Canute the dane biography of martin

A 14th century portrait of King Canute the Great. He had a fair complexion nonetheless, and a fine thick head of hair. His eyes were better than those of other men, both the more handsome and keener of their sight. Canute gathered his troops in Denmark and returned to England in , managing to conquer nearly the entire country except for London.

Upon the death of Ethelred II in , the people of London chose his son Edmund Ironside as King, but the Witan elected Canute to replace the previous ineffectual king. The Witan was the term used to describe the council of Anglo-Saxon Kings; they included aldermen, thanes and bishops to discuss royal grants of land, taxation, law, defence, foreign policy and church matters.

This decision led Edmund and Canute into various skirmishes; Canute defeated him at the Battle of Assandun, and this resulted in a treaty being drawn partitioning the country between the two men, the settlement would hold until the death of one the participants involved in which case all the lands would revert to the survivor.

Cnut died

During his early reign, Canute was a harsh leader and resorted to executions and exile to maintain his precarious position as King of the North Sea Empire. After a few years when his rule became more stable, he adopted a less harsh policy and allowed more Saxons into positions of power. Canute became King of Denmark in and King of Norway in making him the ruler of a massive empire surrounding the North Sea.

Canute converted to Christianity and was an avid protector of the Church; he promoted leaders of the English Church and was acknowledged by the Pope as the first Viking to becoming a Christian King.