Canute the Great Part 22

Unwan was displeased when he learned that Canute was sending bishops from England to Denmark; we have already seen how he managed to make a prisoner and even a partisan of Gerbrand, who, like Unwan himself, was doubtless a German. This must have been in 1022 or 1023, more likely in the former year. Aided by Gerbrand, who acted as mediator, Unwan was able to make Canute recognise his primacy. Adam of Bremen mentions great gifts that Unwan sent to Canute,[378] but these were probably not the determining consideration. In 1022, Canute was fighting the Slavs and adding territory that would naturally belong to the mission fields of Bremen, and it would hardly be wise to make an enemy of one whose historic rights had been admitted by earlier Danish kings. Till Unwan's death in 1029, the King and the Archbishop were fast friends. Unwan served as mediator between Canute and the Emperor when the alliance was formed in 1025 (?)[379] and otherwise served the Danish King. It seems probable that a personal acquaintance was formed, for Adam tells us that Unwan rebuilt Hamburg and spent considerable time there, "whither he also invited the very glorious King Canute ... to confer with him."[380]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HYBY STONE (Monument from the first half of the eleventh century; raised to a Christian as appears from the cross.)]

The _entente_ that was thus formed seems also to have affected mission operations in Norway. It is likely that Unwan demanded that King Olaf should no longer be allowed to recruit his ecclesiastical forces in England; for soon after the date that we have a.s.sumed as that of the new treaty, Bishop Grimkell appeared as King Olaf's amba.s.sador at Unwan's court. The Bishop, who was evidently a Northman from the Danelaw, brought the customary gifts and the prayer that Unwan would accept the Anglian clerks and prelates then in Norway as of his province and that he would further increase the clerical forces of the kingdom.[381] Thus in the years 1022-1023, the rights of Hamburg-Bremen were recognised everywhere.

Unwan was succeeded in the province by Libentius, the nephew of an earlier Libentius who had held the metropolitan office in Bremen before Unwan's day. He was of Italian blood and therefore not likely to be burdened with German sympathies. Before everything else, says the good Master Adam, he entered into friendly relations with the King of the Danes.[382] But during Libentius' as well as Unwan's primacy Canute seems to have selected the bishops for his Danish as well as for his English sees.

During the closing years of his life, Canute's policy was completely identified with that of the mediaeval Church as regards his att.i.tude toward heathen and un-Christian practices. So long as the Norwegian problem was unsettled, the King dared not take a decided stand against the old faith, as he was too much dependent on heathen or semi-heathen a.s.sistance against King Olaf. But after the conquest there was no reason for further delay, and the English Church got its desired legislation.

In two comparatively long enactments, one ecclesiastical and one secular, all the old and important church laws were re-enacted and various new provisions added.[383] Archbishop Dunstan was canonised and given May 13th as his ma.s.s day.[384] Added protection was given to churches and to the ministers of the altar: outlawry was to be the punishment for slaying a priest.[385] It was carefully explained that the privileges of the priesthood were due to the exalted character of the divine office; for

great is the exorcism and glorious the consecration that cast out devils and put them to flight whenever baptism is celebrated or the host is consecrated; and holy angels are present to watch over the sacred act and through the power of G.o.d to a.s.sist the priests so long as they worthily serve Christ.[386]

Sundays and other church holidays were to be properly kept; and no commercial transactions were to be tolerated on Sundays, nor were the public courts to hold sessions on those days except in cases of extreme necessity.[387] Due attention was to be given to the seasons when the Church prescribed fasting; but it was explicitly stated that except in the case of penitents, no fasting was to be required between Easter and Pentecost, or from Christmas to the close of the week following Epiphany,[388] the joyous period of the Northern Yule-tide.

It seems clear that enactments of this sort would be necessary only in regions where there might still be a considerable number of recent converts with whom the observance of Christian rites and customs had not yet become a habit. It may be, therefore, that these laws were particularly intended for certain parts of the Danelaw. Perhaps it was the need of improving the religious conditions in the Danish settlements that inspired the royal demand for general instruction in the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

And we order every Christian to learn at least so much that he can understand clearly the teachings of the true faith, and to learn thoroughly the Pater Noster and the Credo.[389]

Some attention is also paid to ecclesiastical finance. Fines were provided for neglect in the payment of church dues; part of these were to be paid to the bishop. The Anglo-Saxons were in the habit of making contributions for church lights at the feast of the Purification (Candlemas, February 2d), at Easter Eve, and on All Saints' day (November 1st). A fortnight after Easter plough alms were to be paid. A t.i.the of young beasts was due at Pentecost. Peter's pence were contributed on Saint Peter's day (August 1st). A t.i.the of the harvested crops was due at All Saints' day. The last tax of the year was the church scot which was paid at Martinsmas (November 11th). All these contributions are specifically mentioned and urged in Canute's laws for the English Church.[390]

The second part of Canute's legislation, the secular laws, is a doc.u.ment of considerable length, of which only a comparatively small part is copied from the earlier "dooms." It deals with a variety of subjects, several of which may be cla.s.sed as religious rather than secular. A very important act was the definition and prohibition of heathendom and heathen practices.

Heathendom is the worship of idols, namely the worship of heathen G.o.ds, and the sun or moon, fire or flood, fountains or rocks or forest trees of any sort; also to practise witchcraft or to commit murders in any manner, whether in sacrifices or in auguries, or to busy oneself with any such delusion.[391]

As it is not customary to forbid what is never performed, we have in this enactment evidence for a persisting heathendom on English soil. In the Scandinavian colonies pagan practices were probably hard to uproot; at the same time, it is not likely that the old faith was a force that needed to be considered any longer.

The matter of Christian marriage is dealt with in both the secular and the ecclesiastical laws. It was difficult to enforce the regulations of the Church on this subject and particularly among the vikings, whose ideas as to the binding force of marriage were exceedingly vague.[392]

Canute forbade clandestine marriages; to the old law that a man should have but one wife he added the important provision that "she should be his legally espoused wife."[393] He also gave the protection of the state to widows and virgins who preferred to remain unmarried.[394]

Other important enactments deal with matters of finance, especially with the King's share in the fines a.s.sessed in the courts, his income from his estates, and coinage and counterfeiting; there are also important laws that look toward the security of persons and of property. The principle of equality before the law is distinctly stated: the magnates were to have no unusual privileges in the courts of justice.

Many a powerful man will, if he can and may, defend his man in whatever way it seems to him the more easy to defend him, whether as freeman or as _theow_ (serf). But we will not suffer that injustice.[395]

With the legislation of Canute, the development of Old English law comes to a close. Various tracts or customals of considerable importance were composed in the eleventh century, some of which may have been put into form after the close of Canute's reign; but of these we know neither the authors nor the date. The "Laws of Edward" that the Norman kings swore to maintain were in reality the laws of Canute; for when the Anglo-Norman lawyers of the early twelfth century began to investigate the subject of Old English law, they found its most satisfactory statement in the legislation of the mighty Dane. In the _Quadripart.i.tus_ these laws occupy the most prominent place; while the compilations that Liebermann has called the _Inst.i.tuta c.n.u.ti_ and the _Consiliatio c.n.u.ti_ are scarcely more than translations of Canute's legislation for church and state.[396]

So great was the Danish King's reputation as a lawmaker in the twelfth century that he was even credited with enactments and inst.i.tutional experiments with which he never had any connection. Toward the close of that century an official of the royal forest, as it seems, drew up an elaborate law for the King's hunting preserves which he tried to give currency and authority by ascribing it to Canute.[397] The Dane was not indifferent to the chase, but he did not find it necessary to make it the subject of extensive legislation. In his secular laws the subject is disposed of in a single sentence: "And let every man forego my hunting, wherever I wish to have it free from trespa.s.s, under penalty of the full fine."[398]

In the so-called "Laws of Edward the Confessor" it is stated that the _murdrum_ fine originated in the reign of Canute. It is well-known that William the Conqueror found it necessary to take special measures for the protection of his Normans from a.s.sa.s.sination at the hands of Englishmen who were seeking vengeance; he decreed, therefore, that the hundred where the murder of a Norman was committed should see that the criminal was given proper punishment or pay a heavy fine in case of default. The twelfth-century lawyer who drew up the "Laws of Edward"

evidently believed that in this matter William was following a precedent from Danish times.[399] But though it seems that Canute was obliged to legislate for the protection of his Danish officials and subjects in Norway, there is no good evidence for any corresponding decree in England.

A similar conclusion has been reached as to Canute's responsibility for the inst.i.tution known as frankpledge. t.i.thing and surety, two Old English inst.i.tutions which were the roots of the later frankpledge, are mentioned in the laws of Canute; but they were still distinct. The t.i.thing, normally a group of ten, was charged chiefly with the duty of a.s.sisting in the pursuit of criminals; not until its members had been pledged to a duty of mutual suretyship, each being held responsible in certain respects for the behaviour of all his a.s.sociates in the group, did the t.i.thing develop into the pledge.[400]

In Canute's empire there were at least two inst.i.tutional systems, those of England and of the North. In some respects both had attained a high development. The question how far these systems influenced each other as the result of the union is a difficult one: the union of the crowns was of short duration and the inst.i.tutional changes that seem to indicate borrowing may be due in large part to earlier contact through the Danelaw. With the Northmen came a new conception of personal honour and a new term for criminality of the most dishonourable type, the _nithing_ name. Norse rules were introduced into court procedure. Administrative areas came to bear Norse appellations, as the wapentake in the Danelaw generally and the riding in Yorkshire.[401] These facts, however, belong in large measure to the earlier development, though it doubtless continued through the reign of Canute and longer.

But though Scandinavian ideas of law had long flourished on English soil, it was not till Canute's day that they were formally accepted as a part of the Anglo-Saxon legal system. In penal legislation a new spirit appeared: there was less mercy and punishments became more severe--exile, mutilation, and forfeiture of life more common. If the ordeal should convict a man of a second offence, the penalty might be the loss of the hands or the feet, or of both. Still further mutilation was decreed if the criminal should continue to commit grave offences; "but let the soul be spared."[402] The same penalties were not always provided for both s.e.xes: a faithless husband might have to pay the ancient money fine for man-slaughter; a sinning wife was to suffer the loss of all her property and her ears and nose.[403] Certain inst.i.tutions of Scandinavian origin took on a peculiar form during Canute's reign: for instance, the guard of housecarles in its English and later Danish form, and the office of staller or the King's spokesman at the popular a.s.semblies, which office seems to have been introduced into England in Canute's day.[404]

It is still more difficult to determine what results the union had for the inst.i.tutional development of Denmark. On only one point have we clear evidence: Canute was the first Danish King to begin a systematic coinage of money. Coins were stricken in Denmark before his day, but there was no organised system of mints. Canute supplied this need, using the English pattern. He brought moneyers from his western kingdom and located them in the chief cities of Denmark; coins have come down to us that were stricken by these moneyers in the cities of Roeskild, Ringsted, Odense, Heathby (Sleswick), and Lund.[405]

On the other hand, Canute's Norwegian legislation shows clear traces of Anglo-Saxon influence. Of his three kingdoms, Norway, doubtless, had the least efficient const.i.tution. In Norway there was much liberty, but also much disorder; emphasis was placed on personal rights, especially on those of the aristocracy; but such emphasis is too frequently subversive of good government. The Dane was a believer in strong, orderly administration: it was his purpose to introduce European principles into the Norse const.i.tution. Had he been personally in control he might have succeeded but his deputies at Nidaros were unequal to the task; discontent and rebellion were the result.

For the laws that the new regents proclaimed in Norway, the Nors.e.m.e.n were inclined to lay all blame on Sweyn's mother, Elgiva (Alfiva, the Northmen called her), Canute's mistress of olden time. But there can be little doubt that in this matter she and her son merely carried out the King's instructions. The laws fall into three cla.s.ses: revenue legislation, police and military ordinances, and a new definition of penalties.[406]

A new tax that apparently affected the entire population was the demand that at Christmas time every hearth should contribute certain "gifts": a measure of malt, the leg of a full-grown ox, and as much unspun flax as could be held between the thumb and the middle finger. This reminds one somewhat of the English ferm, a contribution that was due from the various counties. It was also enacted that the franklins should a.s.sist in erecting buildings on the royal estates, and that merchants and fishermen and all who sailed to Iceland should pay certain dues to the King.

A law that was clearly aimed at the ancient practice of blood feud provided that murder should entail the loss of lands as well as of personal property; also that the King alone should take inheritance after an outlaw. In those same years Canute decreed in England that whoever committed a deed of outlawry should forfeit his lands to the King. The new Norse laws also forbade any subject to leave the land without permission, on pain of outlawry. Parallel to this is the English law that ordered forfeiture for leaving one's lord, with the difference that in Norway the King himself was the lord. It was also decreed that the testimony of a Dane should outweigh that of ten Nors.e.m.e.n, the purpose of which was clearly to secure the lives of Danish officials and soldiers.

It was further provided that every male above the age of five years should be counted one of seven to equip a soldier. It may be that this provision was suggested by the Old English custom of grouping five hides of land (originally the lands of five households) for similar purposes.

Snorre believes that these laws were Danish in origin; but it is more likely that they grew out of Canute's experience with Anglo-Saxon custom and the principles of Continental feudalism, though it is possible that some of them had been introduced into Denmark earlier in the reign and came to Norway from the southern kingdom.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUNIC MONUMENT FROM UPLAND, SWEDEN (Shows blending of Celtic and Northern art.)]

FOOTNOTES:

[358] Steenstrup, _Normannerne_, i., 195-199.

[359] Munch, _Det norske Folks Historie_, I., ii., 704, 705.

[360] _Encomium Emmae_, ii., c. 19. The Encomiast is intensely partisan and much given to exaggeration; but we cannot reject the statement as to the English oath without convicting him of a worse fault for which there was scarcely a sufficient motive at the time when the _Encomium_ was composed.

[361] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 130.

[362] _Corpus Poetic.u.m Boreale_, ii., 135-136.

[363] Steenstrup, _Venderne og de Danske_, 64-65. The name occurs in the _Liber Vibae_ of Winchester in a list of benefactors. See above p. 57.

[364] Steenstrup, _Venderne og de Danske_, 65. Florence of Worcester, _Chronicon_, i., 199.

[365] Kemble, _Codex Diplomaticus_, No. 743.

[366] After Canute's death, G.o.descalc returned to his native country and took up the cause of Christian mission effort among the heathen Wends.

Adamus, _Gesta_, ii., cc. 64, 75.

[367] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 247.

[368] _Mon. Ger. Hist., Scriptores_, iv., 134; Ademar's _Chronicle_, ii., c. 41.

[369] Migne, _Patrologia Latina_, cxli., col. 122: sermon by Ademar.

Migne considers the sermon of doubtful genuineness, possibly because he thought its delivery should go back to 998, when in reality 1028 seems to be the correct date.

[370] Lavisse, _Histoire de France_, II., ii., 162.

[371] Manitius, _Deutsche Geschichte_, 322-323.

[372] Manitius, _Deutsche Geschichte_, 360-361, 365, 389 ff.

[373] _Ibid._, 369-370.