But on 30 November 1016, Edmund in turn died, leaving Cnut as King of England. He and Cnut struck an agreement under which Edmund would retain Wessex and Cnut rule all of England north of the Thames. Cnut blockaded London, but was forced to leave to replenish his supplies and was beaten by Edmund at the Battle of Otford however, following the Danes as they raided into Essex, Edmund was in turn defeated at the Battle of Assandun. The Londoners chose his son Edmund as their king, while most of the nobles met at Southampton and swore fealty to Cnut. Before the decisive battle for London could be fought, Æthelred died on 23 April 1016. The English were divided by intrigue among the king, his sons, and other nobles within four months one of Æthelred's sons had pledged allegiance to Cnut and he controlled Wessex, the historic heart of the kingdom. Ĭnut's brother Harald became king of Denmark, but with help from Eric Haakonsson of Norway, Cnut raised a new invasion fleet of his own and returned to England in summer 1015. However, the invasion fell apart: the men of the Kingdom of Lindsey, who had promised to supply horses for a tactical raid, were not ready before the English nobles had reinstalled King Æthelred, whom they had previously sent into exile, after forcing him to agree to govern less harshly. When his father died on 3 February 1014 during an invasion of England, Cnut, who had been left in command of the fleet in the River Trent while Sweyn was in the south of England, was acclaimed by the Danes. See also: History of Anglo-Saxon England and Cnut the Great's invasion of EnglandĬnut was the younger son of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard. At the height of his power, when Cnut ruled all three kingdoms (1028–1035), he was the most powerful ruler in western Europe after the Holy Roman Emperor. He died in 1035 and his realm was again divided, but his successor in Denmark, Harthacnut, inherited England in 1040 and ruled it until his death. His son Cnut the Great acquired England in 1016, Denmark in 1018 and Norway in 1028. He died the following year and his realm was divided. The first king to unite all three kingdoms was Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark since 986 and of Norway since 1000, when he conquered England in 1013. This ephemeral Norse-ruled empire was a thalassocracy, its components only connected by and dependent upon the sea. North Sea Empire and Anglo-Scandinavian Empire are terms used by historians to refer to the personal union of the kingdoms of England, Denmark and Norway for most of the period between 10 towards the end of the Viking Age.
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