Whenever we turn our eyes to the past of the English monarchy, most of us go straight to the infamous Plantagenet and Tudor dynasties. When it's neither of them that capture the attention of the common sense, at times it is Matilda of the Norman Dynasty who fought for her crown against the usurper Stephen or even William I. This latter we know as the bastard son of the duke of Normandy who conquered the English crown after defeating Harold II of England, the last of a long line of Anglo-Saxons kings.
However, who were the kings that predeceased Harold and William? It is true that the most famous of the Saxons kings is one of the House of Wessex whose name we regard as Alfred the Great. Nonetheless, of others we have spoken here as well such as Cnut the Great and, afterwards, his consort Emma of Normandy who was twice the Queen of England. But what of their offspring? What do we know of them? Regarding Emma, we know that St Edward the Confessor was her son, but before Edward inherited the crown as King Edward III, there were two kings before him.
And one of them was Harthacnut (sometimes spelled Hardeknud in Danish), the son of Emma of Normandy and Cnut 'the Great', king of Denmark, England, Norway and Sweden. He was a younger half-brother to Sveyn Knutsson and Harold I, an older half-brother to Alfred the Aetheling and Edward the Confessor, and also an older full brother to Gunhilda of Denmark.
Informations surrounding Harthacnut's childhood could not be found. It is, in general, very difficult to draw his background, except that he was born in the early years of Emma and Cnut's marriage. At an early age, around 1023,
"Emma and Harthacnut played a leading role in the translation of the body of the martyr St AEelfheah from London to Canterbury, an occasion seen by Harthacnut's biographer, Ian Howard, as recognition of his position as Cnut's heir in England."
It must be added that by then Sveyn and his mother, Aelfgifu of Merica, have already been sent to Norway to rule on Cnut's behalf. As for Harthacnut, when he was a eight-year-old boy, he would be sent to Denmark when the kingdom was threatened by both Norway and Sweden, in order to improve the defenses of the realm. Following this intention,
"[...] in 1026 Cnut decided to streghten its defences by bringing over his [...] son to be the future king under a council headed by his brother-in-law, Earl Ulf. However, Ulf alienated Cnut by getting the Danish provinces to acknowledge Harthacnut as king without reference to Cnut's overall authority and by failing to take vigurous measures to meet Norwegian and Swedish invasions, instead waiting for Cnut's assistance."
As a result, Earl Ulf was murdered and Harthacnut was left as sole ruler of Denmark. What happened during this period until he reached majority it is not known, except that years he welcomed Sveyn and his mother Aelfgifu at his court after they fled from Norway, forced to do so because their rule were unpopular there. Despite the two half-brothers have been allies, Harthacnut "did not feel his resources were great enough to launch and invasion of Norway", so they sought to ask help from their father. It was when news of the death of Cnut 'the great' reached the Danish court.
The path for Harthacnut to inherite the English crown was a difficult one. First, because when he succeeded the Danish crown, he still had to deal with Magnus of Norway who constantly troubled him. Second, even with his mother Emma acting as regent on his behalf in England, the majority of the earls there present decided to support Harold (sometimes spelled Harald) Harefoot, obliging Emma to flee to Bruges in exile. There, he would meet his mother but, by 1040, delayed an invasion to England because Harold I was sick and would probably die soon. As we can see below:
"Harthacnut was probably preparing to invade England when, in 1040, Harold Harefoot died leaving Harthacnut to peacefully enter England and claim the throne as the last ever Viking King of England. Harthacnut was clearly upset with Harefoot, possibly as a result of the brutal murder of his half-brother Alfred, and had Harefoot's body dug up, beheaded and thrown in the Thames. This episode also suggests that Harthacnut was not pleased that Harefoot had taken the throne in Harthacnut's absence."
His arrival, despite peaceful, counted with 62 warships. This was done so because he "was taking no chances and came as a conqueror with an invasion force", probably to resemble his father's actions in the past.
If in Denmark, Harthacnut ruled the kingdom alone, in England, it was expected he did differently, since the English were accostumed to have a king surrounded and advised by a council. But he would continue to rule "autocratically", even if this is what made him unpopular:
"When ruling England Harthacnut was not particularly popular as a result of his unwillingness to listen to the council of his earls and because he enforced high taxation at a time when the country was not enjoying plentiful harvest, thus some subjects rebelled before being brutally crushed by Harthacnut."
Another situation that did not increase his popularity happened in 1041, when Earl Eadwulf offended the king but, despite having been granted royal pardon, was murdered following the orders of Harthacnut. After this, the king earned the nickname "oath-breaker", but the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicles" gives no balanced views of his historical character. Nevertheless, it is said that
"Harthacnut was generous to the church. Very few contemporary documents survive, but a royal charter of his transferred land to Bishop Aelfwine of Winchester, and he made several grants to Ramsey Abbey. The 12th century Ramsey Chronicle speaks well of his generosity and of his character."
Another document that praises his image, and that of his mother, was Encomium emmae reginae which was written in the 12th century to ensure the regium figure of Harthacnut and her position as queen of England and queen mother. It is stated that Harthacnut had a good relationship with his half-brother on his mother's side, Edward, and named his heir, despite the rumours that Emma preferred Magnus of Norway to inherite the English crown at the same time that it was Emma who encouraged naming Edward as heir instead. Whatever the case was, Edward returned from Normany in Harthacnut's reign with some claiming he was co-ruler of the country and would inherite the crown upon his half-brother's death in 1040.
The cause of the king's death was, apparently, a stroke, even though he
"had suffered from bouts of illness even before he became King of England. He may have suffered from tuberculosis, and he problably knew he had not long to live."Despite this,
"Harthacnut presumably consumed large quantities of alcohol. As he was drinking to the health of the bride, he "died as he stood at his drink and he suddenly fell to the earth with an awful convulsion; and those who were close by took hold of him, and he spoke no word afterwards". The likely cause of death was a stroke "brought about by an excessive intake of alcohol."As contradictory his figure was, historians as Ian Howard and M.K.Lawson agree that he was, if compared to his contemporaries, a successful medieval king. Had he not died young, the Norman Conquest would have never happened and, as a result, neither the lines of Plantagenet kings and the Tudors also. But it's risky to go too far where "what if's" are concerned.
Ian Howard praises Harthacnut for
"keeping peace throughout his empire, benefitting trade and merchants, and ensuring a peaceful succession by inviting Edward to his court as his heir. Had he lived longer, Howard believes, his character might have enabled him to become a successful king like his father."Whatever is the opinion surrounding the figure of Harthacnut, it is important to remember he played an important key in England's history, but sadly few information concerning him are found. Despite the irony to point out the Vikings sat in England's throne for three generations (if you include Cnut's father, who took the crown of Aethelred by right of conquest but died within a year) after being defeated by the Saxons, they certainly helped to shape England's Christianity by approaching the formal religion to the popular belief. But this is another matter to be discussed another time. Their Viking inheritance would be continued with William, the Bastard of Normandy, whose several times great-grandfather was Rollo, the first duke of Normandy whom we have spoken in this same blog.
Bibliography:
-http://history.ossettacademy.com/the-vikings.html
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harthacnut
-https://infogalactic.com/info/Harthacnut
-https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Harthacnut%20I%20of%20Denmark
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