Editing Cnut (section)

== Conquest of England ==
{{Main|Cnut's invasion of England}}
[[File:U 194, Väsby.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|This [[runestone]] in Sweden ([[England runestones#U 194|U 194]]), in memory of a Viking known as Alli, says he won ''Knútr's payment in England''.]]

Among the allies of Denmark was [[Bolesław I the Brave]], the [[duke of Poland]] (later crowned king) and a relative to the Danish royal house. He lent some [[Polish people|Polish]] troops,{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=49}} likely to have been a pledge made to Cnut and his brother Harald when, in the winter, they "went amongst the [[Wends]]" to fetch their mother back to the Danish court. She had been sent away by their father after the death of the Swedish king [[Eric the Victorious]] in 995, and his marriage to [[Sigrid the Haughty]], the Swedish [[queen mother]]. This wedlock formed a strong alliance between the successor to the throne of Sweden, [[Olof Skötkonung]], and the rulers of Denmark, his in-laws.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=49}} Swedes were certainly among the allies in the English conquest. Another in-law to the Danish royal house, [[Eiríkr Hákonarson]], was the [[earl of Lade]] and the co-ruler of Norway with his brother [[Sweyn Haakonsson]] – Norway having been under Danish sovereignty since the [[Battle of Svolder]], in 999. Eiríkr's participation in the invasion left his son Hakon to rule Norway, with Sweyn.

In the summer of 1015, Cnut's fleet set sail for England with a Danish army of perhaps 10,000 in 200 longships.<ref>Trow, ''Cnut'', p. ???.</ref> Cnut was at the head of an array of [[Vikings]] from all over [[Scandinavia]]. The invading army was composed primarily of mercenaries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bolton |first=Timothy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_8LAQAAMAAJ |title=The Empire of Cnut the Great: Conquest and the Consolidation of Power in Northern Europe in the Early Eleventh Century |date=2009 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-16670-7 |page=248 |language=en |access-date=12 October 2021 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414015556/https://books.google.com/books?id=c_8LAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> The invasion force was to engage in often close and grisly warfare with the English for the next fourteen months. Practically all of the battles were fought against the eldest son of Æthelred, [[Edmund Ironside]].

=== Landing in Wessex ===
According to the ''[[Peterborough Chronicle]]'' manuscript, one of the major witnesses of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', early in September 1015 "[Cnut] came into Sandwich, and straightway sailed around Kent to [[Wessex]], until he came to the mouth of the [[River Frome, Dorset|Frome]], and harried in [[Dorset]] and [[Wiltshire]] and [[Somerset]]",<ref>Garmonsway, G.N. (ed. & trans.), ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Dent Dutton, 1972 & 1975, Peterborough (E) text, s.a. 1015, p. 146.</ref> beginning a campaign of an intensity not seen since the days of [[Alfred the Great]].{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=27}} A passage from [[Encomium Emmae Reginae|Queen Emma's ''Encomium'']] provides a picture of Cnut's fleet:
{{blockquote|text=[T]here were there so many kinds of shields, that you could have believed that troops of all nations were present. ... Gold shone on the prows, silver also flashed on the variously shaped ships. ... For who could look upon the lions of the foe, terrible with the brightness of gold, who upon the men of metal, menacing with golden face, ... who upon the bulls on the ships threatening death, their horns shining with gold, without feeling any fear for the king of such a force? Furthermore, in this great expedition, there was present no slave, no man freed from slavery, no low-born man, no man weakened by age; for all were noble, all strong with the might of mature age, all sufficiently fit for any type of fighting, all of such great fleetness, that they scorned the speed of horsemen.|sign=''Encomium Emmae Reginae''<ref>Campbell, A. (ed. & trans.), ''Encomium Emmae Reginae'', Camden 3rd Series vol. LXXII, 1949, pp. 19–21.</ref>}}

[[Wessex]], long ruled by the dynasty of Alfred and Æthelred, submitted to Cnut late in 1015, as it had to his father two years earlier.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=27}} At this point [[Eadric Streona]], the [[Ealdorman of Mercia]], deserted Æthelred together with 40 ships and their crews and joined forces with Cnut.<ref name="G. Jones, Vikings, p. 370">G. Jones, ''Vikings'', p. 370</ref> Another defector was [[Thorkell the Tall]], a [[Jomsvikings|Jomsviking chief]] who had fought against the Viking invasion of [[Sweyn Forkbeard]], with a pledge of allegiance to the English in 1012{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=27}} – some explanation for this shift of allegiance may be found in a stanza of the ''[[Jómsvíkinga saga]]'' that mentions two attacks against Jomsborg's mercenaries while they were in England, with a man known as Henninge, a brother of Thorkell, among their casualties.<ref name="Trow, Cnut, p. 57">Trow, ''Cnut'', p. 57.</ref> If the ''[[Flateyjarbók]]'' is correct that this man was Cnut's childhood mentor, it explains his acceptance of his allegiance – with [[Jomvikings]] ultimately in the service of [[Jomsborg]]. The 40 ships Eadric came with, often thought to be of the [[Danelaw]],<ref name="Trow, Cnut, p. 57"/> were probably Thorkell's.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=161}}

=== Advance into the North ===
Early in 1016, the Vikings crossed the [[Thames]] and harried [[Warwickshire]], while Edmund Ironside's attempts at opposition seem to have come to nothing – the chronicler says the English army disbanded because the king and the citizenry of London were not present.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=27}} The mid-winter assault by Cnut devastated its way northwards across eastern [[Mercia]]. Another summons of the army brought the Englishmen together, and they were met this time by the king, although "it came to nothing as so often before", and Æthelred returned to London with fears of betrayal.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=27}} Edmund then went north to join [[Uhtred the Bold|Uhtred]] the [[Earl of Northumbria]] and together they harried [[Staffordshire]], [[Shropshire]] and [[Cheshire]] in western Mercia,{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=28}} possibly targeting the estates of Eadric Streona. Cnut's occupation of [[Northumbria]] meant Uhtred returned home to submit himself to Cnut,<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', pp. 146–49.</ref> who seems to have sent a Northumbrian rival, [[Thurbrand the Hold]], to massacre Uhtred and his retinue. [[Eiríkr Hákonarson]], most likely with another force of Scandinavians, came to support Cnut at this point,<ref>Trow, ''Cnut'', p. 59.</ref> and the veteran Norwegian jarl was put in charge of Northumbria.

Prince Edmund remained in London, still unsubdued behind [[London Wall|its walls]], and was elected king after the death of Æthelred on 23 April 1016.

=== Siege of London ===
[[File:EdmundIronside Canutethe Dane1.jpg|upright=1.8|thumb|Medieval illumination depicting Kings [[Edmund Ironside]] (left) and Cnut (right), from the ''[[Chronica Majora]]'' written and illustrated by [[Matthew Paris]].]]

Cnut returned southward, and the Danish army evidently divided, some dealing with Edmund, who had broken out of London before Cnut's encirclement of the city was complete, and had gone to gather an army in [[Wessex]], the traditional heartland of the English monarchy. Part of the Danish army besieged London, constructing dikes on the northern and southern flanks and a channel dug across the banks of the Thames to the south of the city, enabling their longships to cut off communications up-river.

There was a battle fought at [[Penselwood]] in [[Somerset]] – with a hill in [[Selwood Forest]] as the likely location{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=28}} – and [[Battle of Sherston|a subsequent battle]] at [[Sherston, Wiltshire|Sherston]], in [[Wiltshire]], which was fought over two days but left neither side victorious.<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', pp. 148–50</ref>

Edmund was able to temporarily relieve London, driving the enemy away and defeating them after crossing the Thames at [[Brentford]].{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=28}} Suffering heavy losses, he withdrew to Wessex to gather fresh troops, and the Danes again brought London under siege, but after another unsuccessful assault they withdrew into Kent under attack by the English, with a battle fought at [[Otford]]. At this point Eadric Streona went over to King Edmund,<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', pp. 150–51</ref> and Cnut set sail northwards across the Thames estuary to [[Essex]], and went from the landing of the ships up the [[River Orwell]] to ravage Mercia.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=28}}

=== London captured by treaty ===
On 18 October 1016, the Danes were engaged by Edmund's army as they retired towards their ships, leading to the [[Battle of Assandun]], fought at either [[Ashingdon]], in south-east, or [[Ashdon]], in north-west [[Essex]]. In the ensuing struggle, Eadric Streona, whose return to the English side had perhaps only been a ruse, withdrew his forces from the fray, bringing about a decisive English defeat.<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', pp. 151–53</ref> Edmund fled westwards, and Cnut pursued him into [[Gloucestershire]], with another battle probably fought near the [[Forest of Dean]], for Edmund had an alliance with some of the Welsh.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=28}}

On an island near [[Deerhurst]], Cnut and Edmund, who had been wounded, met to negotiate terms of peace. It was agreed that all of England north of the Thames was to be the domain of the Danish prince, while all to the south was kept by the English king, along with London. Accession to the reign of the entire realm was set to pass to Cnut upon Edmund's death. Edmund died on 30 November, within weeks of the arrangement. Some sources claim Edmund was murdered, although the circumstances of his death are unknown.<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', pp. 152–53; Williams, A., ''Æthelred the Unready the Ill-Counselled King'', Hambledon & London, 2003, pp. 146–47.</ref> The West Saxons now accepted Cnut as king of all of England,{{sfn|Stenton|1971|p=393}} and he was crowned by [[Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury]], in London in 1017.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|pp=82, 121, 138}}