Before discussing Christian influences on Cnut's conduct, it is necessary to investigate the creditability of the sources of information about his reign. An understanding of the biases for or against the Danish kings and other agendas of the authors of the primary sources helps to weigh the reliability of their data and also aids in choosing between conflicting claims.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle provided a nearly contemporary description of the events in England in the early eleventh century and together with its twelfth century continuations such as the chronicle by Florence of Worcester provides the main narrative account of the reign of Cnut. Chronicle versions A to G differ somewhat from each other. Thorpe's translation has combined the different versions while providing separate sections when they vary from each other. ¹ Entries in the Abingdon version (C) from the early eleventh century until 1044 seem to have been written at one time followed by yearly entries to 1048. The Worcester version (D) has been dated to 1071-79. ² Even though the chronicle was written close to the time of the events it described, scribal mistakes are possible and some of the dates do not seem to be correct. In particular, the 1025 date for the battle of Holy River and Cnut's visit to Rome which the chronicle placed in 1031 are not necessarily accurate. ³

The chronicle authors were very selective about which incidents they included in their yearly summaries and did not provide much detail. Expansions in the later chronicles generally provide battle details or describe the heroism of participants such as Edmund Ironside, the perfidy of Eadric Streona, or miraculous interventions such as the part played by St. Edmund in the death of Svein Forkbeard in 1014. ⁴ Details about events in Cnut's reign grew less informative for the years after 1018. At that point, the pax Cnutonis began in England. News about changes in important church offices, especially in local areas of interest were attached to the end of each year's entry and in many cases were the only events described for that year.

Florence of Worcester provided the most useful additional information about Cnut's reign. He furnished details regarding the succession of Cnut to the throne after the death of Edmund Ironside in 1016 and the disposition of rival claimants not mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Of particular value was the text of the letter that Cnut sent to the English people after his pilgrimage to Rome which Florence included in his description of events in the year 1031. Florence may have used a version of the chronicle which has since been lost. Some details, particularly those associated with Worcester, are not found in other sources. ⁵

William of Malmesbury was the other twelfth-century chronicler who provided information beyond that given by the various versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Since his style was more narrative than the year-by-year notations of the other chroniclers, it is more difficult to place the events he described in the correct year. In addition to other details, William included information regarding the deeds of the Dukes of Normandy during this period. His narrative also included more comments that revealed his personal opinion than either the Chronicler or Florence. A good example is his commentary regarding the marriage of Emma and Cnut in 1017:

[Richard] married his sister Emma to the enemy and invader; and it may be difficult to say, whether to the greater ignominy of him who bestowed her, or of the woman who consented to share the nuptial couch of that man who had so cruelly molested her husband, and had driven her children into exile. ⁶

Other twelfth century chroniclers, such as Roger de Hovden, Roger of Wendover, and Symeon of Durham do not add any significant information for the reign of Cnut. Their value lies mostly in the details they have included closer to their own times. The readiness to accept miraculous stories by the later chroniclers led Stubbs to question how far such credulity in an author affects his own credibility. ⁷ This remains a problem with many of the details added by the later chroniclers. The information for Cnut's reign included in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Florence, and William of Malmesbury is summarized and compared in Appendix 1.

Records and histories that originated in various monasteries add different perspectives to this time period. Among these are the Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon, Liber Eliensis, Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis, and Liber Monastrerii de Hyda. ⁸ In general, these histories follow one of the previously mentioned chronicles, but add details of interest to their own monastery and region. In particular, they provide lists of the abbots of their monasteries, often along with their dates of service, and provide copies of charters of concern to their institutions.

The Encomium Emmae Reginae was written in praise of Queen Emma by a monk of St. Omer, probably influenced by the Norman History of Dudo of St. Quentin. ⁹ Queen Emma influenced the descriptions of people and events in this book. Thus the book describes what she wanted people to believe and is not necessarily an unbiased account. The portrayal of Cnut that emerged from the Encomium was interesting. It did not show him as a military hero, but much more as a politician. ¹⁰ The Encomium was probably started about 1040 when Emma was still in exile in Flanders and is thus a very early source. It provides independent support for some of the information in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Encomiast's description of the bravery of Edmund Ironside and the treachery of Eadric Streona are similar to that of the Chronicle. ¹¹ It should also be noted that the Encomiast was very selective in his choice of material so nothing can be argued from his silence. ¹²

The law codes of both Æthelred and Cnut were strongly influenced by Wulfstan, the Archbishop of York, so there were no significant differences between them. The question has been raised whether these laws were really a reflection of the legal realities of the time, or merely a record of archiepiscopal preaching. If they were the latter, they would not include laws which the church did not approve and may make these monarchs appear better than they actually were. ¹³ Cnut's law codes, I and II Cnut, probably resulted from the 1018 Oxford meeting in which the Danes and English agreed to follow the laws of Edgar and to investigate further what more was needed for them to live together in peace. ¹⁴ Cnut was concerned to appear as a Christian king so the above laws certainly received his backing. If Cnut continued his relationship with Ælfgifu of Northampton as many believe, he did not follow all of the articles of his own laws since concubinage was specifically rejected. ¹⁵

Cnut sent letters to the English people when he was out of the country in 1019-1020 and in 1027. The earlier letter was preserved in the York gospels. The second was preserved in a Latin translation by Florence of Worcester. ¹⁶ Both show that Cnut was a Christian king concerned for the welfare of his people. Their content was similar, but the date of the second letter would mean it was not written by Archbishop Wulfstan since he died in 1023. The 1027 letter may have been written by Lyfing, Abbot of Tavistock, who was with Cnut in Rome and carried the letter to England. ¹⁷

Royal charters defined and bestowed land and grants of privileges. They were generally written in Latin with an Anglo-Saxon language description of the property and its boundaries placed at the end of the document. An important element of these charters was the witness list. Witnesses were required for the transfer of property in Anglo-Saxon England. Cnut's law code (II Cnut 24) required that any transaction worth more than fourpence must be witnessed by four men. ¹⁸ The oral nature of Anglo-Saxon legal transactions meant that the documents provided evidence of things said and done by those engaged in the transactions. ¹⁹ Therefore, although the names of the witnesses and even their crosses were written by the scribe who recorded the grant, the people who are listed as witnesses should have been present at the time and assented to the particular transfer of land or other privilege granted by the charter. The possibility of forgery is always present when dealing with charters, so care needs to be taken when using them. However, if valid, the charters show royal possession and patronage and the witness lists show some of the people that the king consulted in the course of conducting royal business.

Of thirty-six charters that have survived from Cnut's reign, seven are certain forgeries and half of the rest are suspect. Of the thirty-six, only nine were to laymen, but it is possible that most of the grants to laymen were not recorded, or have not survived. Those that have survived have generally done so because they were later granted to an ecclesiastical foundation which preserved a copy of the original charter. As it was a legal requirement for transactions to be witnessed, it is possible that the word of the witnesses was more important than the written charter in any cases of dispute. ²⁰ In that case, the charters would only become necessary after the witnesses had died. This was the situation in which most forgeries are suspected.

Adam of Bremen was a monk associated with the diocese of Hamberg-Bremen who wrote about forty years after Cnut died. His book provided important information regarding Scandinavian affairs, but some of what he wrote is questionable. Svein Estrithson, who was Cnut's nephew, provided some of Adam's information regarding Danish affairs so his reliability needs to be considered as well. ²¹

There were no contemporary Scandinavian sources for Cnut's reign. The Icelandic sagas contain some information, but their accuracy has been questioned. They drew from an oral tradition, but were written in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The sagas themselves contain poetry that may be contemporary, but these were praise poems. The scalds who wrote them were intent on praising the deeds of their patrons, accuracy was not as significant a factor. Therefore the sagas need to be treated with caution. ²²

There were a few church records that provided information about events during Cnut's reign. Notices of the visits of the English archbishops to Rome for their pallium were included in the records of some of the popes and at least one letter survived from the English bishops protesting the need to go to Rome for the pallium. ²³ In general, the Vatican documents ignore England. Most of the histories of the popes that deal with English affairs during this period draw from English sources. ²⁴

Thus only a few sources that provide information about Cnut's reign and particularly his dealings with the English church are available and many of those require specialized knowledge to decide if they were forgeries or to otherwise interpret them. This places a burden on an author to clearly state the sources of information from which conclusions are drawn. It also leaves room for significant speculation and disagreement. The nature of Cnut's commitment to Christianity is one of the areas where speculation is unavoidable and disagreement almost guaranteed.

NOTES

1. For an example of these differences see Benjamin Thorpe, trans, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle according to Several Original Authorities, Rolls Series No 23, (London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office, 1861; repring, Weisbaden: Kraus Reprint, 1964), s.a. 1023. RETURN

2. M. K. Lawson, Cnut, The Danes in England in the Early Eleventh Century, The Medieval World Series (New York: Longman, 1994), p. 50. RETURN

3. Ibid., p. 54. RETURN

4. Compare the descriptions of the battles of 1016 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as opposed to Thomas Forester,trans, The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester (London: Henry G. Bohn, MDCCCLIV; reprint, New York: AMS 1968) for a sample of this tendency. RETURN

5. George Smith, Dictionary of National Biography from Earliest Times to 1900, Leslie Steven and Sidney Lee, ed. (London: Cumberlege, [1917]), s.v. "Florence of Worcester." RETURN

6. J. A. Giles, trans., William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1847, repr. New York: AMS, 1968), p. 196. RETURN

7. Smith, Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Hoveden, Roger of." RETURN

8. Joseph Stevenson, trans., Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon, vol. I (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1858); E. O. Blake, ed., Liber Eliensis, Camden Third Series, Vol XCII (London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1962); Macray Dunn, trans., Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis (London: Longman & Co., 1886); Edward Edwards, ed. Liber Monasterii De Hyda; Comprising a Chronicle of the Affairs of England, from the Settlement of the Saxons to the Reign of Cnut and a Chartulary of the Abbey of Hyde, in Hampshire, Rolls Series No 45 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1866; reprint, [ ... ]: Kraus, 1964). RETURN

9. Lawson, Cnut, pp. 54-5. RETURN

10. Alistair Campbell, ed., Encomium Emmae Reginae, Camden Third Series, Vol LXXII (London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1949), p. xxii. RETURN

11. Ibid., p. xxiii. RETURN

12. Ibid., p. xlviii. RETURN

13. Lawson, Cnut, p. 60. RETURN

14. Ibid., p. 61. RETURN

15. "Extracts from the laws of Cnut (1020-1023)," Paragraph 50.1 of II Cnut in Dorothy Whitelock, English Historical Documents, c.500-1042, (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1955), p. 426. RETURN

16. Forester, Florence of Worcester, s.a. 1031. RETURN

17. Lawson, Cnut, p. 64. RETURN

18. "Extracts from the laws of Cnut (1020-1023)," in Whitelock, English Historical Documents, p. 422. RETURN

19. Harold Dexter Haxeltine, "General Preface" In Dorothy Whitelock , ed. Anglo-Saxon Wills (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1930). passim. RETURN

20. Lawson, Cnut, pp. 65-6. RETURN

21. Ibid., p. 73. RETURN

22. Ibid., p 74. RETURN

23. Veronica Ortenberg, The English Church and the Continent in the Tenth and Eleventh Century, ([Oxford]: Clarendon Press, 1992), p. 8-10. A part of this letter is included in Dorothy Whitelock, et al, ed., Councils and Synods with other Documents relating to the English Church, 871-1066, pt. I (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), pp. 445-7. RETURN

24. For example, see Rev. Horace K. Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, 891-1048, vol. V, 2d. ed. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1925). RETURN

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