King KNUT

1017-1035 an era of peace and prosperity.

KNUT THE GREAT: EMPEROR OF THE NORTH

By the time of his death in 1035, Knut was recognized as an equal by the Holy Roman Emperor and had negotiated with the Pope as a Christian monarch.

Knut was still young when he became king of England, but he had either been well trained in statesmanship, or more likely, he listened to the advice of his more experienced counsellors.

Knut was a Christian when he became king, but he retained the mentality of a Viking. He openly acknowledged Ælfgifu of Northhampton as his consort and treated her as his northern queen. In other areas, Knut cooperated fully with the English church which in turn granted him a legitimacy that would otherwise have been hard to win. This enabled him to gain the support of the Pope and the Emperor when he went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1027 where he also attended the Emperor Conrad's coronation. While in Rome Knut sent a letter back to England reporting that he had negotiated a reduction in the fee paid by the English Archbishops to receive their pallium from the Pope and also arranged a reduction in the fees and tolls paid by English pilgrims and merchants on the road to Rome.

Knut died at Shaftesbury on November 12, 1035 and was buried at Old Minster in Winchester. He was less than forty years old when he died. The death of his sons, Harold and Harðacnut, within seven years brought an end to the empire Knut had formed. Before his own death in 1042, Harðacnut made Edward, Æthelred's son, his heir. This returned the West Saxon dynasty to power. If Knut had lived longer, his legacy might have been more significant. As it was, he gave England almost thirty years of freedom from foreign invasion. A fitting summary of Knut's reign, "It was so successful that contemporaries found little to say about it".

Death November 12: 1035

Knut II the Great, Viking king of Engl/Den/Nor (1014-35), dies at 39