ENGLAND. 



595 



History, 



Sweyn, king 

 ot'Dcnraark, 

 revenges the 

 murder of 

 his country- 

 men. 



nd ascends 

 the throne 

 of England, 



A. D. 1014. 



Kthclred re- 



populace, enraged by the recollection of former injuries, 

 and stimulated by the commands of their rulers, did not 

 distinguish between innocence and guilt, and spared 

 neither age nor sex. Even Gunilda, the sister of the 

 Danish monarch, who had married Earl Paling, and 

 had embraced Christianity, was included in the fate of 

 her countrymen. 



This barbarous and perfidious policy, however, in- 

 stead of relieving the English from their miseries, was 

 only a prelude to greater misfortunes. Sweyn, king of 

 Denmark, exasperated by the slaughter of his country- 

 men, and of his own sister, soon filled the kingdom 

 with his vengeance. The English, though now prepa- 

 red to make a vigorous resistance, were dispirited and 

 betrayed by their leaders. Alfric, the commander of the 

 English armies, feigned sick, and refused to lead them 

 against the enemy. Their calamities were augmented 

 by famine ; and they were obliged to buy a precarious 

 peace with L. 30,000. New and formidable prepara- 

 tions were made against the return of the enemy. Every 

 proprietor of eight hides of land, was commanded to 

 provide a horseman and a complete suit of armour ; 

 and those possessing 310 hides, were to equip a ship 

 for the defence of the coast. This equipment amount- 

 ed to about 800 ships, and 30,000 cavalry. But all 

 these preparations were frustrated, by the treachery of 

 Duke Edric, and the animosities and factions of the no- 

 bility. Edric had succeeded his father Alfric in the 

 government of Mercia, and in the command of the Eng- 

 lish armies; and had married the king's daughter. He 

 was even a greater traitor than his father, and, like him, 

 found it his interest to prevent all successes that might 

 tend to establish the royal authority, and consequently 

 endeavoured to counteract every plan that was formed 

 for the defence of the country. General consternation, 

 and mutual diffidence and dissension, prevailed. The 

 enemy appeared in every quarter of the kingdom. The 

 governors of one province refused to march to the as- 

 sistance of another. General councils were summoned, 

 but nothing was done ; and they at last agreed to sti- 

 pulate for peace at the expence of L. 48, 000. The 

 Danes accepted the money ; but finding themselves mas- 

 ters of the country, disregarded the treaty. They con- 

 tinued their ravages, and even levied new contributions ; 

 Kn< ^ t * le n bility saw no prospect of relief but in swear- 

 ing allegiance to the Danish monarch. Ethelred imme- 

 diately Hed into Normandy, whither he had previously 

 sent his Queen Emma and her two sons, and where they 

 were treated by Richard with every mark of kindness 

 and honour. 



Sweyn, however, survived his exaltation to the throne 

 of England but a few weeks, and Ethelred was recalled 

 by the prelates and nobles. But adversity had wrought 

 no change upon his character, and cowardice and cre- 

 dulity were its prominent features. His son-in-law, the 

 perfidious Edric, notwithstanding his repeated treasons, 

 still retained his influence at court. Affairs soon became 

 as desperate as formerly ; and the English found in Ca- 

 nute, the son and successor of Sweyn, an enemy no less 

 terrible than his father. He ravaged the eastern coast 

 with merciless fury, and then broke into the counties of 

 Dorset, Somerset, and Wilts. An army was there as- 

 sembled to oppose him, under the command of Prince 

 Edmund, the oldest son of Ethelred, and Duke Edric. 

 But Edric again betrayed his trust ; and, after attempt- 

 ing to get the Prince into his power, he deserted to 

 Canute. Edmund still kept the field, but was obliged 

 to commit e^ual ravages with the Danes, in order to 

 procure supplies for his soldier?. He afterwards retired 



to London, determined to lose the capital only with his History, 

 life. On his arrival there, however, he found every T""' ' 

 thing in confusion by the death of the king, who expi- His death. 

 red after an unhappy reign of 35 years. Edmund im- 

 mediately ascended the throne. He was surnamed 

 Ironside, from his hardy valour ; but his abilities and 

 courage, though great, were unable to save his sinking 

 country. He protracted for a while an unequal war, 

 but was at last obliged by his subjects to put an end to 

 those convulsions, by dividing the kingdom with his 

 rival. Canute retained the northern division, consist- Tne king- 

 ing of Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumberland, while ^j^' 

 Edmund kept possession of the southern part. He i^munlt"" 

 was soon after murdered at Oxford by his two cham- an j Canute. 

 berlains, at the instigation of the infamous Edric. 



The tender years of Edmund's children, were unable 

 to oppose the ambition and the power of Canute. But 

 to give some appearance of justice to his usurpation, he 

 pretended that in the last treaty with Edmund it was 

 agreed, that, in case of Edmund's death, Canute should 

 either succeed to his dominions, or be guardian tohischil- 

 dren. He had no sooner taken possession of the throne, Canute sei- 

 than he sent the two sons of Edmund to Sweden, with zes the 

 secret orders to the king, to free him from all future Y h l e " the 

 anxiety by their death. The Swedish monarch, too hu- 

 mane for such a deed, sent them to be educated at the 

 court of Hungary. Edwin the elder brother died with- 

 out issue, and Edward married Agatha, the sister-in-law 

 of the king of Hungary, by whom he had Edgar Athe- 

 ling, Margaret, afterwards queen of Scotland, and Chris- 

 tina, who retired to a convent. 



Canute, to secure himself in his dominions, cut off 

 many of the English nobility on whom he could not re- 

 ly, and whom he hated on account of their disloyalty 

 to their former sovereign ; and among the rest perished 

 the traitor Edric, who was publicly executed, and his 

 body thrown into the Thames. He then married Em- 

 ma, the queen of Ethelred, whose children, supported 

 by their uncle Richard Duke of Normandy, had laid 

 claim to the English throne, and thus he acquired both 

 the friendship of that prince, and the confidence of his 

 English subjects. Though the beginning of Canute's 

 reign was marked with severity and injustice, he after- 

 wards reconciled the English to the Danish yoke, by 

 the impartiality of his administration. He made no 

 distinction between the two nations in the distribution 

 of justice ; he restored the Saxon customs in a general 

 assembly of the states, and thus gradually incorporated 

 the Danes with his new subjects. Having firmly esta- 

 blished his power in England, lie made an expedition 

 to Denmark, to resist the invasion of the Swedes. Here 

 Earl Godwin, and the English troops under his com- 

 mand, performed such important services, that the King 

 gave him his daughter in marriage, and treated him 

 ever after with the greatest confidence. Canute after- Conquers 

 wards attacked and added Norway to his dominions ; Norway, 

 and also compelled Malcolm king of Scotland, to ac- A. D. 1026, 

 knowledge himself a va.ssal to the English crown for 

 the county of Cuml>erland. The latter years of his life 

 were spent in the exercises of religion. He undertook 

 a pilgrimage to Rome, built churches, and endowed 

 monasteries ; and died at Shaftesbury, the greatest and 

 most powerful monarch of his time, after a reign of 18 

 years. He left three sons, Sweyn and Harold by his ^_ )_ 1035 

 first wife Alfwen, the daughter of the Earl of Hamp- 

 shire, and Hardicanute by Queen Emma. Sweyn was an(J ig 

 crowned in Norway ; Hardicanute was in possession of ' rc edc(l by 

 Denmark ; and Harold succeeded to the crown of Eng- HaroH,' 

 bad 



