King Canute and medieval English kingship

Cnut the Great may very well be one of the most emblematic personages of the Medieval Ages. King of Denmark, Norway and partly of Sweden and, from 1016, of England, he was an influential figure in his time, unfortunately, shadowed nowadays by a collective memory that renders him a madman, due to the myth that Cnut had tried to demonstrate his power by allegedly seeking to command the waves of the sea. No one really knows how this myth came into being, and the king himself acknowledged more than once that no one, not even a king, is above God's power. What's more, after he became a Christian, Cnut never wore his crown again and instead laid it on a crucifix.

After his father's death, Cnut was chosen as king and he undoubtedly managed to expand his father's territories into a huge northern empire. Henry of Huntingdon first mentioned the myth of the tide in his Chronicle regarding the history of England. It is there that he also mentioned how Cnut had ?conducted himself gracefully and magnificently? In paving his way to success. Indeed, Huntingdon was right about this king's ?wide-ranging authority. (apud Sommerville UW) Cnut had been wise in marrying the widow of Ethelred whose sons had been the former's rivals in obtaining the throne. When in 1018, he is being paid the last Donegeld tax, Cnut goes on becoming the king of Denmark and Norway, a legacy that would, along with his strong personality, contribute to his instauration of an empire. He wisely ruled in bringing prosperity and by respecting the Church and he managed to nurture the arts, commerce and justice. Indeed, in his time, London is said to have been ?the chief centre in northern Europe for the composition and distribution of skaldic poetry? (Mason 31). Now, this may appear as something rather trivial when it comes to exposing a king's accomplishments, but let us bear in mind that for a kingdom to indulge in such art related practices, it would mean the necessary factors were available to sustain them. Therefore, we must admit beyond historical evidence that Cnut managed to obtain an economic level that allowed for such a flow of arts within his dominion.

However, Cnut was not always the king we have come to know him as nowadays, whenever we are able to set aside the mythical proclaiming him an arrogant fool. That is to say that the king's ruling over England, for example, was not as continuous as it is believed to have been. In this respect, in his early years of ruling, Cnut showed evidence that he indeed was the son of a Viking, however, less violent than his father. While the young king may have allowed his counselors to influence his decision making for the better, ?there is little evidence of any zeal for good government, ? In Cnut's early period of ruling, as L.M. Larson has specified (724). Of course, this must be put on the account of Cnut being very young and indeed having to rule, within a short period of time, over other kingdoms as well, which must have been demanding. At the beginning of his reign, people were obliged to pay taxes beyond their power at times because the king wanted to gain the respect of his Danish followers. However, he made an attempt to enclose any differences that might have been made between the English and the Danish which helped him in administrating his dominion successfully while also counting on his people's support.