CANUTE, king of Denmark, surnamed the Great, was, upon the death of Edmund, proclaimed king of England, A. D. 1017, after his countrymen had contend ed for possession of the country above two hundred years. As a pretext for the exclusion of Edmund's family, it was affirmed, hut without truth, that the succession of Canute to the whole kingdom of England, on the death of Ed round, had been stipulated in a late convention between the two princes. In the beginning of his reign, Canute struck terror into his new subjects, by the many sacrifi ces he made to his crown, and by the vigour of his ad ministration. Under various pretences, he banished some of his nobles, put others to death, and sent the two young sons of Edmund out of the kingdom ; but when he found himself securely seated on the throne, he relaxed the reins of government ; and made himself popular by extinguishing national animosities, and by effecting a complete reconciliation betwixt his Danish and his Eng lish subjects.
To secure the affections of the English, and prevent any attempts for restoring the princes of the antient royal family, he married Emma, the widow of the late king Ethelred, who resided with her two sons, Alfred and Ed ward, at the court of her brother Richard, duke of Nor mandy. By that marriage, and by giving his own sister in marriage to Richard, he artfully disarmed the resent ment of that powerful rival, who had declared himself the protector of the young princes, and had threatened to attempt their restoration to the throne of their ancestors.
Finding the kingdom now in complete tranquillity, and having no reason to dread the revolt of the English, Canute undertook a voyage to his native kingdom of of Denmark, which was then at war with Sweden. He carried with him a body of English troops, commanded by Earl Godwin, who gained a complete victory over the enemy, without the least assistance from the Danes. This brave action endeared the English to their new sovereign. Godwin was created Earl of Kent, and was honoured with the most distinguishing marks of royal favour. Upon his return to England, Canute directed his attention to the establishment of good laws, the build ing of churches and monasteries, and other pious and useful works.
In the year 1025 he undertook a second voyage to Denmark, which was again invaded by the Swedes, in which he was not successful ; but, two years afterwards, he made ample reparation for his losses. I laving re vived an old pretension to the throne of Norway, then filled by Olaus, a weak prince, he made an unexpected descent upon that country with a large body of English troops, dethroned the reigning monarch, and took posses sion of the kingdom. This conquest of Norway fully satisfied his ambition. From that time he laid aside a]] his warlike schemes, and employed himself in building churches, endowing monasteries, importing reliqucs, and in various acts of devotion ; and might have had a much better claim to saintship than many who fill the Roman calendar. In the same spirit of devotion, he undertook a
journey to Rome, and obtained for his subjects the im portant privilege of exemption from toll-duty, when tra velling through Germany, France, and Italy, by which the pilgrims and other travellers were relieved from a great expellee, and freed from many insults and oppressions to which they had formerly been subject. A latter written by himself, giving an account of that exemption, is still extant at Malmsbury. In his way home, he purchased at Pavia the arm of St Augustine, fur one hundred ta lents of and one talent of gold ; a much greater sum than the finest statue of antiquity would have cost in those days. He died at Shaftesbury, A. D. 1036, in the 19th year of his reign ; and was buried in the old mo nastery in Winchester.
ia,,s I ave surnamed this prince the Great, a title but too frequently bestowed on conquerors ; as if true greatness consisted in invading the rights and properties of their fellow-creatures, and in overrunning foreign coun tries with their victorious arms. Canute's claim to that title might be better founded upon the wise and peaceful administration which distinguished the latter part of his reign. Ile wi,o at first made no scruple to wade V.rough the blood of the innocent, and set at defir.nce the si.cred laws of religion and justice, when they opposed his am bitious schemes, was, in the latter part of his reign, not less remarkable for his sacred regard to religion, and for the exercise of every moral virtue ; insomuch, that he gained the entire affection of his own subjects, and the universal esteem of foreigners. We need not be sur prised, however, that a prince whose reign had been so prosperous, the sovereign of Denmark, Norway, and England, was surrounded with flatterers. Some of them, it is said, carried their adulation so far, as to declare that nothing in naturo dared to disobey his commands. Of fended at their extravagant praises, and desirous to make them sensible of their folly and impiety, he commanded that a chair should be placed upon the beach at South ampton, while the tide was advancing ; and, seating him self in it, he thus addressed the approaching billows. " 0 sea, thou art my dominion, and the land on which I sit is mine : I charge thee not to approach farther, nor dare to wet the feet of thy sovereign." Regardless of his command, the waves advanced, and forced him to re tire. Turning to his courtiers, he addressed them in language which might not be unworthy of the cars of sovereigns to hear ; "Lcarn from this example the in significance of all human power, and that the word of God alone is omnipotent." Rapin's Hist. of England, vol.ii.; Hume's Hist. of England, vol. i. ; Henry's Hist. of Great Britain, vol. iii. (A. F.)