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115-558: The institution originated amongst the Norsemen of Scandinavia , and was brought to Anglo-Saxon England by the Danish conquest in the 11th century. They were well-trained, and paid as full-time soldiers. In England, the royal housecarls had a number of roles, both military and administrative, and they fought under Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings . Housecarl is a calque of

230-503: A Christian king, Cnut says he went to Rome to repent for his sins, to pray for redemption and the security of his subjects, and to negotiate with the Pope for a reduction in the costs of the pallium for English archbishops, and for a resolution to the competition between the archdioceses of Canterbury and Hamburg-Bremen for superiority over the Danish dioceses. He also sought to improve

345-513: A Wendish encampment. His hold on the Danish throne presumably stable, Cnut was back in England in 1020. He appointed Ulf Jarl , the husband of his sister Estrid Svendsdatter , as regent of Denmark, further entrusting him with his young son by Queen Emma, Harthacnut , whom he had designated the heir of his kingdom. The banishment of Thorkell the Tall in 1021 may be seen in relation to the attack on

460-736: A banquet in Roskilde when an argument arose between them, and the next day, Christmas 1026, one of Cnut's housecarls killed the jarl with his blessing, in Trinity Church, the predecessor to Roskilde Cathedral . His enemies in Scandinavia subdued, and apparently at his leisure, Cnut was able to accept an invitation to witness the accession in Rome of the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II . He left his affairs in

575-513: A battle known as the Battle of the Helgeå , Cnut and his men fought the Norwegians and Swedes at the mouth of the river Helgeå, probably in 1026, and the apparent victory left Cnut as the dominant leader in Scandinavia. Ulf the usurper's realignment and participation in the battle did not, in the end, earn him Cnut's forgiveness. Some sources state that the brothers-in-law were playing chess at

690-682: A daughter of Mieszko I of Poland . Norse sources of the High Middle Ages , most prominently Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson , also give a Polish princess as Cnut's mother, whom they call Gunhild , a daughter of Burislav , the king of Vindland . Since in the Norse sagas the king of Vindland is always Burislav , this is reconcilable with the assumption that her father was Mieszko (not his son Bolesław ). Adam of Bremen in Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum

805-409: 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. Hardly anything is known for sure of Cnut's life until the year he was part of a Scandinavian force under his father, King Sweyn, in his invasion of England in summer 1013. Cnut was likely part of his father's 1003 and 1004 campaigns in England, although the evidence

920-464: A faithfull observer of God's rights and just secular law. (He exhorts his ealdormen to assist the bishops in the maintenance of) God's rights ... and the benefit of the people. If anyone, ecclesiastic or layman, Dane or Englishman, is so presumptuous as to defy God's law and my royal authority or the secular laws, and he will not make amends and desist according to the direction of my bishops, I then pray, and also command, Earl Thurkil, if he can, to cause

1035-540: A large fleet with which to launch another invasion. Among the allies of Denmark was Bolesław I the Brave , the duke of Poland (later crowned king) and a relative to the Danish royal house. He lent some Polish troops, 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

1150-464: A long time in bonds of captivity to the heathens". In modern scholarship, Vikings is a common term for attacking Norsemen, especially in connection with raids and monastic plundering by Norsemen in the British Isles , but it was not used in this sense at the time. In Old Norse and Old English, the word simply meant 'pirate'. The Norse were also known as Ascomanni , ashmen , by

1265-621: A member of the retinue, was tried for the murder of a fellow housecarl. Svend Aggesen's account of the law governing Cnut the Great's housecarls in 11th century England (the Witherlogh or Lex Castrensis ) may reflect, in fact, those governing Danish housecarls in the 12th century. But, by the end of the 12th century, housecarls had probably disappeared in Denmark; they had transformed into a new kind of nobility, whose members no longer resided at

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1380-512: A network of forts manned by the royal housecarls, the mercenaries, the hird ". Among the Hedeby stones , the Stone of Eric (DR 1) is dedicated by a royal retainer to one of his companions: Thurlf, Sven's retainer [ heimþegi , a variant of húskarl according to Brøndsted] erected this stone after Erik his fellow, who died when the warriors sat around [i.e. besieged] Hedeby , but he was a commander,

1495-617: A person who fought in the service of a different person. In Norway, housecarls were members of the king's or another powerful man's hirð . The institution of the hirð in Norway can be traced back to the ninth century. The texts dealing with royal power in medieval Norway, the Heimskringla and the Konungs skuggsjá ("King's Mirror"), make explicit the link between a king or leader and his retainers (housecarls and hirðmenn ). There

1610-511: A standing army. Hooper asserts that while the Housecarles might well have had superior esprit de corps and more uniform training and equipment than the average Thegn, they would not necessarily have been a clearly defined military elite. Yet another theory is that the role of a standing army was not assumed, or was not mostly assumed, by the royal housecarls; but that the housecarls were a smaller body of household troops, partly stationed at

1725-585: A strict code ( see above ); Aggesen having been used as a main source by L.M. Larson's The King's Household in England Before the Norman Conquest (1902). However, more recently, historian Nicholas Hooper criticised Larson and stated that "it is time to debunk the housecarl"; according to Hooper, housecarls were not in effect distinguishable from Saxon thegns , and were mainly retainers who received lands or pay (or both), but without being really

1840-609: A subsequent battle at Sherston , in Wiltshire , which was fought over two days but left neither side victorious. Edmund was able to temporarily relieve London, driving the enemy away and defeating them after crossing the Thames at Brentford . Suffering heavy losses, he withdrew to Wessex to gather fresh troops, and the Danes again brought London under siege, but after another unsuccessful assault they withdrew into Kent under attack by

1955-685: A very brave warrior. "Sven" is probably king Svein Forkbeard, as elsewhere on the Hedeby stones. Another runestone there, the Skarthi stone (DR 3), was apparently personally raised by king Svein: King Sveinn placed the stone in memory of Skarði, his retainer [ himþiga or heimþegi , again a variant of húskarl ], Skarde, who has sailed in the west [a possible reference to a campaign in England], but who then died at Hedeby. Under Svein Forkbeard and Cnut

2070-441: Is known from Icelandic sources that in the 1060s, the royal housecarls were paid with Norwegian coins. Six runestones in Denmark, DR 1 , DR 3 , DR 154, DR 155, DR 296 , and DR 297 , use the term heimþegi (pl. heimþegar ), meaning "home-receiver" (i.e. one who is given a house by another). The use of the term in the inscriptions suggest a strong similarity between heimþegar and housecarls: like housecarls, heimþegar are in

2185-517: Is not firm. The 1013 invasion was the climax to a succession of Viking raids spread over a number of decades. Following their landing in the Humber , the kingdom fell to the Vikings quickly, and near the end of the year King Æthelred fled to Normandy , leaving Sweyn Forkbeard in possession of England. In the winter, Sweyn was in the process of consolidating his kingship, with Cnut left in charge of

2300-475: Is only certain, though, that there was an entry of his name, alongside Cnut's, in confraternity with Christ Church, Canterbury , in 1018. This is not conclusive, though, for the entry may have been made in Harald's absence, perhaps by the hand of Cnut himself, which means that, while it is usually thought that Harald died in 1018, it is unsure whether he was still alive at this point. Entry of his brother's name in

2415-409: Is popularly invoked in the context of the legend of King Canute and the tide . Cnut was a son of the Danish prince Sweyn Forkbeard , who was the son and heir to King Harald Bluetooth and thus came from a line of Scandinavian rulers central to the unification of Denmark. Neither the place nor the date of his birth are known. Harthacnut I was the semi-legendary founder of the Danish royal house at

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2530-567: Is the fact that Cnut and the King of Burgundy went alongside the emperor in the imperial procession and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him on the same pedestal. Cnut and the emperor, in accord with various sources, took to one another's company like brothers, for they were of a similar age. Conrad gave Cnut lands in the Mark of Schleswig – the land-bridge between the Scandinavian kingdoms and

2645-523: Is unique in equating Cnut's mother (for whom he also produces no name) with the former queen of Sweden , wife of Eric the Victorious and by this marriage mother of Olof Skötkonung . To complicate the matter, Heimskringla and other sagas also have Sweyn marrying Eric's widow, but she is distinctly another person in these texts, named Sigrid the Haughty , whom Sweyn only marries after Gunhild ,

2760-598: The Flateyjarbók is correct that this man was Cnut's childhood mentor, it explains his acceptance of his allegiance – with Jomvikings ultimately in the service of Jomsborg . The 40 ships Eadric came with, often thought to be of the Danelaw , were probably Thorkell's. Early in 1016, the Vikings crossed the Thames and harried Warwickshire , while Edmund Ironside's attempts at opposition seem to have come to nothing –

2875-459: The fyrd . According to 12th century Danish historian Svend Aggesen, Cnut's housecarls were governed by a specific law, the Witherlogh or Lex Castrensis . Their organisation in a band or guild was Scandinavian in character, but the legal process the Witherlogh defines is mainly derived from canon law, directly or through Anglo-Saxon laws. Other possible inspirations include the rules of

2990-493: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to Earl Tostig's retainers as hiredmenn whereas another version calls them hus karlas . As Tostig was fighting against the king at the time, then the use of the term housecarl seems to have been a synonym for a mercenary or retainer rather than just royal bodyguards. It also would have been used to differentiate between that of the paid warrior and the unpaid militia known as

3105-497: The Duchy of Normandy . In July 1017, Cnut wed Queen Emma, the widow of Æthelred and daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy . In 1018, having collected a Danegeld amounting to the colossal sum of £72,000 levied nationwide, with an additional £10,500 extracted from London, Cnut paid off his army and sent most of them home. He retained 40 ships and their crews as a standing force in England. An annual tax called heregeld (army payment)

3220-571: The Earl of Northumbria and together they harried Staffordshire , Shropshire and Cheshire in western Mercia, possibly targeting the estates of Eadric Streona. Cnut's occupation of Northumbria meant Uhtred returned home to submit himself to Cnut, who seems to have sent a Northumbrian rival, Thurbrand the Hold , to massacre Uhtred and his retinue. Eiríkr Hákonarson , most likely with another force of Scandinavians, came to support Cnut at this point, and

3335-482: The Encomium Emmae is known) with a reference to the force Cnut led in his English conquest of 1015–16. Here ( see below ) it says all the Vikings were of "mature age" under Cnut "the king". A description of Cnut appears in the 13th century Icelandic Knýtlinga 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

3450-576: The Faroe Islands . Cnut the Great Cnut ( / k ə ˈ nj uː t / ; Old Norse : Knútr Old Norse pronunciation: [ˈknuːtr] ; c.  990 – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great , was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rule are referred to together as

3565-632: The Indo-European languages and is the predecessor of the modern Germanic languages of Scandinavia . During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a large-scale expansion in all directions, giving rise to the Viking Age . In English-language scholarship since the 19th century, Norse seafaring traders, settlers and warriors have commonly been referred to as Vikings . Historians of Anglo-Saxon England distinguish between Norse Vikings (Norsemen) from Norway, who mainly invaded and occupied

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3680-527: The Jomsvikings and the rules of the Norwegian hirð . The Whitherlogh defined an etiquette: housecarles were to be seated at the kings' tables according to a number of factors, among which skill in war and nobility. They could be disgraced by being moved to a lower place; this was punishment for minor offences, such as not giving proper care to the horse of a fellow housecarl. After three such offences,

3795-516: The Norman Conquest . From the annals, it is not clear whether other paid men were types of housecarl or a different subdivision of retainers. There were groups known as lithsmen and butsecarls , who were soldiers that were equally adept in land and maritime warfare. Also, there were bands of foreign warriors under the control of foreign commanders, who sometimes served as the retinues of important Anglo-Saxon lords. For example, one version of

3910-617: The Norse–Gaels . Cnut's possession of England's dioceses and the continental Diocese of Denmark – with a claim laid upon it by the Holy Roman Empire 's Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen – was a source of great prestige and leverage within the Catholic Church and among the magnates of Christendom (gaining notable concessions such as one on the price of the pallium of his bishops, though they still had to travel to obtain

4025-577: The North Sea Empire by historians. As a Danish prince, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe . His later accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut sought to keep this power base by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom. After a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia , Cnut claimed

4140-528: The Old Norse word húskarl (plural: húskarlar ) (spelled huskarl, pl. huskarlar in Swedish ) had a general sense of "manservant", as opposed to the húsbóndi , the "master of the house". In that sense, the word had several synonyms: griðmenn ("home-men") in Norway and Iceland, innæsmæn ("inside-men") in Denmark. Housecarls were free men, not to be confused with thralls (slaves or serfs); to this effect,

4255-594: The Varangian Guard . Modern Scandinavian languages have a common word for Norsemen: the word nordbo ( Swedish : nordborna , Danish : nordboerne , Norwegian : nordboerne , or nordbuane in the definite plural ) is used for both ancient and modern people living in the Nordic countries and speaking one of the North Germanic languages . The British conception of the Vikings' origins

4370-718: The Wends . With the death of Olof Skötkonung in 1022, and the succession to the Swedish throne of his son Anund Jacob bringing Sweden into alliance with Norway, there was cause for a demonstration of Danish strength in the Baltic. Jomsborg , the legendary stronghold of the Jomsvikings (thought to be on an island off the coast of Pomerania ), was probably the target of Cnut's expedition. Successful, after this clear display of Cnut's intentions to dominate Scandinavian affairs, it seems that Thorkell reconciled with Cnut in 1023. When

4485-589: The 844 raiders on Seville not only as Rūs but also al-lawdh’āna . The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , written in Old English , distinguishes between the pagan Norwegian Norsemen ( Norðmenn ) of Dublin and the Christian Danes ( Dene ) of the Danelaw . In 942, it records the victory of King Edmund I over the Norse kings of York: "The Danes were previously subjected by force under the Norsemen, for

4600-631: The Canterbury codex may have been Cnut's attempt to make his vengeance for Harald's murder good with the Church. This may have been just a gesture for a soul to be under the protection of God. There is evidence Cnut was in battle with "pirates" in 1018, with his destruction of the crews of thirty ships, although it is unknown if this was off the English or Danish shores. He himself mentions troubles in his 1019 letter (to England, from Denmark), written as

4715-608: The Confessor . The royal housecarls had some administrative duties in peacetime as the King's representatives. Florence of Worcester recounts how, in 1041, there was a revolt against a very heavy levy in Worcester, and two of king Harthacnut 's housecarls, who were acting as tax collectors, were killed. Because the main sources on Cnut's housecarls were written at least one century after Cnut's reign, there are several theories about

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4830-406: The Danes. It was at some time after Erik left for England, and on the death of Svein while retreating to Sweden, maybe intent on returning to Norway with reinforcements, that Erik's son Hakon went to join his father and support Cnut in England, too. Cnut's brother Harald may have been at Cnut's coronation, in 1016, returning to Denmark as its king, with part of the fleet, at some point thereafter. It

4945-399: The Danish crown, stating his intention to avert attacks against England in a letter in 1019 ( see above ). It seems there were Danes in opposition to him, and an attack he carried out on the Wends of Pomerania may have had something to do with this. In this expedition, at least one of Cnut's Englishmen, Godwin, apparently won the king's trust after a night-time raid he personally led against

5060-493: The Danish–German border. The southernmost living Vikings lived no further north than Newcastle upon Tyne , and travelled to Britain more from the east than from the north. The Norse Scandinavians established polities and settlements in what are now Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales), Ireland, Iceland, Russia, Belarus, France, Sicily , Belgium, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Greenland , Canada, and

5175-509: 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. "Robert" in Cnut's text is probably a clerical error for Rudolph ,

5290-483: The English, turning the prows of the longships towards Scandinavia. He reinstated the Laws of King Edgar to allow for the constitution of a Danelaw , and for the activity of Scandinavians at large. Cnut reinstituted the extant laws with a series of proclamations to assuage common grievances brought to his attention, including: On Inheritance in case of Intestacy , and On Heriots and Reliefs . He also strengthened

5405-529: The English, with a battle fought at Otford . At this point Eadric Streona went over to King Edmund, and Cnut set sail northwards across the Thames estuary to Essex , and went from the landing of the ships up the River Orwell to ravage Mercia. On 18 October 1016, the Danes were engaged by Edmund's army as they retired towards their ships, leading to the Battle of Assandun , fought at either Ashingdon , in south-east, or Ashdon , in north-west Essex . In

5520-675: The Germans, Lochlanach (Norse) by the Gaels and Dene (Danes) by the Anglo-Saxons. The Gaelic terms Finn-Gall (Norwegian Viking or Norwegian), Dubh-Gall (Danish Viking or Danish) and Gall Goidel (foreign Gaelic) were used for the people of Norse descent in Ireland and Scotland, who assimilated into the Gaelic culture. Dubliners called them Ostmen, or East-people, and

5635-494: The Great, when the Danish kings came to rule England, a body of royal housecarls was developed there, with institutions that were partly of Norse inspiration, and partly inspired by canon law ( see below ). But even after the Danish kings had lost England, housecarls continued to exist in Denmark. Such a group of royal retainers was still in place at the beginning of the 12th century, under Niels of Denmark , when, according to Danish historian Svend Aggesen , Aggesen's grandfather,

5750-477: The Icelandic laws also call them einhleypingar ("lone-runners") and lausamenn ("men not tied"). Both terms emphasise that they were voluntarily in service of another, as opposed to thralls . With time, the term "housecarls" ( húskarlar ) came to acquire a specific sense of "retainers", in the service of a lord, in his hirð , lid or drótt (all meaning "bodyguard", "troop of retainers"). In Denmark, this

5865-402: The King of England and Denmark. These events can be seen, with plausibility, to be in connection with the death of Harald. Cnut says he dealt with dissenters to ensure Denmark was free to assist England: King Cnut greets in friendship his archbishop and his diocesan bishops and Earl Thurkil and all his earls ... ecclesiastic and lay, in England ... I inform you that I will be a gracious lord and

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5980-716: The Northmen who visited the Eastern Slavic lands originated. Archaeologists and historians of today believe that these Scandinavian settlements in the East Slavic lands formed the names of the countries of Russia and Belarus . The Slavs and the Byzantines also called them Varangians ( Old Norse : Væringjar , meaning "sworn men"), and the Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors were known as

6095-410: The Norwegian king Olaf Haraldsson and Anund Jakob took advantage of Cnut's commitment to England and began to launch attacks against Denmark, Ulf gave the Danish freemen cause to accept Harthacnut , still a child, as king. This ruse resulted in Ulf ruling the kingdom as regent . Upon news of these events, Cnut set sail for Denmark to restore himself and to deal with Ulf, who then got back in line. In

6210-415: The Slavic princess who bore Cnut, has died. Different theories regarding the number and ancestry of Sweyn's wives (or wife) have been advanced (see Sigrid the Haughty and Gunhild ). But since Adam is the only source to equate the identity of Cnut's and Olof Skötkonung's mother, this is often seen as an error on Adam's part, and it is often assumed that Sweyn had two wives, the first being Cnut's mother, and

6325-416: The assessment of the housecarls' specificities, and whether or not they were an elite troop. For instance, Charles Oman , in his book The Art of War in the Middle Ages (1885), states that the main advantage of the housecarls at Hastings were their esprit de corps . This view, still widely held today, mainly stems from Svend Aggesen's 12th-century description of Cnut's housecarls as a group characterized by

6440-462: The beginning of the 10th century, and his son, Gorm the Old , became the first in the official line (the "Old" in his name indicates this). Harald Bluetooth, Gorm's son and Cnut's grandfather, was the Danish king at the time of the Christianization of Denmark ; he became one of the first Scandinavian kings to accept Christianity . The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg and the Encomium Emmae report Cnut's mother as having been Świętosława ,

6555-444: The chronicler says the English army disbanded because the king and the citizenry of London were not present. The mid-winter assault by Cnut devastated its way northwards across eastern Mercia . Another summons of the army brought the Englishmen together, and they were met this time by the king, although "it came to nothing as so often before", and Æthelred returned to London with fears of betrayal. Edmund then went north to join Uhtred

6670-410: The city of Norwich , in 1003–04, after the St. Brice's Day massacre of Danes by the English, in 1002. If Cnut indeed accompanied this expedition, his birthdate may be near 990, or even 980. If not, and if the skald's poetic verse references another assault, such as Sweyn's conquest of England in 1013–14, it may even suggest a birth date nearer 1000. There is a passage of the Encomiast (as the author of

6785-432: The conditions for pilgrims, as well as merchants, on the road to Rome. In his own words: ... 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

6900-420: The continent – as a token of their treaty of friendship. Centuries of conflict in this area between the Danes and the Germans led to the construction of the Danevirke , from Schleswig, on the Schlei , an inlet of the Baltic Sea , to the North Sea . Cnut's visit to Rome was a triumph. In the verse of Knútsdrápa , Sigvatr Þórðarson praises Cnut, his king, as being "dear to the Emperor, close to Peter". In

7015-442: The crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. In 1031, Malcolm II of Scotland also submitted to him, though Anglo-Norse influence over Scotland was weak and ultimately did not last by the time of Cnut's death. Dominion of England lent the Danes an important link to the maritime zone between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland , where Cnut, like his father before him, had a strong interest and wielded much influence among

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7130-411: The currency, initiating a series of coins of equal weight to those being used in Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia. He issued the Law codes of Cnut known now as I Cnut and II Cnut, though these seem primarily to have been produced by Wulfstan of York . In his royal court, there were both Englishmen and Scandinavians. Harald II died in 1018, and Cnut went to Denmark to affirm his succession to

7245-409: The days of Christendom, a king seen to be in favour with God could expect to be ruler over a happy kingdom. He was surely in a stronger position, not only with the Church and the people, but also in the alliance with his southern rivals he was able to conclude his conflicts with his rivals in the north. His letter not only tells his countrymen of his achievements in Rome, but also of his ambitions within

7360-401: The death of the Swedish king Eric the Victorious in 995, and his marriage to Sigrid the Haughty , the Swedish queen mother . This wedlock formed a strong alliance between the successor to the throne of Sweden, Olof Skötkonung , and the rulers of Denmark, his in-laws. Swedes were certainly among the allies in the English conquest. Another in-law to the Danish royal house, Eiríkr Hákonarson ,

7475-476: The early 19th century: the earliest attestation given in the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is from Walter Scott 's 1817 Harold the Dauntless . The word was coined using the adjective norse , which was borrowed into English from Dutch during the 16th century with the sense 'Norwegian', and which by Scott's time had acquired the sense "of or relating to Scandinavia or its language, esp[ecially] in ancient or medieval times". As with modern use of

7590-469: 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. Edmund fled westwards, and Cnut pursued him into Gloucestershire , with another battle probably fought near the Forest of Dean , for Edmund had an alliance with some of the Welsh. On an island near Deerhurst , Cnut and Edmund, who had been wounded, met to negotiate terms of peace. It

7705-416: The establishment of an earldom under Godwin , an Englishman from a powerful Sussex family. In general, after initial reliance on his Scandinavian followers in the first years of his reign, Cnut allowed those Anglo-Saxon families of the existing English nobility who had earned his trust to assume rulership of his Earldoms. At the Battle of Nesjar , in 1016, Olaf Haraldsson won the kingdom of Norway from

7820-467: The evil-doer to do right. And if he cannot, then it is my will that with the power of us both he shall destroy him in the land or drive him out of the land, whether he be of high or low rank. And it is my will that all the nation, ecclesiastical and lay, shall steadfastly observe Edgar's laws, which all men have chosen and sworn at Oxford. Since I did not spare my money, as long as hostility was threatening you, I with God's help have put an end to it. Then I

7935-508: The exact nature and role of these housecarls. Cnut is said to have retained 3,000 to 4,000 men with him in England, to serve as his bodyguard. One theory is that these men were Cnut's housecarls, and that they served as a well-equipped, disciplined, professional, and quite numerous (for the time) standing army at the service of the king. However, another theory is that there was nothing like an important, standing, royal army in 11th century Anglo-Saxon England. This debate has direct consequences on

8050-423: The fact that he was in an arguably sinful relationship, with two wives, and the harsh treatment he dealt his fellow Christian opponents. Under his reign, Cnut brought together the English and Danish kingdoms, and the Scandinavic and Saxon peoples saw a period of dominance across Scandinavia , as well as within the British Isles . His campaigns abroad meant the tables of Viking supremacy were stacked in favour of

8165-515: 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 1014), Harald succeeded him as King of Denmark, while the Vikings and the people of the Danelaw immediately elected Cnut as king in England. However, the English nobility took a different view, and the Witenagemot recalled Æthelred from Normandy . The restored king swiftly led an army against Cnut, who fled with his army to Denmark, along

8280-409: The great dangers which were approaching us that we need fear no danger to us from there; but we may reckon on full help and deliverance if we need it. Cnut was generally remembered as a wise and successful king of England, although this view may in part be attributable to his good treatment of the Church, keeper of the historic record. Accordingly, he is considered, even today, as a religious man despite

8395-477: The housecarls are seen by some as a type of mercenary ; the Knýtlinga saga calls them málamenn ("men receiving wages"), while Florence of Worcester uses the term solidarii ("salarymen") and William of Malmesbury that of stipendarii ("paid men"). Furthermore, the housecarles were not bound to indefinite service; but there was only one day in the year during which they could leave the king's service. That

8510-557: The island of Wollin , off the coast of Pomerania . His date of birth, like his mother's name, is unknown. Contemporary works such as the Chronicon and the Encomium Emmae , do not mention this. Even so, in a Knútsdrápa by the skald Óttarr svarti , there is a statement that Cnut was "of no great age" when he first went to war. It also mentions a battle identifiable with Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion of England and attack on

8625-461: The islands north and north-west of Britain, as well as Ireland and western Britain, and Danish Vikings, who principally invaded and occupied eastern Britain. Modern descendants of Norsemen include the Danes , Icelanders , Faroe Islanders , Norwegians , and Swedes , who are now generally referred to as " Scandinavians " rather than Norsemen. The word Norseman first appears in English during

8740-566: The king's court. The term entered the English language when Svein Forkbeard and Cnut the Great conquered and occupied Anglo-Saxon England; the housecarls of Cnut were highly disciplined bodyguards. It is unclear, however, whether Cnut's housecarls were all Scandinavians; some were Slavs according to Domesday Book records and according to Susan Reynolds , it is likely that some of them were English, with many Englishmen becoming housecarls early in Cnut's reign. Housecarls were only one group of paid soldiers or hiredmenn who fought for England before

8855-459: The king's court. During the reign of Edward the Confessor, a number of sailors and soldiers, the lithsmen , were paid wages and possibly based in London; those lithsmen were, according to some, the main standing armed force, while the housecarls were only acting as a secondary one. One reason to doubt the existence of a standing army made of housecarls is that, when there was a revolt in 1051, under

8970-469: The kingdom; furthermore, these estates were small. Thus, it does not seem that the English landholders were deprived of their properties to provide for land grants to the king's housecarls. On the other hand, some of Cnut's housecarls seem to have been quite prosperous; the Abbotsbury Abbey was founded either by one of them under the reign of Cnut himself, or by his wife under the reign of Edward

9085-483: The last man was killed. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the housecarls as footmen clad in mail , with conical nasal helmets , and fighting with great, two-handed long axes . Norsemen The Norsemen (or Norse people ) were a North Germanic linguistic group of the Early Middle Ages , during which they spoke the Old Norse language . The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of

9200-603: The last ruler of an independent Kingdom of Burgundy . Hence, the solemn word of the Pope, the Emperor and Rudolph was given with the witness of four archbishops, twenty bishops, and "innumerable multitudes of dukes and nobles", suggesting it was before the ceremonies were completed. Cnut without doubt threw himself into his role with zest. His image as a just Christian king, statesman and diplomat and crusader against unjustness, seems rooted in reality, as well as one he sought to project. A good illustration of his status within Europe

9315-497: The might of mature age, all sufficiently fit for any type of fighting, all of such great fleetness, that they scorned the speed of horsemen. Wessex , long ruled by the dynasty of Alfred and Æthelred, submitted to Cnut late in 1015, as it had to his father two years earlier. At this point Eadric Streona , the Ealdorman of Mercia , deserted Æthelred together with 40 ships and their crews and joined forces with Cnut. Another defector

9430-517: The mouth of the Frome , and harried in Dorset and Wiltshire and Somerset ", beginning a campaign of an intensity not seen since the days of Alfred the Great . A passage from Queen Emma's Encomium provides a picture of Cnut's fleet: [T]here were there so many kinds of shields, that you could have believed that troops of all nations were present. ... Gold shone on the prows, silver also flashed on

9545-571: The name Oxmanstown (an area in central Dublin; the name is still current) comes from one of their settlements; they were also known as Lochlannaigh , or Lake-people. The Slavs , the Arabs and the Byzantines knew them as the Rus' or Rhōs ( Ῥῶς ), probably derived from various uses of rōþs- , i.e. "related to rowing", or from the area of Roslagen in east-central Sweden, where most of

9660-487: The name of the Normans and of Normandy , which was settled by Norsemen in the tenth century. The same word entered Hispanic languages and local varieties of Latin with forms beginning not only in n- , but in l- , such as lordomanni (apparently reflecting nasal dissimilation in local Romance languages). This form may in turn have been borrowed into Arabic: the prominent early Arabic source al-Mas‘ūdī identified

9775-430: The nature of the quarrel, a varying number of testimonies would be required. However, the Witherlogh as we know it through Svend Aggesen was redacted more than one century after the time of Cnut; thus, we cannot be sure that it presents an accurate picture of Cnut's housecarls. A special tax was levied to provide pay in coin to the royal housecarls. According to Saxo Grammaticus , the pay was monthly. Due to these wages,

9890-543: The north and went from Denmark to the coronation at Easter 1027, which would have been of considerable prestige for rulers of Europe in the Middle Ages . On the return journey he wrote his letter of 1027, like his letter of 1019, informing his subjects in England of his intentions from abroad and proclaiming himself "king of all England and Denmark and the Norwegians and of some of the Swedes". Consistent with his role as

10005-474: The offender could be seated at the lowest place, and no-one was to talk to him, but everyone could throw bones at him at will. The murder of another housecarl was punished by outlawry and exile, whereas treason was punished by death and confiscation of all property. Quarrels between housecarles were decided by a specific tribunal ( gemot ), the Huskarlesteffne , in the presence of the king; depending on

10120-442: The original Old Norse term, húskarl , which literally means "house man". Karl is cognate to the Old English churl , or ceorl , meaning a man, or a non-servile peasant. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle uses hiredmenn as a term for all paid warriors and thus is applied to housecarl , but it also refers to butsecarls and lithsmen . It is not clear whether these were types of housecarl or different altogether. Originally,

10235-607: The pallium, as well as on the tolls his people had to pay on the way to Rome ). After his 1026 victory against Norway and Sweden, and on his way back from Rome where he attended the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor , Cnut deemed himself "King of all England and Denmark and the Norwegians and of some of the Swedes" in a letter written for the benefit of his subjects. Medieval historian Norman Cantor called him "the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history". He

10350-446: The reign of Edward the Confessor, no such standing army was used to crush it, whereas its existence would have allowed for a swift, decisive action against the rebels. By the end of the 11th century in England, there may have been as many as 3,000 Englishmen who were royal housecarls. As the household troops of Harold Godwinson , the housecarls had a crucial role as the backbone of Harold's army at Hastings. Although they were numerically

10465-455: The retainers of Olaf II of Norway heiðþegar , meaning "gift- (or pay-)receivers". More precisely, Snorri Sturluson explained that " heið -money is the name of the wages or gift which chieftains give". Thus, Sigvat probably referred to an institution similar to the Danish heimþegar ( see below ) or to the housecarls of Cnut the Great ( see below ): free men in the service of a king or lord, who gave them gifts as payment of said service. It

10580-590: The retinue [ lid ], held their housecarls well. He fell in battle in the east in Garðar (Russia) , commander of the retinue [ lid ], the best of landholders. According to Omeljan Pritsak , this Þorsteinn may have commanded the retinue of Yaroslav the Wise , the Grand Prince of Kiev . Thus, the housecarls mentioned here would be royal bodyguards; in any case, it can be seen here that the word "housecarl" now applied to

10695-469: The second being the former Queen of Sweden. Cnut's brother Harald was the younger of the two brothers according to Encomium Emmae . Some hint of Cnut's childhood can be found in the Flateyjarbók , a 13th-century Icelandic source that says he was taught his soldiery by the chieftain Thorkell the Tall , brother to Sigurd , Jarl of Jomsborg , and the legendary Jomsvikings , at their stronghold on

10810-407: The service of a king or lord, of whom they receive gifts (here, homes) for their service. Johannes Brøndsted interpreted heimþegi as nothing more than a local (Danish) variant of húskarl . Johannes Brøndsted suggested that the garrison of the Danish fort of Trelleborg may have consisted of royal housecarls, and that kings Svein Forkbeard and Cnut the Great may have "safeguarded the country by

10925-458: The smaller part of Harold's army, their possibly superior equipment and training meant they could have been used to strengthen the militia, or fyrd , which made up most of Harold's troops. The housecarls were positioned in the centre, around their leader's standard, but also probably in the first ranks of both flanks, with the fyrdmen behind them. In the Battle of Hastings , these Housecarls fought after Harold's death, holding their oath to him until

11040-522: The 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 – and

11155-447: The unification of England. The officials responsible for these provinces were designated earls , a title of Scandinavian origin already in localised use in England, which now everywhere replaced that of ealdorman. Wessex was initially kept under Cnut's personal control, while Northumbria went to Erik of Hlathir , East Anglia to Thorkell the Tall , and Mercia remained in the hands of Eadric Streona . This initial distribution of power

11270-481: 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, ... who upon the bulls on the ships threatening death, their horns shining with gold, without feeling any fear for the king of such a force? 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

11385-469: The veteran Norwegian jarl was put in charge of Northumbria. Prince Edmund remained in London, still unsubdued behind its walls , and was elected king after the death of Æthelred on 23 April 1016. 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 Wessex ,

11500-487: The way mutilating the hostages they had taken and abandoning them on the beach at Sandwich in Kent . Cnut went to Harald and supposedly made the suggestion they might have a joint kingship, although this found no favour with his brother. Harald is thought to have offered Cnut command of his forces for another invasion of England, on the condition he did not continue to press his claim. In any case, Cnut succeeded in assembling

11615-561: The word viking , therefore, the word norseman has no particular basis in medieval usage. The term Norseman does echo terms meaning 'Northman', applied to Norse-speakers by the peoples they encountered during the Middle Ages. The Old Frankish word Nortmann ("Northman") was Latinised as Normannus and was widely used in Latin texts. The Latin word Normannus then entered Old French as Normands . From this word came

11730-514: Was New Year's Eve , a day on which it was customary for Scandinavian kings to reward their retainers with gifts. On one hand, the number of housecarls receiving land grants and estates from the king seems to have been rather limited, from the beginning of Cnut's reign up to the Norman conquest in 1066. At that last date, the Domesday Book records only thirty-three landholding housecarls in

11845-540: Was Thorkell the Tall , a Jomsviking chief who had fought against the Viking invasion of Sweyn Forkbeard , with a pledge of allegiance to the English in 1012 – some explanation for this shift of allegiance may be found in a stanza of the Jómsvíkinga saga that mentions two attacks against Jomsborg's mercenaries while they were in England, with a man known as Henninge, a brother of Thorkell, among their casualties. If

11960-523: Was Cnut's sister. Bernicia , the northern part of Northumbria, was theoretically part of Erik and Siward's earldom, but throughout Cnut's reign it effectively remained under the control of the English dynasty based at Bamburgh , which had dominated the area at least since the early 10th century. They served as junior Earls of Bernicia under the titular authority of the Earl of Northumbria. By the 1030s Cnut's direct administration of Wessex had come to an end, with

12075-514: Was a special fine for the killing of a king's man, which in Konungs skuggsjá is underlined as an advantage of entering the king's service. Conversely, retainers were expected to avenge their leader if he was killed. Sigvatr Þórðarson (also known as Sigvat the Skald), a court poet to two kings of Norway, Olaf II of Norway (saint Olaf) and Magnus the Good (and also to two kings of Denmark), called

12190-477: 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. The West Saxons now accepted Cnut as king of all of England, and he

12305-462: Was also the sense of the word himthige , a variant of húskarl ( see below ). This meaning can be seen, for instance, on the Turinge stone : Ketill and Bjôrn, they raised this stone in memory of Þorsteinn, their father; Ônundr in memory of his brother and the housecarls in memory of the just(?) (and) Ketiley in memory of her husbandman. These brothers were the best of men in the land and abroad in

12420-400: Was collected through the same system Æthelred had instituted in 1012 to reward Scandinavians in his service. Cnut built on the existing English trend for multiple shires to be grouped together under a single ealdorman , thus dividing the country into four large administrative units whose geographical extent was based on the largest and most durable of the separate kingdoms that had preceded

12535-688: Was composed primarily of mercenaries. The invasion force was to engage in often close and grisly warfare with the English for the next fourteen months. Practically all of the battles were fought against the eldest son of Æthelred, Edmund Ironside . According to the Peterborough Chronicle manuscript, one of the major witnesses of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , early in September 1015 "[Cnut] came into Sandwich, and straightway sailed around Kent to Wessex , until he came to

12650-511: Was crowned by Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury , in London in 1017. 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 980s . In turn, the English helped him to establish control over the majority of Scandinavia , too. Under his rule, England did not experience serious external attacks. As Danish King of England, Cnut

12765-565: Was inaccurate. Those who plundered Britain lived in what is today Denmark, Scania , the western coast of Sweden and Norway (up to almost the 70th parallel ) and along the Swedish Baltic coast up to around the 60th latitude and Lake Mälaren . They also came from the island of Gotland , Sweden. The border between the Norsemen and more southerly Germanic tribes, the Danevirke , today is located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of

12880-410: Was informed that greater danger was approaching us than we liked at all; and then I went myself with the men who accompanied me to Denmark, from where the greatest injury had come to us, and with God's help I have made it so that never henceforth shall hostility reach you from there as long as you support me rightly and my life lasts. Now I thank Almighty God for his help and his mercy, that I have settled

12995-434: Was quick to eliminate any prospective challenge from the survivors of the mighty Wessex dynasty. The first year of his reign was marked by the executions of a number of English noblemen whom he considered suspect. Æthelred 's son Eadwig Ætheling fled from England but was killed on Cnut's orders. Edmund Ironside's sons likewise fled abroad. Æthelred's sons by Emma of Normandy went under the protection of their relatives in

13110-547: Was short-lived. The chronically treacherous Eadric was executed within a year of Cnut's accession. Mercia passed to one of the leading families of the region, probably first to Leofwine , ealdorman of the Hwicce under Æthelred, but certainly soon to his son Leofric . In 1021, Thorkel also fell from favour and was outlawed. Following his death in the 1020s, Erik of Hlathir was succeeded as Earl of Northumbria by Siward , whose grandmother, Estrid (married to Úlfr Thorgilsson ),

13225-464: Was the earl of Lade and the co-ruler of Norway with his brother Sweyn Haakonsson – Norway having been under Danish sovereignty since the Battle of Svolder , in 999. Eiríkr's participation in the invasion left his son Hakon to rule Norway, with Sweyn. In the summer of 1015, Cnut's fleet set sail for England with a Danish army of perhaps 10,000 in 200 longships. Cnut was at the head of an array of Vikings from all over Scandinavia . The invading army

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