Harthacnut sibling Harold Harefoot
Harthacnut (Danish: Hardeknud; "Tough-knot"; c. 1018 – 8 June 1042), traditionally Hardicanute, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of the English from 1040 to 1042.
Harthacnut was the son of King Cnut the Great (who ruled Denmark, Norway, and England) and Emma of Normandy. When Cnut died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father's possessions. Magnus I took control of Norway, but Harthacnut succeeded as King of Denmark and became King of England in 1040 after the death of his half-brother Harold Harefoot, king of England. Harthacnut himself died suddenly in 1042 and was succeeded by Magnus in Denmark and Edward the Confessor in England. Harthacnut was the last Dane to rule England.Reign
Harold and Denmark
In 1035, Harthacnut succeeded his father on the throne of Denmark as Cnut III. He was unable to come to England in view of the situation in Denmark, and it was agreed that Svein's full brother, Harold Harefoot, should act as regent, with Emma holding Wessex on Harthacnut's behalf. In 1037, Harold was generally accepted as king, Harthacnut being, in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "forsaken because he was too long in Denmark", while Emma fled to Bruges, in Flanders. In 1039, Harthacnut sailed with ten ships to meet his mother in Bruges but delayed an invasion as it was clear Harold was sick and would soon die, which he did in March 1040. Envoys soon crossed the channel to offer Harthacnut the throne.
While the general outline of events following Cnut's death are clear, the details are obscure, and historians give differing interpretations. Lawson 2004 states that it is unclear whether Harthacnut was to have England as well as Denmark, but it was probably a reflection of a formal arrangement that mints south of the Thames produced silver pennies in his name, while those to the north were almost all Harold's. There might have been a division of the kingdom if Harthacnut had appeared straight away. He probably stayed in Denmark because of the threat from Magnus of Norway, but they eventually made a treaty by which if either died without an heir, his kingdom would go to the other, and this may have freed Harthacnut to pursue his claim to England.According to Ian Howard, Harthacnut agreed to help Svein recover Norway and planned an invasion in 1036. Svein died shortly before it was to set out, but Harthacnut proceeded anyway. War was avoided by the treaty between Harthacnut and Magnus, which Harthacnut agreed to because he had no plausible candidate to rule Norway after Svein's death, and he was in any case temperamentally inclined to avoid campaigns and wars. Howard dates the treaty to 1036, whereas other historians date it to 1039 and believe it freed Harthacnut to launch an invasion of England.Exiled in Bruges, Emma plotted to gain the English throne for her son. She sponsored the Encomium Emmae Reginae, which eulogised her and attacked Harold, especially for arranging the murder of Alfred Atheling (the younger of Emma's two sons by Æthelred) in 1036. The work describes Harthacnut's horror at hearing of his half brother's murder, and in Howard's view, was probably influential in finally persuading the cautious Harthacnut to invade England. According to a later edition of the Encomium, the English took the initiative in communicating with Harthacnut in 1039, possibly when they became aware that Harold had not long to live.Succession
The political agreement between Harthacnut and Magnus the Good included the appointment of the latter as heir to Harthacnut. At the time, the agreement would have only affected the throne of Denmark. The Heimskringla reports that when Harthacnut died, Magnus extended his claim to England. He reportedly sent a letter to Edward the Confessor, pressing his claim to the English throne and threatening invasion. His own heir, Harald Hardrada, would also press this claim. Both considered themselves legal heirs to Harthacnut. The Fagrskinna contains a scene where Magnus proclaims that "I will take possession of all the Danish empire or else die in the attempt."According to the Encomium, Edward the Confessor already served as co-ruler of England since 1041. There is an emphasis on Harthacnut, Edward, and Emma serving as a trinity of rulers, in emulation of the Holy Trinity. Edward, by surviving his co-ruler, would be king by default. The Heimskringla depicts Edward portraying himself as brother and legal heir to both Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut, while pointing out that he had already won the support "of all the people of the country". Unstated in both is that the marriage of Edward to Edith of Wessex would also support his claim by earning him both the political support of her father Godwin and an additional connection to Cnut. She was a niece to the king. The Fagrskinna has Edward point out that he was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, the half-brother to Edmund Ironside, the stepson of Cnut, the stepbrother of Harold Harefoot, and the half-brother of Harthacnut. In short, he had a much stronger family claim to the throne than Magnus. All the leaders of England had already acknowledged him as their king, and he was consecrated by an archbishop. England was his own heritage. Whether Magnus managed to defeat him in war or not, "you can never be called king in England, and you will never be granted any allegiance there before you put an end to my life." This was supposedly enough to cause Magnus to doubt the strength of his own claim.The marriage agreement between Gunhilda of Denmark (sister of Harthacnut) and Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor would allow descendants of this marriage to claim the throne of Denmark and potentially of England. The marriage, from Henry's perspective, was probably orchestrated to allow the Holy Roman Empire to claim control of Denmark and the western areas of the Baltic Sea. However, Gunhilda died in 1038 with no known sons. Her only daughter was Beatrice I, Abbess of Quedlinburg, who never married.
brother or sister kin