but Canute rejected both of them and chose instead to make Swein, his son with Ælfgifu, his Norwegian Regent. The mother accompanied him as his warden, but the Norwegians did not accept them. The foreign rule became more and more unpopular the next four years. Earl Hakon’s death prompted Olav to return from Russia. His army was hardly above 4-500 men and the peasant army of Kalv Arnesson was at least twice as big. The battle took place at Stiklestad in Trøndelagen; the peasant army won. Olav fell and was buried in Nidaros. Many miracles and strange healings at his grave supported the accounts of his holiness. He soon became the leading saint of Scandinavia. Swein Alfivason’s rule on the contrary became more and more unpopular, and Einar and Kalv could unchallenge go for Olav’s son Magnus from Russia. Swein and his mother fled to Denmark and England respectively. Canute died in 1035. Hardecanute could not leave Denmark for fear of a Norwegian attack. Instead Ælfgifu had her other son Harald Harefoot elected King of England. He managed to take Alfred prisoner, blind and kill him, while Emma was expelled to Brügge. She called her sons Hardecanute and Edward to her. Hardecanute made peace with Magnus and went to Brügge, but only with 10 ships. He persuaded 50 chiefs and their men to be ready in their ships under the command of Swein Estridson. Harald Harefoot died suddenly in 1040. English noblemen offered the Throne of England to Hardecanute. He revenged the killing of Alfred by having the body of Harald Harefoot thrown into a ditch. the body was found, however and at last buried in the church of the Danes St. Clemens Danes. Hardecanute wanted to reward his big army well for its (limited) service for him. He levied enormous taxes from the English to pay his Vikings and he let the warriors collect the taxes themselves. His half brother Edward the Confessor became king after him. The Norwegian King Magnus united Denmark and Norway and made a weak attempt to include England in the North Sea Empire. His uncle and succesor was Harald Hardrada who had been chief of the imperial guard in Constantinople. First he fought with the Danes who had rebelled under the command of Swein Estridson. When he had failed he attempted to unite Norway and England. He was defeated by Harold Godwineson in battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066. Shortly after this victory the English army was defeated by the Normans in the battle of Hastings, and William the Conqueror took the throne of England in the place of the fallen Harold Godwineson. The dream of a North Sea monarchy was actually given up.