Toward the close of the eighth century, there appeared in the waters of Western Europe the strange dragon fleets of the Northmen, the "heathen," or the vikings, as they called themselves, and for more than two hundred years the shores of the West and the Southwest lived in constant dread of pillage and piracy. The viking invasions have always been of interest to the student of the Middle Ages; but only recently have historians begun to fathom the full significance of the movement. The British Is

Among the many gigantic though somewhat shadowy personalities of the viking age, two stand forth with undisputed pre-eminence: Rolf the founder of Normandy and Canute the Emperor of the North. Both were sea-kings; each represents the culmination and the close of a great migratory movement,—Rolf of the earlier viking period, Canute of its later and more restricted phase. The early history of each is uncertain and obscure; both come suddenly forth upon the stage of action, eager and trained for co

During the five years of rivalry between Olaf and Sweyn (995-1000), England had enjoyed comparative peace. Incursions, indeed, began again in 997; but these were clearly of the earlier type, not invasions like the movements led by Olaf and Sweyn. Who the leaders were at this time we do not know; but the Northern kings were in those years giving and taking in marriage and busily plotting each other's destruction, so we conclude that the undertakings continued to be of the private sort, led, perha

The death of Sweyn was the signal for important movements throughout the entire North. Forces that had been held in rein by his mighty personality were once more free to act. In Denmark, his older son Harold succeeded at once to the full kingship. Three years later a national ruler re-established the Norwegian throne. But in England the results were most immediate and most evident: the national spirit rose with a bound and for three years more the struggle with the invader continued. The host at

The Old English kingship was elective: on the death of a ruler, the great lords and the high officials of the Church, the "witan" or wise, would meet in formal assembly to select a successor. Usually the nearest male heir of the house of Alfred would be chosen; but circumstances might dictate a different selection, and in such cases the "wise men" seem to have possessed plenary powers. In the spring of 1016, however, a free choice was impossible; nearly the whole kingdom was pledged to the invad

For eight months after the death of Ethelred there was no king of England. Neither Edmund nor Canute had an incontestable claim to the royal title, as neither had been chosen by a properly constituted national assembly. There is some evidence that Edmund was crowned, perhaps in May, 1016 [146] ; but even consecration could hardly remove the defect in the elective title. And after the agreement of Olney, there was, for a few weeks, no English kingdom. But, in December, it was possible once more t

The first three or four years of Canute's government in England can have given but little promise of the beneficent rule that was to follow. To the conquered Saxon they must have been a season of great sorrow. On the throne of Alfred sat an alien king who had done nothing as yet to merit the affectionate regard of his subjects. In the shire courts ruled the chiefs of the dreaded Danish host, chiefs who had probably harried those same shires at an earlier date. A heavy tax had been collected to p

The English Church enjoyed Canute's favour from the very beginning: the King was a Christian; furthermore, he no doubt saw in the Church a mighty force that should not be antagonised. At the same time, there is no evidence of any close union between church and monarchy before 1020; and even then it was more like an entente cordiale than an open aggressive alliance, as it later came to be. Canute was a Christian, but he was also a shrewd statesman and a consummate politician. The religious situat

The question what attitude to assume toward the organised English Church may have caused Canute some embarrassment; but the English problem was simple compared with the religious complications that the young King had to face in the North. England was Christian, at least officially, while Scandinavia was still largely heathen; though every day saw the camps of Christendom pitched a little farther toward the Arctic. In all the Northern kingdoms missionaries were at work planting the seeds of the n

The sons of Earl Hakon, Eric and Sweyn, who ruled Norway for fifteen years after the fall of Olaf Trygvesson, were not aggressive rulers. They were not of the blood royal, they were vassals of alien kings, both seem by nature to have been of an easy-going disposition; hence they were not able to command obedience to the extent that a strong monarchy demanded. As a result, the Norwegian aristocracy arrogated to itself a great measure of independence. The peasantry resumed their old habits and pra

One of the notable results of the expedition to the South Baltic in 1022 was that a reconciliation was effected with Thurkil the Tall. "And he gave Denmark into the keeping of Thurkil and his son; and the King brought Thurkil's son with him to England." [303] The son who was thus made regent was probably Sweyn; it was scarcely Harthacanute, as this Prince was present at the translation of Saint Alphege from London to Canterbury that same year (1023); of Canute's other son, Harold Harefoot, we he

Canute was still in the Eternal City on the 6th of April, but it is not likely that he remained in the South much later than that date. With the opening of spring, hostilities might be renewed in Scandinavia at any moment. That Canute expected a renewal of the war is clear from the language of his message to Britain: I therefore wish it to be made known to you that, returning by the same way that I departed, I am going to Denmark, for the purpose of settling, with the counsel of all the Danes, f

When the eleventh century began its fourth decade, Canute was, with the single exception of the Emperor, the most imposing ruler in Latin Christendom. Less than twenty years earlier he had been a landless pirate striving to dislodge an ancient and honoured dynasty; now he was the lord of four important realms and the overlord of other kingdoms. Though technically Canute was counted among the kings, his position among his fellow-monarchs was truly imperial. Apparently he held in his hands the des

To present an adequate discussion of the state of culture among Canute's subjects in the space of a single chapter would be impossible. So far as the western realm is concerned it would also be unnecessary, as the subject of Anglo-Saxon culture is an old study and discussions in English are readily accessible. This chapter will therefore be chiefly concerned with the civilisation of the Northern lands, and especially with the great transformations that came with the viking age and were becoming

After the passing of the Norman war-cloud and the failure of the Norse reaction in 1030, Canute almost disappears from the stage of English history. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which gives us so much information on his earlier career in England has but little to tell of his activities as king; for the closing years of the reign the summaries are particularly meagre. Evidently the entries for this reign were written from memory some years after the death of the great King; and the scribe recalled b

King Canute was dead, but the great king-thought that he lived for, the policy of his dynasty, their ambition to unite the Northern peoples in the old and new homes under one sceptre persisted after his death. Historians have generally believed that Canute had realised the impossibility of keeping long united the three crowns that he wore in his declining years, and had made preparation for a division of the empire among his three sons. In the year of his death one son is found in England, one i

I.—CANUTE'S PROCLAMATION OF 1020 [480] 1. Canute the King sends friendly greetings to his archbishops and suffragan bishops and to Thurkil the Earl and all his earls and to all his subjects in England, nobles and freemen, clerks and laymen. 2. And I make known to you that I will be a kind lord and loyal to the rights of the Church and to right secular law. 3. I have taken to heart the word and the writing that Archbishop Lifing brought from Rome from the Pope, that I should everywhere extol the

Aarböger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie , udg. af det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftsselskab. 1866-1885. 2. Række, 1886-. Copenhagen. Continuation of Annaler . Ælfric's Lives of Saints , ed. W.W. Skeat. 2 vols. London, 1881-1900. (Early English Text Society.) Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , ed. Benjamin Thorpe. 2 vols. London, 1861. Rolls Series, No. 23. Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie , udg. af det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftsselskab. 1836-1863. Copenhagen, 1836-1865. These volumes an