Editing Cnut (section)

== Birth and kingship ==
Cnut was a son of the Danish prince [[Sweyn Forkbeard]],<ref name="weir" /> who was the son and heir to King [[Harald Bluetooth]] and thus came from a line of Scandinavian rulers central to the unification of Denmark.<ref>Trow, ''Cnut'', pp. 30–31.</ref> Neither the place nor the date of his birth are known. [[Harthacnut I]] was the semi-legendary founder of the Danish royal house at the beginning of the 10th century, and his son, [[Gorm the Old]], became the first in the official line (the "Old" in his name indicates this). Harald Bluetooth, Gorm's son and Cnut's grandfather, was the Danish king at the time of the [[Christianization of Denmark]]; he became one of the first Scandinavian kings to accept [[Christianity]].

{{anchor|Mother}}
The ''[[Thietmar of Merseburg#Thietmar's Chronicle|Chronicon]]'' of [[Thietmar of Merseburg]] and the ''[[Encomium Emmae]]'' report Cnut's mother as having been [[Świętosława]], a daughter of [[Mieszko I of Poland]]. [[Old Norse literature|Norse]] sources of the [[High Middle Ages]], most prominently ''[[Heimskringla]]'' by [[Snorri Sturluson]], also give a Polish princess as Cnut's mother, whom they call [[Gunhild of Wenden|Gunhild]], a daughter of ''[[Burislav]]'', the king of ''[[Wends|Vindland]]''.<ref>Snorri, ''Heimskringla'', ''The History of Olav Trygvason'', ch. 34, p. 141</ref>

Since in the Norse [[saga]]s the ''king of Vindland'' is always ''Burislav'', this is reconcilable with the assumption that her father was Mieszko (not his son [[Bolesław I the Brave|Bolesław]]). Adam of Bremen in ''[[Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum]]'' is unique in equating Cnut's mother (for whom he also produces no name) with the former queen of [[Sweden]], wife of [[Eric the Victorious]] and by this marriage mother of [[Olof Skötkonung]].<ref>Adam of Bremen, ''History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen'', Book II, ch. 37; see also Book II, ch. 33, Scholion 25</ref>

To complicate the matter, ''Heimskringla'' and other sagas also have Sweyn marrying Eric's widow, but she is distinctly another person in these texts, named ''[[Sigrid the Haughty]]'', whom Sweyn only marries after ''Gunhild'', the Slavic princess who bore Cnut, has died.<ref>Snorri, ''Heimskringla'', ''The History of Olav Trygvason'', ch. 91, p. 184</ref>
Different theories regarding the number and ancestry of Sweyn's wives (or wife) have been advanced (see [[Sigrid the Haughty]] and [[Gunhild of Wenden|Gunhild]]). But since Adam is the only source to equate the identity of Cnut's and Olof Skötkonung's mother, this is often seen as an error on Adam's part, and it is often assumed that Sweyn had two wives, the first being Cnut's mother, and the second being the former Queen of Sweden. Cnut's brother [[Harald II of Denmark|Harald]] was the younger of the two brothers according to ''Encomium Emmae''.

Some hint of Cnut's childhood can be found in the ''[[Flateyjarbók]]'', a 13th-century [[Iceland]]ic source that says he was taught his soldiery by the chieftain [[Thorkell the Tall]],{{Sfn|Trow|2005|p=44}} brother to [[Sigvaldi Strut-Haraldsson|Sigurd]], [[Earl|Jarl]] of [[Jomsborg]], and the legendary [[Jomsvikings]], at their stronghold on the island of [[Wollin]], off the coast of [[Pomerania]]. His date of birth, like his mother's name, is unknown. Contemporary works such as the ''[[Thietmar of Merseburg#Thietmar's Chronicle|Chronicon]]'' and the ''[[Encomium Emmae]]'', do not mention this. Even so, in a ''[[Knútsdrápa (Óttarr svarti)|Knútsdrápa]]'' by the [[skald]] [[Óttarr svarti]], there is a statement that Cnut was "of no great age" when he first went to war.<ref>Douglas, ''English Historical Documents'', pp. 335–36</ref> It also mentions a battle identifiable with Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion of England and attack on the city of [[Norwich]], in 1003–04, after the [[St. Brice's Day massacre]] of Danes by the English, in 1002. If Cnut indeed accompanied this expedition, his birthdate may be near 990, or even 980. If not, and if the skald's poetic verse references another assault, such as Sweyn's conquest of England in 1013–14, it may even suggest a birth date nearer 1000.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=160}} There is a passage of the Encomiast (as the author of the ''Encomium Emmae'' is known) with a reference to the force Cnut led in his English conquest of 1015–16. Here ([[#Conquest of England|see below]]) it says all the Vikings were of "mature age" under Cnut "the king".

A description of Cnut appears in the 13th-century Icelandic ''[[Knýtlinga saga]]'':
{{blockquote|Knut was exceptionally tall and strong, and the handsomest of men, all except for his nose, that was thin, high-set, and rather hooked. He had a fair complexion and a fine, thick head of hair. His eyes were better than those of other men, being both more handsome and keener-sighted.|''Knytlinga Saga''<ref>Edwards, Paul and Pálsson, Hermann (trans.), ''Knytlinga saga: the history of the kings of Denmark'', Odense University Press (1986), p. 43.</ref><ref>Trow, ''Cnut'', p. 92.</ref><ref>John, H., ''The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings'', Penguin (1995), p. 122.</ref>}}

Hardly anything is known for sure of Cnut's life until the year he was part of a Scandinavian force under his father, King Sweyn, in his invasion of England in summer 1013. Cnut was likely part of his father's 1003 and 1004 campaigns in England, although the evidence is not firm.<ref name="Howard">{{Cite book |last=Howard |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzXp1yYjq94C |title=Swein Forkbeard's Invasions and the Danish Conquest of England, 991–1017 |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-85115-928-1 |location=Woodbridge |page=67 |access-date=16 October 2021 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414015622/https://books.google.com/books?id=jzXp1yYjq94C |url-status=live}}</ref> The 1013 invasion was the climax to a succession of [[Viking]] raids spread over a number of decades. Following their landing in the [[Humber]],{{Sfn|Ellis|1993|p=182}} the kingdom fell to the Vikings quickly, and near the end of the year King [[Æthelred the Unready|Æthelred]] fled to [[Normandy]], leaving Sweyn Forkbeard in possession of England. In the winter, Sweyn was in the process of consolidating his kingship, with Cnut left in charge of the fleet and the base of the army at [[Gainsborough, Lincolnshire|Gainsborough]] in [[Lincolnshire]].

On the death of Sweyn Forkbeard after a few months as king, on [[Candlemas]] (Sunday 3 February 1014),<ref>William of Malms., ''Gesta Regnum Anglorum'', pp. 308–10</ref> Harald succeeded him as King of Denmark, while the Vikings and the people of the [[Danelaw]] immediately elected Cnut as king in England.<ref name="Sawyer, p. 171">Sawyer, ''History of the Vikings'', p. 171</ref> However, the English nobility took a different view, and the [[Witenagemot]] recalled Æthelred from [[Normandy]]. The restored king swiftly led an army against Cnut, who fled with his army to Denmark, along the way mutilating the hostages they had taken and abandoning them on the beach at [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]] in [[Kent]].{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=27}} Cnut went to Harald and supposedly made the suggestion they might have a joint kingship, although this found no favour with his brother.<ref name="Sawyer, p. 171"/> Harald is thought to have offered Cnut command of his forces for another invasion of England, on the condition he did not continue to press his claim.<ref name="Sawyer, p. 171"/> In any case, Cnut succeeded in assembling a large fleet with which to launch another invasion.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=27}}