Cnut: The Viking Who Conquered England

 Although the people of early 11th century England may not have particularly relished the thought of having a foreign ruler, there was one distinct advantage of having Cnut succeed as king. Being a Dane himself, Cnut could now provide the English populace with some respite from the frequent Viking raids that had blown up again during the reign of Aethelred The Unready after an extended period of calm during the rule of Edgar The Peaceful. One of his first moves was to eliminate the men who had killed Edmund Ironside, Cnut’s rival to the throne whom he had defeated in the Battle of Ashingdon, including a man named Eadric who had no sense of loyalty and had switched allegiances between Edmund and Cnut all too frequently during their struggle for power. Eadric was apparently a rather arrogant man as well and gave an impertinent response to Cnut when he was facing charges of Edmund’s murder. 

Cnut knew two things at this stage. One, he couldn’t trust Eadric and needed to be rid of him. Secondly, by getting rid of Eadric, it would be a good propaganda move to try and earn some trust with the Saxon nobility by executing the man who had had their king murdered (allegedly while Edmund was going to the toilet). Make no mistake, Cnut was not sorry to hear the news of the death of Edmund; Edmund was, after all, still a potentially big thorn in Cnut’s side despite Cnut’s major triumph at Ashingdon. But with Edmund out of the way, Cnut needed to score points with the people he now ruled over and Eadric’s death helped in that regard.

Cnut initially favoured Danes in positions of power but he was careful not to alienate the Saxon nobility as well and over time, he treated them on a more equal footing. Eventually, the Saxons would have an equal say when councils and assemblies were held as well as playing a prominent role in Cnut’s armies. Again, showing considerable self awareness when it came to his public image, Cnut made extensive repair work to churches and monasteries which had suffered at the hands of the Viking attacks. He also built new churches, including at the site of his victory at Ashingdon. The extent of Cnut’s efforts to repair some of the damage he and his father’s forces had caused won him praise and his reputation benefitted as a direct result.  To further bolster his position, he married Emma of Normandy, the second wife and widow of Aethelred The Unready, which tied him a little closer to the Saxon nobility. Cnut ,though, was still a man of his time and he wanted to eliminate potential threats to his rule. Cnut had the son of Aethelred, named Eadwig who was born from Aethelred’s first marriage, murdered and also wanted the young sons of Edmund killed but the deed never took place and they ended up at the court of the Hungarian king.

After establishing considerable power in Scandinavia, Cnut, in 1031, travelled to Rome. He made it plain to the English people, in letters sent home, that he had prayed for forgiveness for past sins. But these communications weren’t all pleasant reading for the English nobles. Cnut, in no uncertain terms, demanded a rather extensive tax to be paid and if it hadn’t been collected in full by the time Cnut returned from Denmark, where he was to journey to after leaving Rome, then there’d be hell to pay. It says something for Cnut’s standing by this point that his demands were met and that the tax continued to be observed over 200 years after his death.

Cnut died in 1035. Shortly before he died, he visited Glastonbury and the, now lost, tomb of Edmund Ironside. Cnut had made frequent reference to Edmund as being his “brother” and given the length of time that passed since Edmund’s death, it would appear Cnut felt some genuine affection or respect for the man he had only overcome because of Eadric’s duplicity. However, a bigger factor in Cnut’s visit, is undoubtedly his desire to maintain his reputation in the country that the Danes had finally conquered after over 200 years of raids. One chronicle describes him as “magnificent”. Cnut had ruled shrewdly and with a firm hand. Of the four Danish kings of England, he would be the only genuine success.