This article takes literary representations of Cnut, the Danish conqueror of England, as a case study of the construction of English identity in the eleventh century.
National-Ethnic Narratives in Eleventh-Century Literary Representations of Cnut
November 16, 2015 By
The Changing Story of Cnut and the Waves
May 24, 2015 By
There is famous story about King Cnut and the waves. However, most people know do not know the original version.
Cnut: England’s Danish King
May 4, 2015 By
There is very little historic information on King Cnut even though he was the most powerful king in northern Europe in the early eleventh century.
King Edmund Ironside
April 2, 2015 By
It was the early eleventh century and England was being overrun by Vikings
Reconsidering Agatha, Wife of Eadward the Exile
January 11, 2014 By
The antecedents of Agatha, wife of Eadward the Exile and ancestress of Scottish and English monarchs since the twelfth century and their countless descendants in Europe and America, have been the subject of much dispute…
Hosting the king: hospitality and the royal iter in tenth-century England
July 31, 2013 By
Hosting the king: hospitality and the royal iter in tenth-century England Levi Roach (Trinity College, Cambridge) The Journal of Medieval History, 37.1 (March 2011), 34-46 Abstract Traditional studies of royal itinerancy have depended on locating the king’s progress through his kingdom(s) as precisely as possible and it should therefore not surprise that the iter regis […]
The Danish attacks on London and Southwark in ‘1016’
January 28, 2013 By
This incident has been fatally embroidered by many local historians, taking their cue from various sources, so that the popular accounts have distorted what was already a confusing set of events.
Aethelred the Unready
January 16, 2013 By
Calling Aethelred ‘Unraed’ could mean he was given bad counsel, he did not take advice from his counselors or that he himself was unwise. Perhaps all were true. Let’s look at the story and see.
Conquest or Colonisation: The Scandinavians in Ryedale from the Ninth to Eleventh Centuries
November 25, 2012 By
The study of settlement history has developed within the fields of history, archaeology and geography. As a result much of the work carried out in settlement studies has borrowed the research and conclusions of scholars from other disciplines.
Against the Heathen: Saints and martyrs in late Anglo-Saxon literature
November 6, 2012 By
In this essay I will argue that the militarised martyrs and saints in Anglo-Saxon England are both a shining example to Saxon Christians and an enticing lure to encourage the Scandinavian settlers to adopt the Catholic faith like King Cnut did.
THE MINT OF AYLESBURY
October 22, 2012 By
As these numbers suggest, Aylesbury seems to have made a comparatively minor contribution to the Late Saxon coinage pool. Basing his calculations on a total of some 44,350 English coins, Petersson estimated that, in each issue for which its coins were known, Aylesbury was responsible for only 0.1% or 0.2% of the recorded coins of the issue…
Cultural Changes in England resulting from the Battle of Hastings
June 28, 2012 By
This paper, in examining the reigns of the Ethelred, Canute, Harold Harefoot and Hardicanute, and Edward the Confessor, will show how they came to power, the legacy each left – if any — and how the events during each reign ultimately led to the Battle of Hastings, with William the Conqueror’s victory changing England forever.
The Staffordshire Hoard and the Mercian Royal Court
June 14, 2012 By
In England, whatever date you prefer for the composition of Beowulf, it is of interest that the poet thought of the king as a goldwine gumena – the gold-friend of the warriors – or as the goldwine Geata – the gold-friend of the Geats.
Canute and his Empire
May 20, 2012 By
The first mention of Canute in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is in the entry for 1013, where it is recorded that his father Sweyn, after taking hostages from the conquered territories of Northumbria, Lindsey, and the Five Borough Towns,
HASKINS CONFERENCE: Public and Private Audiences: Reflections on the Anglo-Saxon Archive of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey in Suffolk
November 6, 2011 By
This paper focused on the Anglo-Saxon writs, and charters of Bury St. Edmunds.
Talking about history in eleventh century England: the Encomium Emmae Reginae and the court of Harthacnut
September 20, 2011 By
Talking about history in eleventh century England: the Encomium Emmae Reginae and the court of Harthacnut Tyler, Elizabeth M. Early Medieval Europe, 13 (4) (2005) Abstract The Encomium Emmae Reginae was written in the early 1040s to support the interests of Queen Emma amidst the factionalism which marked the end of the period of Danish […]
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