Canute's Accomplishments

Cnut the Great (also known as Canute) was a Viking king who united the English and Danish people of England to become the first ruler since the fall of Rome to rule over all England. The life of Canute Sweynson industrialized in a culture and setting shaped by over 100 years of communication between the Danes and the English. The Danish and Norwegian Vikings had used England and Ireland as a foundation of pillage and fortune. Violence oppressed the relationship between the Anglo-Saxons and he Danes. The concurrence of Ethelred the first to the English throne in 975 strengthened the conflict, as he proved to be neither a capable warrior nor a proficient administrator. The era of cataclysm and civil war between 975 and 1015 was primarily significant for Canute and for England.

Aspects of Canute 's early life remain unclear because no written record exists. When the King married Sigrid the Haughty in order to reinforce an alliance with Sweden, Gunhild had to leave Sweyn 's court. Manifestly, Gunhild took Canute (who at the time was two or three years old) to the court of her brother. Though his infancy is hidden in mystery, evidence points to a foster father, Thorkil the Tall, a distant cousin and brother to Earl

Canute distributed his attention between England and Scandinavia. Between 1019 and 1028 Canute led four separate expeditions there. After his primary invasion, Canute essentially respected English rights and ruled in cooperation with native nobles, even though he did inaugurate a number of his Scandinavian followers in position of power. Canute then divided England into four districts – Mercia, Northumbria, East Anglia and Wessex. Canute made the Englishman Godwin an earl in 1018, and placed him in charge of Wessex, while another English Noble, Leofric, was appointed in Mercia. Godwin, Canute and Canute’s sons, Sweyn and Harold, wielded great power because of the family’s extensive landholdings. Rivalry soon grew between Godwin and Leofric and their