King Edmund Ironside’s courageous defence of his crown against the invading Danes was undermined by treachery at home.
When King Ethelred ‘the Unready’ (i.e. lack-counsel) died in 1016, his son Edmund inherited not only the English crown, but the threat of losing it to the warlike Cnut, King of Denmark. That legacy Edmund might have coped with, for he deserved the nickname ‘Ironside’ for his courage in battle. Unfortunately, he had also inherited his father’s advisers.
The invading Danes fought so fiercely that Edmund Ironside, the young English king, threw all caution to the wind.
In 1016, Cnut the Great, King of Denmark, attempted to build a North Sea empire that encompassed the British Isles. In a bruising series of battles, Cnut had learnt that Edmund, the young English king, was a steely warrior worthy of respect, and that English nobleman Edric, who had defected to Edmund’s side, could not be trusted. Both lessons were confirmed on October 18th that year.
Edmund Ironside, King of England, and Cnut the Great, King of Denmark, fought hand-to-hand for one of European history’s richest purses.
In 1016, King Cnut of Denmark led a series of bruising attacks on King Edmund of England, hoping to add the English crown to the crowns of Denmark and Norway. Six times Edmund and Cnut had met in battle, and at the sixth attempt Cnut had captured the crown jewels. But whereas Edmund’s warrior-courage had earned Cnut’s abiding respect, the English nobles were anxious only to save their own skins.
Edric’s treason handed the crown of England to Cnut the Great, but Cnut was not so poor a judge of character as to believe that a traitor could be trusted.
Henry of Huntingdon has told us how in the autumn of 1016, King Cnut of Denmark and Norway finally managed to subdue the English King, Edmund, thanks to repeated betrayals by Edmund’s treacherous counsellor, ealdorman Edric. Edmund agreed to be known henceforth as King of Wessex only, leaving Cnut as the more powerful King of Mercia, but the two warriors nevertheless cherished great mutual respect.
King Canute enacted a memorable demonstration of the limits of government power.
This famous story is regarded as a fable by many but it is a very early one, being already established only a century or so after the time of King Canute (Cnut), who reigned from 1016 to 1035. It is important to be clear that Canute was not trying to prove he could ‘turn back the tides’. He was trying to prove that he couldn’t.