Canute, a Danish King of England

While I was aware that England had had kings that were not of actual English decent, I was not aware of the Norse king Canute. Born in either 985 or 995 C.E., Canute would go on to become the king of a land that was not originally his own. He was of Danish and Slavic descent and son of Sweyn Forkbeard, a king of Denmark. Sweyn, in what is believed to be a response to the St. Brice’s Day Massacre—an order by Aethelred, the king of England at the time, to kill all Danes in England including Sweyn’s sister—Sweyn orchestrated a series of attacks on England. Eventually, Sweyn forced the King of England to flee with his family. He was then declared King of England. Sweyn had two sons, the firstborn Harald, and the younger Canute.

Harald, as the oldest was first in line to become king and did so; however, Aethelred would soon return with the favor of the English people. With his army, Aethelred pushed Canute to the northern areas of England. Canute suggested to Harald that they have a joint kingship as he was elected by the Vikings and majority of the Danish. Harald did not give him the kingship but rather gave him control of the army. Aethelred died during the war and a new king, Edmund was elected in London. After a long decisive victory for Canute in the Battle Assandun, Canute and Edmund made peace. They split the country into two pieces: a northern section for Canute and the Danes and a southern section for Edmund and the English. After Edmund’s death within weeks of the agreement, Canute was left to rule all of England. Canute ruled for nearly nineteen years before his death in 1035. After becoming the king of England, he would go on to become the king of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway as well. He was succeeded by his son Harold Harefoot.