Canute the Great Part 18

However, a large part of the Swedish fleet did not enter the harbour, but continued the journey eastward and northward; nor were the sails lowered before the chiefs had reached their respective homes.

Early the following morning, King Anund ordered the signal to be sounded for a council of the remaining chiefs. The entire army landed and the a.s.sembly proceeded to discuss the situation. King Anund announced that of 420 ships that had joined him in the preceding summer only 120 were now in the harbour. These with the sixty Norwegian ships did not make a force sufficient for successful operations against Canute. The Swedish King therefore proposed to Olaf that he should spend the winter in Sweden, and in the spring, perhaps, they might be able to renew hostilities. Olaf demurred: the former viking could not surrender his purposes so readily; it would still be possible, he argued, to defeat Canute as his large fleet would soon be compelled to scatter in search of provisions, his eastern coasts having been too recently harried to afford much in the way of supplies. But the outcome was that Olaf left his ships in Sweden and returned to Norway overland.

Canute kept informed as to the situation in the enemies' fleet and army but did not attempt pursuit. It would seem that a great opportunity was thus permitted to slip past; but the King probably did not so regard it.

To fight the Swedes was not a part of his present plan; his hope was to detach King Anund from his more vigorous ally. When he learned that the hostile fleet was about to dissolve, he returned to Zealand and blocked the Sound, hoping, no doubt, to intercept the Norwegian King on his return northward. As we have seen, however, Olaf appreciated the danger and refused to risk an ambush. That same season saw him on the march through south-western Sweden to his manors on the sh.o.r.es of the great Firth. On his arrival in his own land, he dismissed the larger part of his host; only a small body of trusted men including several prominent magnates remained with him at Sarpsborg, where he prepared to spend the winter.[314]

Of this campaign we have, broadly speaking, but one detailed account,--the one given in the sagas. As these are far from contemporary, doubts have been cast upon the story, but in the main it seems reliable. That there was a battle at Holy River we know from the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, which states that Canute was defeated at that place by Ulf and Eglaf supported by a large force of Swedes. As to the strategic device of King Olaf, we cannot be so sure; but the account in the sagas reveals a topographical knowledge so specific as to argue strongly for the belief that the authors must have had access to reliable sources. There is also a question as to the date of the battle: Snorre seems to place it in 1027; the _Old English Chronicle_ has it in 1025. The battle seems to have been fought some time in September, 1026.

It evidently occurred before Canute made his pilgrimage to Rome, where we find him at Easter, 1027.

Though Canute suffered a defeat at Holy River, the outcome gave no advantage to his enemies. The Swedes were discouraged and tired of a conflict which, after all, did not seem to concern them. King Olaf was discredited: a King who had abandoned his ships was not in position to claim a victory. From that day he found disloyalty everywhere. The pretender had only to appear on the Norwegian coasts with ships and men to secure the enthusiastic allegiance of the rebellious Nors.e.m.e.n.

Canute was not prepared, however, to move against Olaf at this time.

Autumn was coming on, a season that was far too short for naval operations. And soon a tragedy was enacted at the Danish court, the consequences of which probably caused a complete rearrangement of Canute's immediate plans. The day before Michaelmas the King proceeded to Roeskild, where Earl Ulf had prepared an elaborate entertainment for him and his train. According to the sagas Ulf was aggressive, vigorous, and brave; but he was also tactless and careless in speech, and possessed a temper that was not easily controlled. The festivities did not seem to please the King--he was moody and silent. In the evening Ulf suggested a game of chess, hoping, no doubt, that the play would help to restore the royal good humour.

But as they were playing at chess, King Canute and Earl Ulf, the King made a wrong move and the Earl took one of his knights. The King moved his opponent's chessman back and told him to make another play; this angered the Earl; he overturned the chessboard, rose, and left the table. Then said the King, "Are you running away now, timid Wolf!" The Earl turned in the doorway and replied, "Farther you would have run at Holy River, if you had been able.

You did not then call Ulf timid, when I rushed up to help you, when the Swedes were threshing you and your men like dogs." With that the Earl left the room and went to sleep.[315]

It is not likely, however, that the Earl's rest was wholly undisturbed that night, for in the morning he was found to have sought sanctuary in Holy Trinity Church. Nor did sleep appease the King's anger; while he was dressing the next morning, he ordered his shoe-swain to go at once and slay Ulf. But the servant dared not strike him within the sacred precincts. Then the King called Ivar White, one of his guardsmen, a Norseman who is said to have been Earl Eric's nephew,[316] and sent him with similar orders. Ivar soon returned to the King with a b.l.o.o.d.y sword as evidence that his sister's husband was no more.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Lines from the oldest fragment of Snorre's History (written about 1260). The fragment tells the story of the battle of Holy River and the murder of Ulf.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A LONGSHIP--Model of the Gokstad ship on the waves.]

Tales of chess games that have resulted seriously for at least one of the players appear elsewhere in mediaeval literature; hence it would not be safe to accept this account without question. Still, there is nothing improbable about the tale; the insult that Ulf offered was evidently seized upon by the King as a pretext for ridding himself of a man whom he believed to be a traitor. An independent English tradition credits Canute with a pa.s.sion for the game: the historian of Ramsey tells us that Bishop Ethelric once found him "relieving the wearisomeness of the long night with games of dice and chess."[317] Nor is there any reason to doubt that Ulf was actually a.s.sa.s.sinated at the time; his name disappears from the sources.

A life had been taken in G.o.d's own house; blood had been shed before the very altar; even though the King had ordered it, the Church could not overlook the crime. The priests immediately closed the church; but on the King's command, it was again opened and ma.s.s was said as before. It is recorded that large possessions were added to the church when services were resumed. To his sister the widowed Estrid, the King also owed satisfaction; we are told that she, too, received large landed estates. But her young son Sweyn, who was at this time scarcely more than eight years old, she prudently seems to have removed from her brother's kingdom; for twelve years the future King of Denmark was a guest at the Swedish court.[318]

It seems that the scene of his recent guilt had small attraction for Canute after that fateful Michaelmas season. He is said to have left the city and to have taken up his abode on his longship. But not many months later we find him on a pilgrimage to the capital of Christendom. The journey must have been planned during the autumn of 1026; it was actually undertaken during the early months of the following year; apparently the pilgrims arrived in Rome toward the end of March.

We cannot be sure what induced King Canute to make this journey at this particular time. In his message to the English people he says that he went to seek forgiveness for his sins; but this pious phrase is almost a rhetorical necessity in mediaeval doc.u.ments and must not be regarded too seriously. Nor can we trust the statement that the King had earlier vowed to make such a pilgrimage, but had hitherto been prevented by business of state; for the year 1027 had surely but little to offer in the way of leisure and peace. The motive must be sought in the political situation that had developed in the North in the year of the Holy River campaign, and in the strained relations that must have arisen between the King and the Church.

No doubt the eyes of the Christian world looked approvingly on the persistent efforts that Olaf of Norway, who was canonised four years later, was making to extirpate heathendom in the North. Especially must the English priesthood have looked with pride and pleasure on the vigorous growth of the Norse daughter Church. But here comes the Christian King of England with hostile forces to interfere in behalf of King Olaf's enemies. Canute probably protested that he would carry on the work; but it is clear that an absent monarch with wide imperial interests could scarcely hope to carry out successfully a policy that implied revolution both socially and religiously. His hand had also been raised against the Christian ruler of Sweden, which was yet a heathen land, against a prince in whom the Church doubtless reposed confidence and hope. Perhaps worst of all, Canute's hand was red with the blood of his sister's husband, his support at Holy River, whose life had been taken in violation of the right of sanctuary and sacred peace. The mediaeval Church was a sensitive organism and offences of this sort were not easily atoned for. It was time to pray at Saint Peter's tomb. It is also likely that Canute hoped to gain certain political advantages from the journey: in a strife with the Northern powers it would be well to have the Emperor a pa.s.sive if not an active ally; and this was the year of the imperial coronation.

Norse tradition remembers Canute's pilgrimage as that of a penitent: "he took staff and scrip, as did all the men who travelled with him, and journeyed southward to Rome; and the Emperor himself came out to meet him and he accompanied him all the way to the Roman city."[319] Sighvat the Scald, who was both Canute's and Olaf's friend, also mentions the pilgrim's staff in his reference to the royal pilgrimage.[320] Still, it is not to be thought that gold was overlooked in preparing for the journey: the saga adds that "King Canute had many horses with him laden with gold and silver," and that alms were distributed with a free hand.

The Encomiast, who saw the King in the monastery of Saint Bertin in the Flemish city of Saint-Omer, also gives us a picture, though one that is clearly exaggerated, of a penitent who is seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. With humble mien the royal pilgrim entered the holy precincts; his eyes cast down and streaming with tears, he implored the suffrages of the saints; beating his breast and heaving sighs, he pa.s.sed from altar to altar, kissed the sacred stones, and left large gifts upon each, even upon the smallest. In addition alms were distributed among the needy.[321]

The route followed was the old one from Denmark south-westward along the German coast to Flanders, whence the journey went southward through Lorraine and the Rhone country. It seems to have been Canute's intention to visit King Rudolf of Burgundy on the way; but he was found to have departed on a similar journey to the Eternal City. The progress was one that was doubtless long remembered in the monasteries along the route. Important inst.i.tutions at some distance from the chosen route seem also to have been remembered in a substantial way; it may have been on this occasion that a gift was sent to the monastic foundation at Chartres, of which we have grateful acknowledgment in the Epistles of Bishop Fulbert[322]; and another to the church at Cologne, a costly psalter and sacramentary which some time later found their way back to England.[323]

On Easter Day (March 26), King Canute a.s.sisted at the imperial coronation ceremony; on that day King Conrad and Queen Gisela received the imperial crowns in the Church of the Holy Apostles.[324] The a.s.sembly was large and splendid and the visiting sovereigns held places of conspicuous honour. When the Emperor at the close of the ceremony left the Church, Canute and Rudolf walked beside him. It was a day of great rejoicing among Conrad's German followers, ending, as was customary, with a fight between them and their Roman hosts.

On the 6th of April, a great synod met at the Lateran to consider various weighty matters and to settle certain important controversies.

It may have been at this meeting, though preliminary negotiations must have prepared the matter to some extent, that King Canute or his spokesman stated the complaints of the English Church. For one thing he urged that the price extorted from the English archbishops for the pallium was too high. The Pope promised to reduce the charges on condition that Peter's pence be regularly paid. Apparently the curia urged reform in church dues generally, for a little later Canute sent his English subjects a sharp reminder on this point. The Pope also agreed to exempt the English school at Rome from the customary tribute.

On the whole it seems, however, that the more substantial results of the negotiations remained with the Roman curia.

The English King had another set of grievances which seem to have been discussed in the same synod, but which particularly interested the ruler of Burgundy. English and Danish pilgrims, he a.s.serted, were not given fair and considerate treatment on their journeys to Rome: they were afflicted with unjust tolls and with overcharges at the inns; evidently Canute also felt that the highways should be made safer and justice more accessible to those who travelled on holy errands. In the matter of undue charges, the Burgundians appear to have been especially guilty.

The reasonableness of Canute's request was apparent to the synod, and it was decreed that the treatment of pilgrims should be liberal and just:

and all the princes have engaged by their edict, that my men, whether merchants or other travellers for objects of devotion, should go and return in security and peace, without any constraint of barriers or tolls.[325]

From Rome, Canute hurried back to Denmark, following the same route, it seems, as on the journey south. Soon after his return he sent a message to the English clergy and people, advising them as to his absence and doings in Italy.[326] From the use of the phrase, "here in the East" in speaking of the Scandinavian difficulties, it seems likely that the message was composed in Denmark or somewhere on the route not far from that kingdom. It was carried to England by Bishop Lifing of Crediton. In this doc.u.ment Canute also recounts the honours bestowed upon him in Italy; especially does he recall the presents of Emperor Conrad: "divers costly gifts, as well in golden and silver vessels as in mantles and vestments exceedingly precious."

The doc.u.ment also asks that the lawful church-dues be regularly paid,--Peter's pence, plough alms, church scot, and t.i.thes of the increase of animals and of farm products. This admonition was later enacted into law. At the same time he forbids his sheriffs and other officials to do injustice to any one, rich or poor, either in the hope of winning the royal favour or to gain wealth for the King. He has no need of wealth that has been unjustly acquired. But this lofty a.s.sertion of principle looks somewhat strange in the light of the fact that the King was in those very days engaged in bribing a nation.

There can be no doubt that the visit to the Eternal City was of considerable importance for the future career of the Anglo-Danish King.

Doubtless Rome began to realise what a power was this young monarch who up to this time had probably been regarded as little better than a barbarian, one of those dreaded pirates who had so long and so often terrorised the Italian sh.o.r.es. Here he was next to the Emperor the most redoubtable Christian ruler in Europe. Probably Canute returned to the North with the Pope's approval of his plans for empire in Scandinavia,--tacit if not expressed. John XIX. was a Pope whose ideal of a church was one that was efficiently administered and he may have seen in Canute a ruler of his own spirit.

FOOTNOTES:

[303] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1023.

[304] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 148.

[305] Steenstrup, _Normannerne_, iii., 349.

[306] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 144.

[307] Saxo, _Gesta Danorum_, 347-348. There seems to be no reason to doubt that Saxo here reports a reliable tradition.

[308] _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 148.

[309] _Gesta Danorum_, 347 ff.

[310] Entry for the year 1025; this should be corrected to 1026.

[311] _Gesta Danorum_, 348.

[312] _Ibid._

[313] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 150.

[314] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, cc. 154-159.

[315] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 153.

[316] Munch, _Det Norske Folks Historie_, I., ii., 737.

[317] _Historia Rameseiensis_, 137.

[318] Adamus, _Gesta_, ii., c. 71.

[319] _f.a.grskinna_, c. 33.

[320] _Corpus Poetic.u.m Boreale_, ii., 136. The statement in _f.a.grskinna_ is probably based on Sighvat's verses.

[321] _Encomium Emmae_, ii., c. 20.

[322] Migne, _Patrologia Latina_, cxli, col. 231. As to its date the letter furnishes no clue. Bishop Fulbert died, according to Migne's calculations, in April, 1029, two years after Canute's journey.