Harthacanute

Harthacanute, pictured standing to the right of his mother, Emma of Normandy (sitting) and his half-brother and successor, Edward the Confessor (kneeling) in the Encomium Emmae.

Harthacanute (Canute the Hardy, sometimes Hardicanute, Hardecanute, Hörthaknútr; Danish: Hardeknud) (1018 – June 8, 1042) was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 as well as King of England from 1040 to 1042. He was the only son of Canute the Great and Emma of Normandy.

Biography

Early Life

Canute the Great invaded England with his father, Sweyn I of Denmark in 1013. Sweyn died during the campaign against the Anglo-Saxon King, Ethelred the Unready and Canute, declared king of Denmark and of England by his men, was initially forced to retreat and to return to Scandinavia. Ethelred died soon after Sweyn. Assembling a fleet and a new invasion force, he returned to England in 1015, confronting Edmund Ironside, Ethelred's surviving son by his first marriage, for the throne. In October 1016, the two rivals chose to enter a peace treaty whereby they divided the kingdom between them. By November, however, Edmund was dead (from natural causes) and Canute was undisputed king of all England. However, to add legitimacy to his reign, he also married Ethelred's widow, Emmma, and decided to make her much a partner in his rule. Not only was this a role that than no previous Queen of England had fulfilled but it was also made explicit during their joint coronation ceremony. This ceremony stressed the Queen as a sharer in royal power and as a peace-maker. Canute's vows stressed that the rod of office with which he was invested was a "rod of justice, "not a rod of power and domination." With reference to the Queen, there was "no hint of subordination." Emma, although a Norman, had already been crowned as Ethelred's Queen and was therefore the legitimate English Queen. Through their marriage, Canute was also acquiring English identity. The "English" identity of the royal couple was also emphasized in the coronation ritual.

Canute and Emma were generous benefactors of the English Church. Consequently, when the story of their reign was narrated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was depicted as a period of stability and peace. Emma bore her new husband two children, Harthacanute in 1018 and Gunhild, a daughter in 1020. A pre-nuptial agreement stipulated that any male child of Emma's would become Canute's heir. Canute already had son, Harold Harefoot by his former wife, a Ælfgifu of Northampton. However, as designated heir, Harthacanute was raised and trained as Canute's successor not only to his English but also to his Scandinavian thrones. When Canute died in 1035, Canute succeeded him following the agreement. However, he was in Denmark at the time, where, challenged by Magnus I of Norway for the throne, he soon found himself embroiled in a protracted power struggle. In his absence, Harold Harefoot was declared regent. In 1037, with Harthacanute still fighting for his Scandinavian kingdoms, Harefoot usurped the English throne. Harthacanute's mother, Emma, was forced to flee to Flanders. Before she did so, one of her two sons by Ethelred, Alfred, was murdered by supporters of Harold, who tricked him and his brother, the future king Edward the Confessor into returning to England from Normandy, where they had taken refuge during the battles following their father's death.

In 1038, Harthacanute settled his difficulties in Scandinavia through a treaty with Magnus. Magnus would retain the Norwegian throne, which he had occupied and Harthacanute that of Denmark. However, if one of them were to die without an heir the other should be his successor. Harthacanute now prepared for an invasion of England to take the crown from Harold. Harold, however, died on March 17 1040, precluding the need for conquest. Harthacanute was invited to England, and the landing at Sandwich on June 17 1040, seven days before Midsummer with a fleet of 62 warships was a peaceful one. He did though, with apparent scorn, command Harold's body to be taken from its tomb and cast in a fen.

Reign

Harthacanute was a harsh and unpopular ruler: to pay for his fleet, he severely increased the rate of taxation, and in 1041 the people of Worcester killed two of Harthacanute's housecarls (household soldiers) who had been collecting the tax, prompting an attack by Harthacanute in which the city was burned. The story of Lady Godiva riding naked through the streets of Coventry to persuade the local earl to lower taxes may come from the reign of Harthacanute.

In 1041, Harthacanute invited his half-brother Edward the Confessor back from exile in Normandy to become a member of his household, and probably made Edward his heir. Harthacanute was unmarried and had no known children. It is rumored that he fathered an illegitimate son, William Canute.

During Harthacanute reign, Emma continued to exercise a powerful position, also returning from exile. It was at this period that her own account of her and of Canute's life and times, the Enconium, was published. She appears to have understood that until her son married and crowned a new Queen, her coronation and her right to share in power remained valid.

After the death of both Canute and of Harthacanute, Emma controlled the royal treasury, which indicates the extent of her authority. At the end of the Enconium, Emma and her two sons, Harthacanute and Edward, are depicted as a ruling Trinity, with all three as partners in power. The Chronicle then ends with an invocation of the Trinity, suggesting that the same relationship existed between the three co-rulers as exists between the members of the Trinity.

In contrast to this positive ending, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which depicted Canute's reign

On June 8, 1042, he died at Lambeth—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…" He was buried at Winchester, his father's place of rest, and his mother's, on her death. Edward assumed the throne on Harthacanute's death, restoring the Saxon royal line of Wessex.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Anonymous. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 2007. Eastbourne, East Sussex: Gardners Books. ISBN 9781406817416
• Campbell, Alistair, and Simon Keynes. 1998. Encomium Emmae Reginae. Camden classic reprints, 4. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press for the Royal Historical Society. ISBN 9780521626552.
• Howard, Ian. 2008. Harthacnut, King of England. Anglo-Saxon England. Stroud: History. ISBN 9780752446745
• Ingram, J. 2004. The Anglo-Saxon chronicles. [Belle Fourche]: NuVision Publications. ISBN 9781595472755
• O'Brien, Harriet. 2005. Queen Emma and the Vikings: power, love, and greed in eleventh-century England. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781582345963
• Stenton, F. M. 2001. Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 9780192801395

Born: 1018; Died: June 8 1042
Preceded by: Canute the Great	King of Denmark 1035-1042	Succeeded by: Magnus the Good
Preceded by: Harold Harefoot	King of England 1040-1042	Succeeded by: Edward the Confessor

Monarchs of England

Pre-conquest
Alfred the Great • Edward the Elder • Athelstan the Glorious • Edmund the Magnificent • Edred • Edwy the Fair • Edgar the Peacable • Edward the Martyr • Ethelred the Unready • Sweyn Forkbeard*^† • Edmund Ironside • Canute the Great*^† • Harold Harefoot • Harthacanute (Canute the Hardy)* • Edward the Confessor • Harold Godwinson • Edgar the Outlaw
Post-conquest
William I the Conqueror • William II Rufus • Henry I Beauclerc • Stephen • Matilda • Henry II • Richard I the Lionheart • John Lackland • Henry III • Edward I Longshanks • Edward II • Edward III • Richard II • Henry IV Bolingbroke • Henry V • Henry VI • Edward IV • Edward V • Richard III • Henry VII • Henry VIII^‡ • Edward VI^‡ • Lady Jane Grey^‡ • Mary I^‡ • Elizabeth I^‡ • James I^‡§ • Charles I^‡§ • Interregnum • Charles II^‡§ • James II^‡§ • William III^‡§¶ & Mary II^‡§ • William III^‡§¶ • Anne^‡§

* also Monarch of Denmark • ^† also Monarch of Norway • ^‡ also Monarch of Ireland • ^§ also Monarch of Scotland • ^¶ also Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel and Drenthe

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