Conclusion

This concluding chapter describes how Cnut emerged in several complementary roles: an intelligent and pragmatic diplomacist, an energetic and active ruler, a cunning and resourceful military leader, and a devout Christian. His life falls into three main phases. First, his early life appears to have been shaped by the instabilities of his family and its hold on Denmark—namely his position as second son to Swen Forkbeard—which lead to his conquest of England. The middle years of his life reveal a period of rapid activity characterized by Cnut's responses to various threats. Finally, the years of his mature life saw the fruits of this labor in the development of a stable court around Cnut, which appears to have fostered a new and distinct Anglo-Danish identity.

The Aftermath of Cnut’s Death

This chapter discusses how Cnut's sudden death left no clear path of succession, and two heirs by different mothers—both of whom had spent considerably more time in Denmark than in England. Initial events were framed by circumstance, in that Harthacnut appears to have had no deputy he could trust to hold Denmark in his stead, and so was forced to remain there after his father's death. This left the way open for Harold Harefoot and his mother, Ælfgifu of Northampton, to return from obscurity to English politics. Harthacnut's mother, Emma, was also in England, but without a resident royal heir to promote amongst the English elites she was powerless.

The Period of Mature Rule in England and Scandinavia

This chapter looks at how Cnut experienced the first period of peace, prosperity, and stability he had known in his adult life. He was most probably in his thirties, and had lived through a little over a decade of near-constant activity. He had security in power in both England and Scandinavia that he had never enjoyed before, and had extended the boundaries of rule considerably further than any Scandinavian or English predecessor. Moreover, he was approaching a decade of peaceful rule in Denmark, and appears to have emerged the victor from a co-ordinated civil war and invasion by the Norwegians and Swedes. This peace brought prosperity in the form of renewed trade and commerce, and his consolidation of power across his realms continued without check or hindrance.

Cnut and the Field of European Politics

This chapter examines how Cnut did not model himself on any of his Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian forebears, but instead ploughed a novel and quite opportunistic furrow. No previous English or Scandinavian king had tried to influence the imperial succession, and a look into the background of the imperial election at the time completely changes one's perception of Cnut's role in that ceremony. Rather than being a passive individual who was courted by Conrad II due to his growing might and influence in northern Europe, Cnut instead emerges as a ruler prepared to negotiate and steer European politics at its highest levels to get what he wanted and avoid future problems. Meanwhile, Conrad II is cast as a figure eager to placate and please this dangerously powerful potential ally.

The Early Years of Rule in England

This chapter illustrates Cnut's initial rule in England after Swen's sudden death. He was a young man surrounded by mature and powerful allies, and he had as much to prove to his newly conquered people as he did to his Scandinavian followers, each with large armies now at rest in England. At the heart of this stood Wessex with a highly organized system of national and regional government focused on the person of the king and his regular meetings. Cnut may have known of some of this before, but now he had to embrace it and become part of it. His only right to rule other than that of conquest was as a son of a would-be king who had not even survived long enough to attend his own formal election.

The Rise to Dominance over Scandinavia

This chapter demonstrates Cnut's rise to power. By the end of the 1020s, Cnut was at the head of a political “family business” that sat proudly atop much of Scandinavia. His young son Harthacnut was in control of Denmark, and his enemies in this region had exposed themselves and been dealt with. Meanwhile, Norway was under the control of his nephew Hákon, where the former king was exiled. Cnut had realized the pretensions to rule of his father and grandfather, and extended them. Cnut had withstood and turned to his advantage an invasion by the Norwegians and part of the Swedes. The end result saw their downfall, not his.

Introduction

This introductory chapter discusses the significance of analyzing the life story of Cnut, one of the most fascinating of the pre-Conquest kings of England. His life offers several new ways of examining late Anglo-Saxon England in addition to areas of neighbouring Scandinavia, as well as of questioning the established norms of how an English monarch could and should behave in the eleventh century. His regime spread beyond the British Isles and spanned multiple geographical boundaries in northern Europe. In ruling these nations, Cnut had to cross substantial cultural and linguistic boundaries, and appeal to local elites in each region in entirely different ways. The resulting regimes would profoundly change the societies of England and Denmark, and ultimately contribute significantly to the end of the Viking Age in Scandinavia.

The Invasions of England in 1013 and 1016

This chapter focuses on King Swen and Cnut's conquest of England in 1013. The English, or Anglo-Saxons, were themselves invaders who seized control over the crumbling remains of post-Roman Britain. However, half a millennium had passed since the invading barbarians had assembled themselves into highly organized kingdoms and produced a distinctive language and culture all of their own. They may have been prepared to accept that they were not so unlike the invading Scandinavians, but centuries of Christianization, legal developments and codifications, urbanization, social stratigraphization and the development of a scribal bureaucracy, separated them from the invaders. The chapter shows how King Swen differs from other Scandinavian invaders in that his aim was conquest, not raiding. He sought to seize control at the level of central and local government and permanently rule the country.

Cnut’s Childhood and Youth

This chapter talks about Cnut's early upbringing and the fundamental forces that drove him throughout the rest of his life. It explores the general nature of the system in which Cnut grew up, which was a disorganized form of political structure. It was dynamic and overall robust, guaranteeing that the strongest and best connected candidates for rule held power at any time. It enabled great social mobility, allowing successful and resourceful individuals to surge up through its ranks. However, it also promoted rivalry and conflict, especially in a society in which raiding and conflict played such key roles. Much of this instability have informed Cnut's character and later decisions, as he grew up in a society where his family's grasp on power was one of conquest.