Canute the Great Part 23

[374] Adamus, _Gesta_, ii., c. 54.

[375] _Danmarks Riges Historie_, i., 409.

[376] Adamus, _Gesta_, ii., c. 54. Manitius (_Deutsche Geschichte_, 370) believes the cession was not made before 1035.

[377] Larson, _The King's Household, in England_, 140-142.

[378] _Gesta_, ii., c. 53.

[379] _Gesta_, ii., c. 54.

[380] _Ibid._, c. 58.

[381] _Ibid._, c. 55; iv., c. 33.

[382] Adamus, _Gesta_, ii., c. 62.

[383] Liebermann, _Gesetze der Angelsachsen_, i., 278 ff.

[384] _Canute_, c. 17, I.

[385] _Ibid._, cc. 3, 4; _II. Canute_, c. 39.

[386] _I. Canute_, c. 4, 2.

[387] _Ibid._, c. 15.

[388] _Ibid._, c. 17.

[389] _I. Canute_, c. 22.

[390] _Ibid._, cc. 8-10.

[391] _II. Canute_, c. 5, 1.

[392] On this point the Norse sources furnish evidence everywhere. For the condition among the Scandinavians in Britain, see the account of the "Siege of Durham" published among the writings of Simeon of Durham (_Opera Omnia_, 215-220).

[393] _I. Canute_, c. 7, 3.

[394] _II. Canute_, cc. 52, 52, I, 74.

[395] _II. Canute_, c. 20, I.

[396] For the text of these compilations (including the forged forest law) see Liebermann, _Gesetze der Angelsachsen_, i., 529-546, 612-626.

The doc.u.ments have been made the subject of a series of studies by F.

Liebermann, the results of which are summed up in Pollock and Maitland, _History of English Law_, i., 100-101.

[397] Liebermann, _Gesetze der Angelsachsen_, i., 620.

[398] _II. Canute_, c. 80, I.

[399] Liebermann, _Gesetze der Angelsachsen_, i., 642; _Leges Edwardi Confessoris_, c. 16.

[400] On this subject see Morris, _The Frankpledge System_, c. i.

[401] On this subject the most important work is Steenstrup's _Danelag_ (_Normannerne_, iv.); see especially pp. 75-76, 85-92, 175 ff.; also _Normannerne_, iii., 366-368.

[402] _II. Canute_, c. 30, 5.

[403] _Ibid._, c. 50 ff.

[404] Larson, _The King's Household in England_, c. 7.

[405] _Danmarks Riges Historie_, i., 404-405.

[406] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, c. 239.

CHAPTER XIII

NORTHERN CULTURE IN THE DAYS OF CANUTE

To present an adequate discussion of the state of culture among Canute's subjects in the s.p.a.ce of a single chapter would be impossible. So far as the western realm is concerned it would also be unnecessary, as the subject of Anglo-Saxon culture is an old study and discussions in English are readily accessible. This chapter will therefore be chiefly concerned with the civilisation of the Northern lands, and especially with the great transformations that came with the viking age and were becoming most evident toward its close.

The two controlling types of civilisation in the Anglo-Scandinavian Empire, the English and the Norse, were both fundamentally Germanic; but English culture had for centuries been permeated with Christian thought, while in the North the ideals of heathendom were still a force to be taken into account. It is difficult to characterise Northern society in the earlier decades of the eleventh century: all the various regions were not in the same stage of development; all were not subject to the same modifying influences. But it was a growing organism, showing change in almost every fibre. Scandinavian civilisation was gradually approaching the European type. There is danger that we may place the Northman on a too high plane of culture; but the error is more frequently on the other side.[407] Measured by the standards of his own age, the Northman was not a barbarian. He had great energy of mind and much intellectual curiosity. He sailed everywhere and frequently included European ideas in his plunder or merchandise.

The population throughout Scandinavia was overwhelmingly rural; cities were few and insignificant, when we consider the number of houses and inhabitants, though it appears that the urban element was rapidly developing in the eleventh century. As early as the ninth century we find mention of Birca, an island city in Lake Maelar in eastern Sweden; of Heathby near the modern city of Sleswick on the southern border of Denmark; and of Skiringshall in southern Norway.[408] These and other cities evidently originated in the need of definite market places. Roads were poor in the middle ages and the sea was often a dangerous highway; commerce was therefore largely limited to the more favourable seasons of the year, and hence the importance of periodic markets. These were often held in connection with the great sacrificial festivals and it is therefore not strange that the earlier cities grew up on or near the sites of the ancient sanctuaries.[409]

In such localities grew up Odense on the island of Funen, Wisby on the island of Gotland, and Skiringshall on the great Bay.[410] Nidaros (Throndhjem) is said to have been founded by the first King Olaf, but its great importance dates from the canonisation of Saint Olaf whose bones were buried there. Kingscrag (Konungah.e.l.le) at the mouth of the Gaut River, and Tunsberg on the western sh.o.r.e of Folden Bay seem to have had their origin as landing places for merchants and vikings. On the other hand, Sarpsborg across the inlet from Tunsberg evidently grew up around a stronghold established in the days of Saint Olaf. Urban developments can also be traced in the western colonies: old cities in England, especially in the Danelaw, pa.s.sed into the control of the Northmen; new cities rose on the sh.o.r.es of the Irish Sea.

This commercial movement began to gather strength during the quiet decades of the tenth century but it must have progressed rapidly during the peaceful reign of Canute. From Novgorod in Russia to Bristol and Limerick in the British Isles the ships of the North sailed every summer laden with the products of all Northern Europe: furs from Norway and Russia; the teeth of the walrus from the Arctic waters; cured fish from the Scandinavian seas; honey from the Baltic sh.o.r.es; Norwegian hawks for the English sportsmen; and numerous other products. In return for these the Northmen received the luxuries of the South, especially wine, wheat, and silk; but numerous thralls were also imported, particularly from the Celtic lands.[411]

These foreign products were chiefly consumed in the homes of the Scandinavian aristocracy. In material comforts the Northmen were probably not far behind the corresponding cla.s.ses elsewhere in Europe.

When the G.o.d Righ came to the chieftain's house,

Then the housewife thought of her arms, Smoothened her linen, pleated her sleeves.

Broad was her headgear, a brooch on her breast; She wore trailing sashes and a blue-dyed sark.

When her son was born, "she swaddled him in silk"; and when her daughter-in-law came to the hall as a bride, "she walked under the veil of fine linen."[412] The sudden consciousness of rare finery was not limited to the women; rich and highly coloured clothing also delighted the men.

The influence of alien culture was also shown in the entertainment provided for the visiting G.o.d:

Then took Mother a marked[413] cover Of bleached linen and laid upon the board.

Next she laid out the thinnest loaves Of wheaten flour on the white cover.

She set the table with silver-mounted dishes Heaped with roasted birds and ham.

The wine brightened the mounted beakers.