Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/73

TO 1035.] this marriage the alliance of Normandy, gradually acquired, by the same means, the confidence of his own subjects. The Norman prince did not long survive the marriage of Emma; and left the inheritance of the duchy to his eldest son of the same name, who, dying a year after him without children, was succeeded by his brother Robert, a man of valour and abilities.

In A.D. 1019, Canute, having settled his power beyond all danger of a revolution, made a voyage to Denmark, in order to resist the attacks of the King of Sweden; and he carried along with him a great body of the English, under the command of Earl Godwin. This nobleman had here an opportunity of performing a service, by which he both reconciled the king's mind to the English nation, and, gaining to himself the friendship of his sovereign, laid the foundation of that immense fortune which he acquired for his family. He was stationed next the Swedish camp; and observing a favourable opportunity, which he was obliged suddenly toseize, he attacked the enemy in the night, drove them from their trenches, threw them into disorder, pursued his advantage, and obtained a decisive victory over them. Next morning, Canute, seeing the English camp entirely abandoned, imagined that those disaffected troops had deserted to the enemy: he was agreeably surprised to find that they were at that time engaged in pursuit of the discomfited Swedes. He was so pleased with his success, and with the manner of obtaining it, that he bestowed his daughter in marriage on Godwin, and treated him ever after with entire confidence and regard.

In another voyage, which he made afterwards to Denmark, in 1028, Canute attacked Norway; and expelling, the just, but unwarlike Olaf, kept possession of his kingdom till the death of that prince. He had now, by his conquests and valour, attained the utmost height of grandeur: having leisure from wars and intrigues, he felt the unsatisfactory nature of all human enjoyments; and, equally weary of the glories and turmoils of this life, he began to cast his view towards that future existence which it is so natural for the human mind, whether satiated by prosperity or disgusted with adversity, to make the object of its attention. Unfortunately, the spirit which prevailed in that age gave a wrong direction to his devotion. Instead of making compensation to those whom he had injured by his former acts of violence, he employed himself entirely in those exercises of piety which the monks represented as the most meritorious. He built churches, he endowed monasteries, he enriched the ecclesiastics, and he bestowed revenues for the support of chantries at Assington and other places, where he appointed prayers to be said for the souls of those who had there fallen in battle against him. He even undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, where he resided a considerable time: besides obtaining from the Pope some privileges for the English school erected there, he engaged all the princes, through whose dominions he was obliged to pass, to desist from the heavy tolls exacted upon English pilgrims.

Canute, who was the greatest and most powerful monarch of his time, being sovereign of Denmark and Norway as well as of England, was not so blinded by his good fortune as to credit the flattery of his courtiers, who fain would have persuaded him that he was all but omnipotent.

To rebuke them, he hit upon the following expedient:— He directed his chair of state to be placed on the sea-side, just as the tide was about to rise; and commanded the waves as they approached to retire at his word; then seated himself as if in full expectation that his orders would be obeyed.

When the sea, however, reached his feet, he turned with an angry frown to his panic-stricken courtiers, and exclaimed—

"Every being in the world is feeble and impotent; omnipotent power exists with God, in whose hands are all the elements of nature. He only can say to the sea—Thus far shalt thou go and no further; and his power will level with a nod the towering piles of ambition and greatness."

The only remarkable action which Canute performed after his return from Rome, was an expedition against Scotland in A.D. 1031. During the reign of Ethelred, a tax of a shilling a hide had been levied on all the lands in England. Malcolm, King of Scotland, who held Cumberland, refused to pay this impost, or to do homage for Cumberland to the crown of England.

On the English monarch approaching the frontier of Scotland with a formidable army, Malcolm consented that his grandson and heir, Duncan, should be put in possession of Cumberland; and thus the prudent king avoided the humiliation of doing homage in his own person, and the disasters of war with his powerful neighbour.

Canute died (November 11, 1035), after this enterprise, at Shaftesbury, leaving three sonsSweyn, whom he had by had by his first marriage with Alfwen, daughter of the Earl of Hampshire; Hardicanute, who was in possession of Denmark; and Harold, who, at the time of his father's death, was in England.

 

the late king, in the treaty he had entered into with Richard, Duke of Normandy, at the time of his marriage with Emma, had agreed that his children by her should succeed to the crown of England, he held himself released from the engagement by that prince's death, or considered Hardicanute too young to mount the throne of England: his new subjects requiring a cool head and strong hand to govern them. He therefore nominated Harold, his son by Alfwen, to the crown, after his decease.

This prince had the advantage, not only of his presence on the spot, but of his father's treasures, which he had taken care to secure; and, though last, not least, the warm adherence of his countrymen. On the other hand, Hardicanute was more popular with the English, who regarded him with a certain amount of affection, on account of his being the son of Emma, and having been born in England. His party was espoused also by Earl Godwin, the most influential noble in the kingdom, especially in the province of Wessex, the chief seat of the ancient English.

Affairs were likely to terminate in a civil war; when, by the interposition of the nobility of both parties, a compromise was made; and it was agreed that Harold should enjoy, together with London, all the provinces north of the Thames, while the possession of the south should remain to Hardicanute; and till that prince should appear and take possession of his dominions, Emma fixed her residence at Winchester, and established her authority over her son's share of the partition.

Meanwhile Robert, Duke of Normandy, died in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and being succeeded by his son