Born: c995, Denmark
Father: Haraldsson, Sveyn I Forkbeard, King of Denmark
Mother: Gunhilda of Poland
Reigned: 1016-1035 (Also King of Denmark and Norway)
Died: 2 November 1035, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England
He was married and had 5 children (3 in wedlock) including
Harold I Harefoot (illegitimate), King of England,
born c1015 and Cnutsson, Hardicanute of
Denmark, King of England, born 1018.
Danish King of England after defeating Edmund Ironside
(1016). Cnut and Edmund agreed to split the kingdom in two but Edmund died 7
months later 'of natural causes' but it is thought that he had been
murdered.
Cnut became King of Denmark (1019) and Norway (1028). He
defended England from Viking attacks (1017, 1026, 1028) and subjected
Malcolm II of Scotland (1028). He went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1027 to
attend the coronation of the Emperor Conrad II.
According to Legend, he ordered the waves to stop but he
was actually proving to his sycophantic courtiers that even kings could not
control nature.
Time Line:
1017: 2 July - Cnut married Emma of Normandy (widow of
Ethelred II)
1017: Cnut creates four earldoms: Wessex, Mercia,
Northumbria & East Anglia
1035: Death of Cnut; Illegitimate son Hardicnut (Harold
I) became Regent.
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