‘Ego Cnuto’ - a Winchester Document with Scandinavian Implications
Bengt Holmström
(Göteborg)
The above document, which is now among the muniments at Winchester, is dated to the first week after Easter 1019 and was promulgated by Cnut as King of England. It is registered as WCM 12093 and is accepted as genuine by Stenton (1955), Finsberg (1964) and Danmarks Riges Breve (1975) 1. My paper will consider the historical significance of the document and also some facts from this era, connected to some of the leading persons mentioned in it. The document results from a situation which must have caused Cnut some embarrassment, since it seems to expose a previous case of fraud, by which he had been deceived. Some land at Drayton (Hampshire) had to be given back to the monks of New Minster, Winchester after a local citizen had asked the King for it and wrongly convinced him that he had the right to dispose of it.
It is a Christian document, which begins with an initial monogram of the name of Christ which is six lines high (P with X). In the first line are the names of Christ, the Saviour and the Trinity. Not until line 5 is the King himself mentioned, in words of praise directed towards his English subjects rather than himself: he is Ego Cnuto inclite ac speciosae gentis anglorum regnator basileus ‘I, Cnuto, royal ruler of the famous and excellent people of the English’. Despite his Viking origins, of which some details later, this document reinforces a traditional view about Cnut and his reign over England: that he was a pious Christian king. He enjoyed the full support of the English church, and his attitude to the monks of New Minster can be seen in his libenti animo, ‘with a willing mind’ in the King’s mark at the end of the document.
The land in question is mentioned in line 8 and as the last item of its boundary list from lines 16 to 18, ‘into draegtune’ (see Appendix). The amplitude of land is given as five ‘cassati’, homesteads. – In a document from 1023 in Danmarks Riges Breve (No.415) Hannington is mentioned, a hamlet of seven cassati; here it is confirmed by King Cnut that one of his thegns, Leofwine minister, is to have hereditary possession of his hamlet. Here a value is mentioned, because the thegn had obtained the hamlet from King Æthelred for one pound of gold. So, the five cassati from WCM 12093 may be seen in comparison to this idea of value at the time. The last witness in WCM 12093 is likewise Leofwine minister; obviously, the same man who was a thegn in 1019 remained so in 1023.
In line 6 the monastery New Minster is mentioned as coenobio quod novellum dicitur, ‘situated in the famous and populous city of Wintonia’ (Winchester). Then it seems that the King himself inquires (inquo) and puts an end this day (hodie) to a curious deception (mirifica decepter). To the deception are linked two names in the genitive, Iudoci and Grimbaldi, obviously in the context of their having taken the land as booty (in war). Their names would be Iudocus and Grimbaldus in the nominative, and there is also a third person, the unnamed citizen, who wrongly convinced King Cnut that he had the right to dispose of the Draegtun land. The description of the anonymous fraudster as adolescens animosus, ‘an audacious youth’ (l.10), may suggest that some mercy was shown to him. Regarding Iudocus and Grimbaldus, however, there is no clue, nor are they found in the description of WCM 12093 as document No. 395 of Danmarks Riges Breve.
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There is little doubt that the monks of New Minster must have played a large role in the drafting of the document. The Christian spirit of the document is also underlined by its concluding line, desiring glory and felicity to all true savants within the church. Some characteristics of King Cnut’s religious side can be seen in the following descriptions. First a short but positive picture of how some religious persons met him: With gladness sang the monks of Ely, when Canute the Great rowed past them, says Renée Watkins in the Swedish version of The Fires of Faith (Trons eldar) 2. In Vikingerne (1981, 180) Palle Lauring writes that Knud became a profound Christian and gave away his crown to Canterbury, where it became a votive crown on the great crucifix of the church. In Vikingerne i England (1981, 159) Peter Sawyer writes that Knud ruled as a Christian king, made a pilgrimage to Rome, was entirely supported by the English bishops, and was buried in Winchester when he died in 1035. In The Birth of Britain (1956, 111) Sir Winston S.Churchill writes on King Canute from Encomium Emmae Reginae, cited by Langebek (1773): ‘When he entered monasteries, and was received with great honour, he proceeded humbly; keeping his eyes fixed with a wonderful reverence on the ground, and, shedding tears copiously – nay, I may say, in rivers – he devoutly sought the intervention of the Saints. But when it came to making his royal oblations, oh! how often did he fix his weeping eyes upon the earth!’3 To these descriptions of his humble reverence one should add that there exists a remarkable contemporary picture of him, probably giving a true comprehension of him, looking Nordic. The picture, dated to ca.1031 (Backhouse,1992, 334), shows him with his Queen, placing a golden cross in a church. 4
We now turn to his Viking side, which may be described by another picture, which is not contemporary 5. It is a symbolic battle composition, which shows Cnuto Rex Dacie on horseback, with his sword attacking Edmund Ironside. On Cnut´s shield are painted two Viking ships, and the whole appearance of Cnut might symbolize the means, by which he came to power in England - a Viking army and a fleet. After the death of King Svein in February 1014, the Danes had to withdraw from England, and it will then have been a heavy task for Cnut, only twenty years old, to return to England as soon as the following year. But a pact (Adam, II:52/50, 291) was concluded by Cnut and his half-brother Olof, the Swedish king. Supported by this, Cnut decided to conquer England. With the document of 1019 in mind, only four years had elapsed since Cnut´s attack on England in 1015. Hostilities did not end until after the death of Edmund Ironside, and Cnut had only sent the main part of the fleet back to Denmark in 1018.
Sandwich in Kent was the first landing place both 1013 and 1015, but in 1013 there followed a fast sailing to the Humber and the River Trent. The fleet moored at Gainsborough with Cnut as its Commander-in-Chief, while King Svein operated in the south of England. Now, in 1015, with Cnut in sole command, the land operations started from Sandwich and made for Dorset, where Wareham was reached without any resistance. His forces were from Denmark, to some extent also from Sweden, and from Norway under yric dux, Earl Eirik, his brother-in-law, the victor in the sea battles at Hjorungavag and Svold. London was still in the hands of King Æthelred, and when he became incapable through illness, Cnut´s antagonist became Edmund Ironside, who
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managed to raise military forces in Wessex and to win a victory at Otford in Kent. At Ashington in Essex, Cnut won the victory, and the ensuing treaty agreed that Edmund was to hold Wessex and the Western Provinces, while Cnut was to have the rest of England. Earlier in the war, Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria was conquered by Cnut and subsequently murdered. Yric dux, Earl Eirik from Norway was made the new Earl of Northumbria. Edmund Ironside suddenly died in November 1016, and Cnut became King of England in 1017.
The few years preceding the drafting of the 1019 document had thus been a time of war and chaos in England. Terrible things had also hit the church. Already in 1012 Ælfeah, Archbishop of Canterbury, suffered martyrdom, but this was before Cnut had influence on the situation in England. War booty takers were probably abundant. The case of the land at Draegtun was finally solved, with the name mentioned in line 8 and later in the boundary list’s into draegtune.
From an article on its modern name, Drayton, it appears that it is situated in Barton Stacey on the Test in Hampshire (Ekwall, 1932). Thus, Draegtun will have been in what is now the area of the junction between the Highways A34 (North/South) and A303 (East/West).
From the document have hitherto been presented some parts of the texts of in all 28 lines of text and names from a rectangular space of about 33x26 cm; twenty lines of text, seven lines for the witnesses and the concluding line, desiring glory and felicity. - The King´s name in line 5 was already given, and his name can also be read in line 20. For his mark, as for the marks of the witnesses, there is a cross, and then: Ego CNUTO rex anglorum hoc documentum libenti animo concessi atque roboravi, ‘I, Cnuto, king of the English, have granted and confirmed this document with a willing mind’. After the King are the two archbishops. Lyfing has confirmed the attestation by the testimonies; Wulfstan has agreed. Their full names are: Ego Lyfing dorobernensis aecclesiae archiepiscopus; Ego Wulfstan eboracensis archiepiscopus. In 1013 Lyfing had succeeded archbishop Ælfheah, who in 1012 suffered martyrdom. The place-names for the archiepiscopal sees can partly be explained via Latin Duruvernum Cantiacorum for Canterbury (from Celtic dur-whern ‘ rapid stream’, Gauffin,1966, 29) and Latin Eboracum for York (from Celtic eburos ‘ yewtree’, Gauffin,1966, 121). The Queen’s witness is recorded in the sentence: Ego ælfgyfu eiusdem regis conlateranea adiuvi. ‘I, Ælfgifu, the same king´s consort, have supported’. King Cnut and Queen Emma married on 2nd July, 1017. She had previously been married to King Æthelred, who died on 23rd April, 1016. Then follows the witness of five bishops, each recorded in a different verbal form: ‘>(has) recommended, confirmed, conformed, written and acquiesced’. The remaining witnesses are six earls (duces), five abbots and twelve thegns (ministri). The identities of the six earls will be discussed; five of them were members of Cnut´s Anglo-Scandinavian entourage, but the last, Regnold, was a Swedish career diplomat, Rögnvaldr Úlfsson, jarl of Västergötland. The names of the six earls in the charter are: Ego thurkil dux. Ego yric dux. Ego godwine dux. Ego elaf dux. Ego leofwine dux. Ego regnold dux.
Because of the support given to him by his half-brother Olof, Cnut decided to conquer England, as mentioned. This ‘family pact’ from 1014/1015 is reported to us from the 1070’s (Adam, 1978, 291). So it will be relevant to this paper to give a short description of their shared genealogy. In my view, and according to Adam of Bremen
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(Adam,1978, 270), the mother of both Olof and Cnut was Sigrid Storrada. But according to Thietmar, the mother of King Svein’s sons was a daughter of Mieszco (dux) of Poland (Thietmar, 1974, 397). This daughter is obviously the same person as the Gunnhild named by Snorre (Hkr. I, 34). An acceptable solution of the question in this context might be arrived at from five sources:
Sigvalde himself was married to Astrid, the daughter of Mieszco, and Olav Tryggvason had been married to Geira, a sister of Astrid. There are thus four names to consider: Astrid, Geira, Gunnhild and Sigrid (Gunnhild and Sigrid should probably be interpreted as two different people).
After considering the family of King Cnut, I shall now turn to the historical issues that arise in connection with the six earls named in our document. Five of them were members of king Cnut´s Anglo-Scandinavian entourage, but the last, Regnold dux, must certainly have been on a diplomatic mission to England. In the sagas he is called Rögnvaldr jarl Úlfsson. In Swedish he is ‘västgöta-jarlen Ragnvald’. However, it has also been maintained, that he had traits of an earl of the Swedish kingdom (Tunberg, 1940, 106). The prominent positions occupied by his sons Ulf and Eilif Ragnvaldsson may strengthen the idea that their father had enjoyed a similar status.
Ragnvald jarl had helped to negotiate peace between Sweden and Norway. In order to confirm the peace, a marriage was arranged between Astríðr, daughter of King Olof of Sweden, and king Óláfr Haraldsson (later St. Oláfr).
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Earl Ragnvald was probably in England to report to king Cnut on this marriage. After years of hostilities between Sweden and Norway, the year 1019 became a year of peace. The marriage of Astríðr had taken place at Borg about Candlemas, with Earl Ragnvald as her bridesman (Hkr. II, 91, 118 and II, 92,118-19). After the marriage he went back to Götaland. However, his presence in England at Easter 1019 suggests that he might have sailed directly from Norway to England. More travelling was to follow for him in 1019, because in the summer, Ingigerðr, Astríðr’s sister, went to marry King Jaroslav of Russia (Hkr. II, 93, 119-120), with Ragnvald jarl as her bridesman. Before this, he is said to have been in Öster-Götland, so he was in Sweden, notwithstanding Olof Skotkonungr’s anger against him. He accompanied Ingigerðr to Russia, became Earl of Aldeigjuborg (Staraya Ladoga) according to her wishes, and stayed there until his death about 1030, after which his son, Earl Eilif, became his successor (Fgrsk., 1985, 227). His other son was Earl Ulf, and both sons had helped to negotiate the peace between Sweden and Norway. In the war of ca. 1025-1026, Ulf and Eilif Ragnvaldsson were the commanders of the Swedish fleet which fought against king Cnut at Helgeå (Moberg, 1989, 12). The knowledge about the peace negotiations by Ragnvald jarl and his sons originates from Sigvat the Skald (Moberg, 1985, 10-11) 6.
I have discussed Earl Ragnvald first, but in the document he is mentioned last. The first of the six earls in the document is Earl Thurkil, ‘Torkil the Tall’. He was already a leader against England in 1009-1012. He gained what was then the highest ever Danegeld of 48,000 pounds, and then agreed to serve King Æthelred with forty-five ships, which were stationed on the River Thames (Sawyer, 1981, 158). Torkil was a brother of earl Sigvalde of Jomsborg fame. Heming was another brother of Torkil and was also one of the leaders in 1009. The third leader then was the Danish Earl Eilif, one of the six earls of 1019. Elaf dux (Earl Eilif or Eglaf) lived until the 1030’s, as he was in England when king Canute died in 1035, according to a Welsh chronicle. Thurkil dux probably lived until 1024. We have a contemporary document about the Danegeld, in the form of the Yttergärde rune-stone in Uppland. It tells us that ‘Ulfr took three gelds in England: first was Tosti´s geld, then Thurkil´s geld, then Knútr´s geld’. The Tosti referred to here is Skoglar-Toste (Hkr. I, 91, 283 and Jansson, 1956, 38).
There were some former Joms-Vikings in the forces of Earl Thurkil in 1009 (cf. Stenberger (1967), 79 and Lauring (1981), 155). As Thurkil and Eilif were leaders in 1009 and witnesses in 1019, it is also worth describing some relations of the Joms-Vikings. Heming was one of the leaders in 1009, and as the ‘Hemingr jarll’ of Flateyarbók he was also on the attacking side at Fyrisvold and obviously survived. The father of Thurkil and his brothers was Strút-Haraldr jarl, the third last king of Scania (Ohlmarks). At his death he was succeeded as king by his brother Toke, Torgils Spragalæg’s father Toke Gormsson, who according to a memorial of Fyrisvold on a runic stone at Hällestad in Scania ‘did not flee at Upsalum’ (Nielsen,1983, 203). The specific dates of the battles at Hjorungavag and Fyrisvold are uncertain, as is the question of which is the older. Fyrisvold may have been fought in almost any year in the 980’s, while for Hjorungavag 985-987 are feasible years (the 1000-years’ jubilee was held in 1986). I believe that the battle of Fyrisvold was the older one. A hint to dating might be the ten years, given by and to King Eric in his alleged agreement with Odin in the 980’s.
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The marriage of Sigrid Storrada to King Svein is also a factor to be taken into consideration, with 995 as the year of King Cnut’s birth.
Before ending this study of the Viking era, with King Cnuto´s document of 1019 as its starting point, I must return to the remaining three earls, viz. Yric dux, Godwine dux and Leofwine dux. Eirik jarl (yric dux), who was perhaps the most succesful of the earls, with fame gained from the battles of Hjorungavag (ca. 986) and Svold (1000), was married to Gyda, daughter of King Svein (Fgrsk, 1985, 164), and was hence a brother-in-law of King Cnut. In England he was made Earl of Northumbria, and here he lived until a tragic operation on his tongue’s uvula (úfr) caused him to bleed to death, supposedly in 1023 (Hkr. II, 25, 26; Knytl., 1982, 120). For the battle of Svold he managed to ally the longships of Scania with his own forces and those of King Svein and Olof Skotkonungr, who probably guaranteed him control of bases on the River Gotha (Holmström, 2003, 238).
Godwine dux, a West-Saxon earl or ealdorman, had married Gyda (1020), the daughter of Torgils Spragalæg (Rud, 1988, 100). Torgils Spragalæg was the last king of Danish Scania (Ohlmarks), and it may be true that he lost his life at Svold (Holmström, 2003, 240). The old royal family of Scania was obviously of high rank in the days of King Cnut. Ulf jarl, the brother of Gyda, was married to Cnut´s sister Estrid. Ulf became an earl both in England and in Denmark until his downfall at Roskilde ca. 1026 (Bröndsted, 1960, 89; Rud, 1988, 100). Earl Godwine lived until 1053.
Finally, Leofwine dux, an ealdorman of the Hwicce (approximately equivalent to Gloucestershire), is known as a witness to documents under King Æthelred in the 990’s. Leofric, his son, was earl of Mercia from about 1023.
Summary:
The six earls of the document promulgated by King Cnuto in the week after Easter in 1019 were chosen as follows: Two were Anglo-Saxons, one of them with a wife whose relations came from Danish Scania. Two were Danes, one of them from Danish Scania. One was a Norwegian, married to a daughter of king Svein. One was a Swede, married to a sister of Olav Tryggvason, and he was Ragnvald jarl (regnold dux), who ended his life as a commander near Ladoga and had previously held the rank of earl of the Swedish kingdom (riksjarl).
Appendix:
Boundary list of WCM 12093 from lines 16 to 18 (with w for ‘wynn’; 7 = et):
Ærest of humeran east bemiddel hæma mearce to tudan byrig . of tudan byrig nyþen into micel defer . 7 swa andlang micel defer to leofwinne mearce . of leofwynne mearce to þam hæþenan beorge . 7 of tham hæþenan beorge eft into draegtune.
Bibliography
Footnotes