Cnut the Great

by Timothy Bolton

Overview

A seminal biography of Cnut, the underappreciated eleventh-century Scandinavian warlord-turned-Anglo-Saxon monarch who united the English and Danish crowns to forge a North Sea empire

"A gripping and revelatory biography of Britain's Danish conqueror."— Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Week

Historian Timothy Bolton offers a fascinating reappraisal of one of the most misunderstood of the Anglo-Saxon kings: Cnut, the powerful Danish warlord who conquered England and created a North Sea empire in the eleventh century. This seminal biography draws from a wealth of written and archaeological sources to provide the most detailed accounting to date of the life and accomplishments of a remarkable figure in European history, a forward-thinking warrior-turned-statesman who created a new Anglo-Danish regime through designed internationalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300243185
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	03/12/2019
Series:	The English Monarchs Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	801,587
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Timothy Bolton is the author of The Empire of Cnut the Great. He is an honorary fellow of both Cardiff and Aberdeen Universities.

Table of Contents

List of Plates viii

Preface and Acknowledgements x

Maps xiv

Introduction 1

1 Cnut's Childhood and Youth: The Beginnings of a Conqueror 28

2 The Invasions of England in 1013 and 1016 53

3 The Early Years of Rule in England 92

4 The Rise to Dominance over Scandinavia 129

5 Cnut and the Field of European Politics 158

6 The Period of Mature Rule in England and Scandinavia 172

7 The Aftermath of Cnut's Death 196

Conclusion 209

Appendix I The Story of Cnut and the Wav Us 214

Appendix II Concordance of Charters Cited in this Volume 217

Bibliography 220

Index 241

Editorial Reviews

"A gripping and revelatory biography of Britain's Danish conqueror."— Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Week

“Yale’s invaluable English Monarchs series receives an impressive addition with this life of Cnut, the Danish warlord who conquered England in the first half of the 11th century. Bolton, a Stockholm-based scholar, restores Cnut’s image by drawing on a full range of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon sources.”
—Tony Barber, Financial Times

“The newest and by far the best general-interest biography of Cnut . . . [Bolton] marshals a greater array of sources, and uses them with more energetic creativity, than any previous writer on this king has done . . . Consistently fascinating.”—Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly

“Well written [and] engaging”—D. J. Shepherd, Choice

"Smart, pithy, scholarly biography of one of England's least-understood but most intriguing kings. Another excellent volume in the authoritative Yale Monarchs series."—Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets and The Wars of The Roses

"Through judicious use of Northern sources Timothy Bolton gives us a Cnut firmly rooted in Scandinavia, and a nuanced portrait of an English monarch and Scandinavian ruler active on a European stage."—Pauline Stafford, author of Queen Emma and Queen Edith 

"Drawing on a range of rich resources from Old Norse sagas and poetry to charters, chronicles and laws from England, Timothy Bolton presents a fresh and engaging account of the compelling figure of Cnut in all his diverse glory."—Rory Naismith, King’s College London, author of Money and Power in Anglo-Saxon England

"In this stimulating and timely study, Timothy Bolton illuminates a king and an age of supreme importance. Cnut's forging of an Anglo-Scandinavian Empire and England's place within it are explored in original and thought-provoking ways - fresh evidence is put forward and well-known material considered anew. Bolton is a confident guide through the tangled thicket of sources that surround Cnut, handling English and Scandinavian texts with insight and sensitivity."— Martin J. Ryan, co-author of The Anglo-Saxon World

From the Publisher

"A gripping and revelatory biography of Britain's Danish conqueror."— Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Week

Simon Sebag Montefiore - The Week

“Yale’s invaluable English Monarchs series receives an impressive addition with this life of Cnut, the Danish warlord who conquered England in the first half of the 11th century. Bolton, a Stockholm-based scholar, restores Cnut’s image by drawing on a full range of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon sources.”
—Tony Barber, Financial Times

Financial Times - Tony Barber

Timothy Bolton’s book is a timely reminder that seas connect as much as they separate, and that even a thousand years ago it was common to hear different languages on English streets... It is pleasing to see an early medieval king given the same attention as his successors.”—Lesley Abrams, TLS

TLS - Lesley Abrams

“It is evident that Timothy Bolton masters the English written sources of the period to perfection. We get a finely tuned history of the means and ways in which Cnut wielded power through the machinery of government, carried out by the personnel in the English church. It is also apparent that Bolton has a fine ear for the complexities of utilising the few, limited and late written sources from Scandinavia… it is an invaluable introduction for cultural historians and archaeologists to what a proper political historian fostered in the English tradition can wring out of source material.”—Karen Schousbe, Medieval Histories

Medieval Histories - Karen Schousbe

“How did Cnut win this power and how did he use it? Timothy Bolton is a formidable scholar who endeavours to answer these questions.”—Lawrence James, The Times, 11th February 2017

The Times - Lawrence James

‘Through judicious use of Northern sources Timothy Bolton gives us a Cnut firmly rooted in Scandinavia, and a nuanced portrait of an English monarch and Scandinavian ruler active on a European stage.’  - Pauline Stafford, author of Queen Emma and Queen Edith 

Pauline Stafford