555 
ENG 
hardy oppofition to the enemy; but this oppofition was 
as ineffeftual to reftore the happinefs of his country, as 
it was- infufficient to continue him in the poffeffion of the 
throne- He was oppofed by one of the in oft powerful 
and vigilant monarchs then in Europe ; for Canute, after¬ 
wards furnamed the Great, fucceeded Sweyn as-king of 
Denmark, and alio as commander of the Danifh forces in 
England. The conteft between tbefe two monarchs was 
therefore conducted with great obftinacy and perfeve- 
rance ; the firft battle that was fought appeared undeci- 
five ; a fecond followed, in which the D ines were victo¬ 
rious ; but Edmund (till having intereft enough to bring 
a third army into the field, the Danifh and Englifh nobi¬ 
lity, equally harafl'ed and diftrefTed by thefe convulfions, 
obliged thefe monarchs to come to a compromife, and 
divide the kingdom between them. Canute referved to 
himfelf the northern parts of the kingdom ; the fouthern 
diftriets were left to Edmund ; but this prince being mur¬ 
dered at Oxford, about a month after the treaty, by his 
two chamberlains, Canute was left in quiet poffeifion of 
the whole kingdom. 
Canute, though he had gratified his ambition in ob¬ 
taining the Englifh crown, was yet obliged to make fome 
mortifying concefiions ; and, in order to gain the intereft; 
of fome of the nobility, he confented to gratify_ their ava¬ 
rice. But when his power grew .Longer, and his title 
more fecure, he recalled thofe grants which he had made, 
and even put many of the Englifh nobles to death, fen- 
fible that thofe who had betrayed their native fovereign 
would never be true to him. Nor was he lefs fevere in 
his exactions upon the fubordinate ranks of the people, 
levying at one time feventy-two thoufand pounds upon 
country, and eleven thoufand more upon the city of Lon¬ 
don. Having by this feverity ftrengthened his authority, 
he began to fhew the merciful fide of his charafter. His 
firft ftep to reconcile the Englifh to his yoke, was, by 
fending back to Denmark as many of his followers as he 
could fafely fpare. He made no diftinftion between the 
Englifh and Danes in the adminiftration of juftice, but 
reftored the Saxon cufloms in a general affembly of the 
kingdom. The two nations thus uniting with each other, 
were glad to reft for a while from the tumult and (laugh¬ 
ter in which they had mutually involved each other ; and, 
to confirm their amity, the king himfelf married Emma, 
the fifter of Richard duke of Normandy, who lxad coin 
ftantly efpoufed the interefts of the Englifh. 
Canute, tints eftabliftied on the Englifh throne, made 
a voyage to Denmark, his native dominions, which were 
then attacked by the king of Sweden. In this expedi¬ 
tion, Godwin, an Englifh earl, was particularly diftin- 
guifhed for his valour, whereby he acquired that fame 
which afterwards laid a foundation for the innnenfe power 
he affumed during the fucceeding reigns. In another 
voyage which Canute mirde to Denmark, he attacked 
Norway; and, expelling Olaus from his kingdom, he an¬ 
nexed it to his own empire. Thus, wearing at once the 
triple crown of England, Denmark, and Norway, he was 
confidered as the rnoft warlike and potent prince in Eu¬ 
rope. 
As his reign was founded in blood, fo he was, towards 
the end of it, defirous to atofie for his cruelties and injuf- 
tice, by- afts of penitence and devotion. Ele erected 
churches, endowed monafteries, and appointed revenues, 
for the celebration of mafs. He undertook a pilgrimage 
to Rome, where he remained a confideruble time; and, 
befides obtaining from the pope l'ome privileges for the 
Englilh fchool founded there, he engaged all the princes 
through whofe dominions he palled, to abolifh thofe 
heavy impofitions which they were accuftomed to exaft 
from the Englifh pilgrims. The piety of the latter part 
of his life, and the invincible courage of the former, 
were topics that filled the mouths of his courtiers with 
flattery and praife. They even affefted to infinuate that 
his power was uncontroulable, and that all things would 
be obedient to his command. Canute, fcnfible of their 
LAND. 
adulation, is fa id to have taken the following method to 
reprove them. Ele ordered his chair to be fet on the fea- 
fhore while the tide was coming in, and commanded the 
fea to retire. “ Thou art under my dominion, (cried 
lie ;) the la-nd upon which I fit is mine ; I charge thee, 
therefore, to approach no farther, nor dare to wet the 
feet of thy fovereign.” Ele feigned to fit fome time in ex- 
peftation of fubrni(lion, till the waves began to furround 
him; then, turning to his courtiers, he obferved, that 
the titles of Lord and Mafter belonged only to him whom 
both earth and feas were made to obey. Thus refpefted, 
he lived many years, honoured with the furname of 
Great, for his power, but deferving it (fill more for his 
virtues. He died at Shaftefbury, in the nineteenth year 
of his reign, A. D. 1035 ; leaving three fons, Sweyn, Ha¬ 
rold, and Hardicanute. Sweyn was crowned king of Nor¬ 
way ; Hardicanute was.put in poffeffion of Denmark ; and 
Elarold fucceeded his father on the Englifh throne. 
Harold, furnamed Harefoot, from his fwiftnefs in run¬ 
ning, upon his acceftion to the crown, met with no fmull 
oppofition from his younger brother, Elardicanute. But, 
by the intervention of the nobles, a compromife was made 
between them; by which it was fiipulated that Harold 
fhould have London, and all the provinces north of the 
Thames, while the poffeffion of the fouthern parts fhould 
be ceded to Hardicanute y and, until that prince fhould 
appear in perfon, Emma, his mother, fhould govern in 
his (lead. But this agreement was of fhort duration ; for 
queen Emma having brought over from Normandy Ed¬ 
ward and Alfred, defeendenfs of the ancient Saxon kings, 
Alfred was invited, with the warmeft profeffions of friend- 
fhip, by Elarold, to London, and treacheroufly waylaid 
by his orders. Six hundred of his train were murdered 
in the mod cruel manner ; he himfelf was taken prifoner; 
and his eyes being put out, he was conduced to the mo- 
naftery of Ely, where he died. Edward and Emma, ap- 
prifed of his fate, fled to the continent, and Harold, with¬ 
out refiftance, took poffeffion of the whole kingdom. He 
lived to enjoy tire fruits of his treachery but (our years; 
and dying, very little regretted by his fubjefts, the luc- 
ceffion was left open to his brother, A. D. 1040. 
Hardicanute’s title was readily acknowledged both by 
the Danes and the Englifh ; and, upon his arrival from 
the continent, he was received with the greateft demon- 
ftrations of joy. The ceremony of his coronation was 
fcarcely performed, when he gave the firft fpecimen of 
the bafenefs of his difpofition, exemplified in his impo¬ 
tent infults upon the body of his brother, which he or¬ 
dered to be dug up, beheaded, and thrown into the 
Thames. When it was found fome time after by a fifher- 
man, and buried, lie ordered it to be again dug up, and 
to be thrown into the Thames a fecond time. His ma¬ 
lice, however, was in the end ineffeftual; for it was 
again found, and buried with the greateft fecrecy. Har¬ 
dicanute’s next rigorous aft was the impofition of a griev¬ 
ous tax for the payment of his navy; which was the more 
intolerable, as the nation was threatened with a famine. 
In thefe degrading tranfaftions, Godwin duke of Wef- 
fex, who had been an inftrument of treachery and oppref- 
fion during the former reign, was the principal advifer. 
Elowever, his bafe conduit did not fereen him from the 
refentment of Emma, who had the ftrongeft reafons to 
believ.e that he was inftrumental in the death of prince 
Alfred her fon. At her inftigation, therefore, Alfric, 
archbifhop of York, accufed him of being an accomplice, 
and demanded juftice accordingly. Godwin found means 
to evade the danger, by appealing to the king’s avarice, 
and not to the juftice of his caufe. He prefented him 
with a magnificent galley, curioufly carved and gilded, 
rowed by fourfeore men, who wore each of them a 
gold bracelet on his arm, weighing fixteen ounces. 
The king, beguiled by this prefent, permitted him to 
purge himfelf by oath ; and Godwin readily fwore that 
he had no hand in the death of Alfred. This king’s reign 
was but of fhort duration ; for he died two years after his 
1 acceffioiij 
