Irene Preston's Historical Writing
ENGLAND RULED BY THE DANES
When the great Viking leader Rollo sailed along the Seine in the area of
Gaul in 885 he was granted land to settle and founded Normandy in 911.
Their leaders were styled Duc and in 968 Duc Richard I recognised Hugh
Capet as his overlord.
The Vikings from Scandinavia continued to attack England and King
Ethelred II, who bore the brunt of the attacks, was naturally interested
in what might be the policy of the Viking province of Gaul. The Norman
Dukes were not always unwilling to turn the situation to their own
advantage.
The matter was of general importance to Western Europe and the Pope
intervened. An assembly met at Rouen in 991 under the presidency of a
papal envoy and it was agreed that neither the Duke nor the King should
aid the enemies of the other. The pact aptly symbolized both the special
position which Normandy was attaining in Western Christendom and the
developing relationship between the ruling families of Normandy and
England. To seal the pact Duke Richard I gave his daughter Emma in
marriage to Ethelred, King of England.
The Duke's son, Richard II, had two sons, Richard, who was Duke for a
year, and Robert, the father of William the Bastard, later the Duke of
Normandy. William's mother was married off to a vassal of Duke Robert
giving him 2 sons, Robert, who became the Count of Mortain, a mighty
Anglo-Norman baron and Odo who became the Bishop of Bayeaux. Both were
instrumental in putting William on the throne of England.
King Ethelred decided to destroy the Danish communities and he appears
to have burned down a church where the sister of Forkbeard, King of
Denmark, was hiding for safety. King Forkbeard invaded England in 1016
and King Ethelred and Queen Emma fled to Normandy with their 2 sons,
Alfred and Edward.
The boys grew up with William, spoke fluent French and were much
influenced by European culture. King Ethelred returned to England in an
attempt to regain his kingdom but was killed. Forkbeard's son Canute
became King of all England, Denmark, Norway and parts of Sweden.
Queen Emma decided to return to England and marry the Danish King
Canute in 1017. She bore him two sons.
She had a lot of influence over Canute and he became a Christian and
founded churches and monasteries. He did this as a penance to make up
for the killing and burning done by his forefathers.
Canute set the pattern for earls, pillars of his court and leaders of
his army. They acquired immense possessions and territorial power. His
reign was a constructive period in the history of the
English Monarchy. His early death in 1035 nearly caused a
collapse of the state by the earls.
In 1027 he went to Rome at the time of the coronation of the
pope and all the princes of Europe were there. They received
him with honour and lavished gifts and he was also received by the
Holy Roman Emperor.
He was accepted as the greatest monarch in Northern Europe
and ruled in a truly English tradition. He was the best king since
Alfred.
His purpose of attempting to hold back the waves was to show
that no king is greater than God.
"Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and
worthless, there is no king worthy of the name save God by
whose will heaven, earth and sea obey eternal laws."
Canute never wore his golden crown again placing it atop a figure of
Christ.
He delegated his power to trusted local governors, jarls in Danish and
earls in English, consolidated counties and shires with their own courts
and administration.
Duke Robert didn't like the power that Canute had over the Viking world
so he involved himself with English affairs on the side of the West
Saxon dynasty. Emma's son Alfred went to England to visit his mother but
was captured and blinded probably by the powerful Godwin family, he died
of his wounds.
Emma returned to England and married Canute bearing him two
sons. Canute died in 1035 and his sons proved unworthy as
kings and died very early.
The English earls sent for Edward to return as their rightful
king. He had spent 30 years of his life in Normandy and knew
none of the earls personally.
Duke Robert died in the same year on his way back from
a crusade and William, aged 7, was taken under the protection of
the French King, Henry I.
William would have a long hard fight to regain and maintain his
kingdom but by 1066 Normandy had become a powerful realm
well organised in church and state. He had proved himself to be
an able leader in war and peace.
Eventually Edward, as king, began to lose power to Harold Godwinson the
new earl of Wessex. So he brought many Normans to England giving them
prominent positions in his court. After Edward's death and Earl Harold
had taken the throne he sent most of them into exile and they returned
to Normandy. William bided his time and planned his strategy for
conquest.
After the fall of the Roman administration progress in England was slow
compared to Normandy. Rivalry between the Saxons and Danes and the
division of the country into small kingdoms retarded progress but the
Saxons eventually assimilated the Danes.
In contrast the men who settled in Normandy, although very similar to
the Danes, not only retained their own virtues of hardiness and energy,
but in a very marked manner absorbed the best qualities, skills and
customs of the French inhabitants of Normandy, and other parts of
Europe. In their efforts to keep their independence and survive the
threats of the French kings they became a united race.
The Normans quickly became continentals whilst the English remained
Nordic and retained many of the characteristics of their ancestors.
William had been promised the English throne but instead of just
invading he used the strategy of involving the pope to bless his wish to
keep England Christian and avoid another invasion from the Danes. With
the blessing of the pope he was able to open his army to any knights in
Europe and thus had great powerful soldiers and horsemen.
The English fought at Hastings as their forefathers had fought their
little wars long before but the Normans had learnt the technique of the
mounted knight. To these basic differences must be added the Norman
influence in England during Edward the Confessor's reign which was a
substantial fact in William's favour.
The Norman Conquest was in fact the fusion of two branches of the Nordic
races whose origins had been very similar.