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00:21On the shores of Sandwich,
00:25a man walks in silence.
00:31His name is Knut, a Viking prince born into a line of kings who have ruled Denmark for
00:39more than half a century.
00:46A few days earlier, he believed he could rely on a pact his father had forged with the English
00:52nobility, an agreement that he thought would make him king of England.
01:02But the lords turned their backs on him.
01:10And today, it is their sons who will pay the price.
01:21Many of these hostages may have been young men not much older than him.
01:27In many ways that highlights the ruthlessness Knut was wishing to demonstrate in this particular
01:35action.
01:38He is only 20 years old, but Knut does not tremble.
01:46With a single gesture, he orders the hostages to be mutilated.
01:52Noses, ears, hands.
01:58Just enough for England to understand.
02:05He is not killing them.
02:07He wants these people to go back and send the message, don't underestimate me.
02:13In his eyes burns a cold fury.
02:16He swears he will return.
02:18And this time, he will take England.
02:23In his eyes burns a cold fury.
02:23And this time, he will take England.
02:52And this time, he will take England and win the war.
02:52And this time, he will join the war.
02:52And this time, he will get cut out of the world.
02:52And this time, he will run for England.
02:53And this time, I will turn everything.
03:20On the shores of the Rosgilde Fjord,
03:24Canute watches the longships approaching.
03:30On board stands his brother, Harold.
03:35As always, a single glance is enough to spark a furious race.
03:41Not for the thrill of the game, but out of defiance.
03:46Between the two brothers, everything already seems written.
03:56It is not Canute, but Harold, who will wear the crown.
04:03Canute is the second son, and I think that's important in understanding the man and understanding
04:09his ambitions, because he can be Prince Harry to Prince William.
04:14As long as Harold stays alive, Canute is not really going to be in a substantial position
04:19of power in Denmark.
04:22So there was a lot to play for, and that probably explains some of the kinds of jockeying and
04:26competitiveness we often see amongst heirs in this period.
04:35Ideally located at the crossroads of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the Kingdom of Denmark
04:41is one of the most powerful and feared realms in Scandinavia.
04:48It's coastlines scattered with islands and carved out by fjords, shelters natural harbours where hundreds
04:54of merchant ships converge.
05:03Like in Roskilde, the capital, the merchant stores overflow with riches from the east and west.
05:15Amber, furs, weapons, and slaves.
05:24For Canute, who has never left his homeland, these treasures are a call to adventure.
05:31The kings of the Danes could be divided into two main categories, kings of the land and kings of the
05:37sea.
05:37Those who stay in the country and govern it, and the younger sons often chose the sea, setting out for
05:43adventure
05:43in England, in West Francia, or elsewhere.
05:49It seems Canute was raised with that very purpose in mind, to conquer, to wage war, to amass wealth abroad,
05:57and then return home to carve out his own share of power, by force or by strategy.
06:06Canute's thirst for power comes from an extraordinary lineage.
06:10Her grandfather, Harold Bluetooth, who for the first time united the kingdom under a single crown.
06:18And a father, Svein Forkbeard, a feared Viking warlord who has ruled Denmark for more than 20 years.
06:26A lineage forged in blood and betrayal.
06:30Harold Bluetooth was a long-ruling and highly successful king, and therefore his son Svein was chomping at the bit,
06:37because it's of course in the interest of Svein to gain as much power and authority as possible, as quickly
06:42as possible.
06:43And it's in Harold's interest to prevent him doing so, because only one can be king at the same time.
06:50And it ends up in battle.
06:52Again, we don't know where the battle was, but we do know that Harold is injured,
06:56and he retreats to his allies in the Baltic, where he dies.
07:01Svein has seized power through the murder of his father.
07:04This is not a strong beginning. This is a weak and wobbly start.
07:12It is in a world where loyalty hangs by a thread, and power is won by the sword, that Knut
07:18comes of age.
07:25A ruthless world that one morning comes knocking at his door.
07:32King Svein summoned him to his hall.
07:37Knut does not yet know it, but his father has made his decision.
07:49The 11th century was a major target for the Vikings.
07:53It's wealthy. It's organised. It's bureaucratic.
07:57The English have produced a money-making machine. Trade is going well.
08:03There are large amounts of gold and silver lying around, and it's close.
08:10This time, it is no mere raid.
08:16Svein is aiming for the entire kingdom, and above all, the crown of England.
08:23And so, one way of solving the problem of only having one Danish kingdom
08:27that you can give to your son and son heirs is to conquer another kingdom
08:31and to offer prospects to Knut.
08:33So, at the back of his mind probably is that he'd like to have
08:37and control England himself, but if he takes England, England can then be Knut.
08:45Knut is stunned to conquer England.
08:48Never before had a Viking dared to imagine it.
08:56For the first time in his life, Knut glimpses a spark of hope.
09:02The chance to break free from his place as the younger son,
09:06and finally forge his own destiny.
09:22In his palace, King Æthelred hastily gathers his counsellors.
09:28They confirm what many feared.
09:31A massive fleet is assembling in Denmark.
09:35There is no longer any doubt.
09:38The Vikings are coming back.
09:43It's very likely that Æthelred would have known about Sven's invasion project.
09:49I think with the amount of traffic across the North Sea during the late Viking Age,
09:56rumours that something was afoot would be very likely to reach the English court at this time.
10:05The nobles know it.
10:07They can no longer rely on Æthelred.
10:11Rarely in the kingdom's history has a king faced such open doubt.
10:18For over 20 years, men from the Northmen have ravaged his lands.
10:24And for over 20 years Æthelred has failed to stop them.
10:30And of course, paying tribute has almost become the default solution.
10:35Whenever a fleet appeared, Æthelred seemed to offer greater and greater sums.
10:41He is often portrayed as the archetypal weak king,
10:45a ruler who preferred to pay off his enemies rather than fight them.
10:58Ever heavier tributes have drained the kingdom.
11:02His subjects are weary of a king unable to put an end to this infernal spiral.
11:09But this time Æthelred believes the outcome may be different.
11:15He has secured a powerful new ally.
11:19The Dane Æthorjald the Tall.
11:22One of the most feared Viking leaders of his age, and above all...
11:29..a sworn enemy of Svein Thorkbeard.
11:37The Dane Æthorjald the Tall is the greatest worry for the Danish kingship.
11:42He is a member of the elite of eastern Denmark, so the southern tip of Sweden.
11:48This is an area that Knut's dynasty have pushed aggressively into,
11:52and he's seen his power and his wealth and his privilege being eroded,
11:56and he's not happy.
11:59Four years earlier, in 1009, Æthorjald had fled Denmark with 45 ships.
12:07For three years he ravaged England, leaving death and chaos in his wake.
12:16To stop him Æthelred once again chose to pay.
12:24But this time, there was a condition.
12:34At this point in 1013 Æthorjald had signed up with Æthelred the Unready.
12:39He was taking Æthelred's money, providing protection.
12:43He pays them to be his private bodyguard.
12:46If you've got one of the largest and scariest Viking armies,
12:49and you pay it to work for you, sitting in England,
12:53frightening off other Vikings, well, this is a brilliant idea.
12:57And so the strategy here, really, is to set a thief to catch a thief.
13:02To use a Viking to stop future Vikings.
13:04And that's his hope, really, is that Æthorjald and his formidable army
13:08will be able to stop people like Svein.
13:16Æthorjald and Æthorjald struck a pact.
13:20In exchange for a generous tribute,
13:22the Dane would place his men and his 45 ships at the king's disposal.
13:29Svein and Cnut would now face not only Æthorjald's army,
13:33but a seasoned Viking force hardened by years of raiding.
13:49Svein learns of the alliance between Æthorjald and Æthorjald,
13:52and immediately understands that time is running out.
13:57He knew that his old rival's loyalty belonged to no one but himself.
14:05Behind this alliance of convenience, Æthorjald is pursuing only one cause, his own.
14:14Æthorjald clearly poses a threat to Svein and Cnut,
14:17because he's shown just how weak the English regime now is,
14:21and he's come within a whisker of conquering England himself.
14:25So it may well be that he himself is harbouring ambitions,
14:28that at some point he might just move from being the leading general
14:32to being the ruler of England.
14:35And so for Svein, it's a matter of trying to take England before Æthorjald does the same.
14:44At the start of spring, Svein issues a great call to arms across Scandinavia.
14:55Each noble is ordered to provide men, weapons, provisions,
14:59and to join the gathering fleet.
15:06This is the first time that a king of Scandinavia has called for such a campaign.
15:13And he's drawing in people from all across Scandinavia.
15:18It's an invasion, it's not raiding.
15:20And that's the key difference.
15:23On foot and on horseback,
15:26thousands of Danes, Norwegians and Swedes converge on Roskilde.
15:34Soon they are joined by hundreds of fortune seekers.
15:43Within a few weeks, several thousand men and more than a hundred ships gather under the king's banner.
15:52So we are looking at a scale of attack which is certainly very different to those England had traditionally seen
15:59in the earlier Viking ages.
16:00So this is a very, very large army that can rival any of the English armies.
16:08Canute watches the constant movement on the docks and the forest of masts stretching across the horizon.
16:19He could feel it.
16:21Everything in his life had led to this moment.
16:27From a very young age, Canute would have been trained up to be a warrior.
16:32So crucial to his upbringing would have been learning those skills of war,
16:36honing them through things like hunting,
16:38but also alongside that learning the tricks of the trade at court,
16:42where also politics was an important consideration,
16:44where making deals,
16:46where hard-nosed realpolitik was also something to be learned at a very young age.
16:52Setting aside their rivalry,
16:55Harald greets his brother one last time.
16:59Their father had entrusted him with the Regency of Denmark,
17:02confirming his status as the rightful heir.
17:08Canute has no choice.
17:11If he ever wished to rule,
17:13he would have to carve out his own kingdom.
17:25At dawn, the Armada weighs anchor and turns west.
17:31On board, father and son share the same dream,
17:35to conquer one of the richest kingdoms in the west.
17:39The task is immense,
17:41and Swain expects Canute to stand by his side.
17:46The role that Swain wants for Canute is as a junior partner.
17:53It's very handy to have a member of your family
17:56who's able to provide some leadership within the Danish army.
18:01But Swain also knows that his son still has much to prove.
18:05His first lesson will be to earn the loyalty of his men.
18:15At the heart of any Viking expedition
18:18lies the ability to reward followers.
18:21And obviously, if a leader is able to distribute wealth,
18:25gold and precious metals,
18:26it tends to secure his men's loyalty.
18:33The second essential factor is prestige,
18:35delivering victory,
18:37and being able to lead military operations successfully.
18:43Within days, the fleet will reach the English coast.
18:48There, the young prince is about to shed his former self
18:52and embrace his destiny.
18:54As a warrior, a Viking, a war leader.
19:09Once again, Æthelred prepares to face the fury of the Northmen.
19:15All his hopes now rest on Thorkell.
19:19He orders him to deploy his fleet at Greenwich, along the Thames,
19:24hoping to lure Canute and Swain into a trap.
19:31But one question torments him.
19:34Could he really be trusted?
19:36In the end, Æthelred knew his own fleet would be powerless
19:39to stop the Danes.
19:41Yet just five years earlier,
19:43that same fleet had seemed invincible.
19:49Æthelred had, amongst his attempts to face down the Viking threat,
19:55sought to reinforce England's naval capabilities.
19:57And he raises a very, very large navy
20:00with the prospect of preventing future invasion.
20:06Shipyards across the kingdom had been mobilized.
20:10Within months, an armada of 300 brand new ships
20:14gathers along the southern coast of England.
20:20Never before had an English king achieved such a feat.
20:27Everything seems to be going well,
20:28since 300 ships are more than the Danes seem capable of assembling at that time.
20:33But there's a major problem,
20:35the leadership within the Anglo-Saxon forces.
20:39Æthelred entrusts command of the fleet to two close nobles of his inner circle,
20:45Wolf Noth and Beatrik.
20:53But one evening, a quarrel broke out.
20:56The two men accuse each other of treason.
21:03In a fit of rage, Wolf Noth seizes 20 ships.
21:09And rebels.
21:13And so he takes a portion of the English fleet off with him.
21:16The rest goes to try to chase them.
21:18And then a storm dashes them entirely.
21:21Many of the ships sink.
21:23The survivors who manage to reach the beach are slaughtered.
21:26And the ships are set on fire to Wolf Noth's initiative.
21:32A single dispute was enough to set the royal fleet ablaze.
21:38Along with the last hopes of the English people.
21:48The irony is that in 1009, shortly afterwards,
21:52Thorkell the Tall arrived at Sandwich with barely 50 ships.
21:56A relatively small force.
21:58And he meets no resistance at all.
22:00And so what was in essence a very good strategic plan
22:03is completely undermined due to divisions within the English camp
22:07rather than any battle being offered with the Vikings.
22:16After ten days at sea, the fleet finally reaches the English coast.
22:22The island has more than 12,000 kilometres of coastline.
22:26Countless possible landing points for the Vikings.
22:34Geography of the English coastline contributed enormously
22:38to the success of Viking raids because Vikings could move very rapidly around the coastline.
22:46And so consequently it's virtually impossible to defend.
22:49So it is unfortunately perfect for Scandinavian attack.
23:00An unfamiliar landscape and yet strangely familiar.
23:07He remembers the evenings of his childhood.
23:10Lulled by tales of raids and battles.
23:14And one name keeps coming back.
23:18Sandwich.
23:19An English town, invaded many times.
23:26Among the entry points into England, the port of Sandwich is extremely important,
23:30as it allows ships to be sheltered quite easily.
23:34It also offers easy access to the mouth of the Thames.
23:38It is difficult to secure for defenders and easy to access for attackers.
23:42An ideal place to launch an invasion.
23:51Canute leaps from the ship and for the first time sets foot on the soil of the Kingdom of England.
24:00What does he feel?
24:02Excitement?
24:04Rage?
24:05Rage?
24:06He probably has no time to wander.
24:09On the beach, English soldiers are trying to stand in their way.
24:16For the young Dane, it is a baptism of fire and perhaps his first chance to prove himself.
24:26All of these great Scandinavian leaders are warriors and lead troops into battle
24:31and clearly are battle-hardened and known for this fact,
24:34and that is an essential part of their reputation.
24:37At the same time, they are almost certainly not normally in the front line of the fray.
24:42So as a Scandinavian leader, you need to have the respect of your men,
24:46you need to be known to be a formidable warrior,
24:48but you also need to not be silly and ridiculous and take unnecessary risks.
24:54And Knut is an excellent example.
24:56We rarely see him fighting, except when he knows he will win, which is quite wise of him.
25:05The English troops are quickly defeated.
25:12The Vikings set up camp for the night.
25:17Around the fire, Svein and Knut ponder their next move.
25:25England is divided into several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
25:29Mercia to the west.
25:32Northumbria to the north.
25:35East Anglia to the east.
25:39And Wessex, the centre of power, to the south.
25:45That is where Thorkell deployed his fleet to defend London.
25:52Svein knows that attacking head-on would be suicidal.
25:59Thorkell is very frightening for Svein.
26:02Presumably because he's slightly scared that he might either not win or damage an enormous part of the Danish royal
26:08forces.
26:09If we add to this the fortifications of the city of London,
26:12then yes, it clearly becomes very difficult for Svein.
26:15He could go straight forward, but that would involve a real risk.
26:19Avoiding Thorkell is therefore the logical choice.
26:23At first light, Svein and Knut weigh anchor.
26:28They sail north, and at the mouth of the Thames, they turn away, leaving London behind.
26:38They head toward the Danelaw,
26:42a vast territory stretching from East Anglia to Northumbria,
26:46where Viking influence runs deep.
26:50Dane law is a term which is used to refer to the areas in England
26:57which were settled by Scandinavian settlers from the early Viking age.
27:03It does mean to say that there was a significant Scandinavian, particularly Danish, influence.
27:10These people are both simultaneously Scandinavian and English.
27:14They don't see themselves, I think, as allied to either party.
27:19Sometimes they work with the Danes, sometimes they work with the English.
27:22But they see themselves as a unit in themselves.
27:25And I think that's what attracts Svein Fortbeard.
27:28He recognises the Danelaw as somewhere that looks like home.
27:32And he knows how to rule that area.
27:35He knows how to control this.
27:40Svein and Knut are taking a gamble.
27:43If there is one place in England ready to welcome them, it's there.
27:50Here, resentment towards King Æthelred runs strong.
27:56A resentment born of a past neither Svein nor Knut has forgotten.
28:22As England buckles under Danish attacks and the ever-growing weight of tribute,
28:27the nobility grows restless.
28:34Determined to regain control, Æthelred makes a drastic decision.
28:40In November of the year 1002, he sends messengers across the kingdom.
28:53On St Brice's Day, the 13th of November, armed men slip silently through the sleeping streets
29:00of towns and villages across the Danelaw.
29:07The St Brice's Day massacre becomes one of those very storied events of Æthelred's reign.
29:14And it's the first real sign that panic is starting to grip Æthelred's core.
29:19That the logical, perhaps more sensible, measured responses have failed.
29:24And so he starts looking to more extreme measures.
29:27And what he fastens upon is the idea that the Danes who are resident in his kingdom,
29:32the Scandinavians who are resident in his kingdom, are plotting against him.
29:35And so he decides to kill them all.
29:39In York, the Danes are hunted down and enter into a church where they seek refuge.
29:52But outside, torches arc through the air towards the sacred building.
30:03The St Brice's Day massacre is quite a stain on the reputation of King Æthelred.
30:10Because whatever the scale of the St Brice's Day massacre, it had an impact across the world connected with the
30:19Danes.
30:19It must have been in the back of the minds of some of the Vikings who were present in England
30:24in Sven's army.
30:27Æthelred believed he was securing his kingdom.
30:31Instead, he unleashed a terrible storm.
30:36Now, who can say whether the people of the Danelaw will remain loyal to him?
30:46Sven and Knut's ships sail up the estuary of the river Humber.
30:51They then enter the calm waters of the river Trent.
30:57On deck, Knut remains watchful.
31:00He scans the riverbanks, alert to the slightest movement.
31:06He has not forgotten the tales of the elders.
31:10Venturing deep into the English countryside is never without danger.
31:16Since the 9th century, the Anglo-Saxons have established a network of fortifications known as the Burrs,
31:22which were a kind of fortified stronghold.
31:24Some were old, restored Roman fortresses.
31:27Others were exceptional natural sites, headlands or cliffs,
31:30that were walled off to create a fortified point that was difficult to seize.
31:36Their purpose was to protect merchants, shelter populations,
31:40and above all, to create a defensive mesh across the territory.
31:45When you look at the map of these Burrs,
31:47it really gives the impression of a tight mesh,
31:49designed to prevent any Viking army from slipping through the net.
31:57The fleet reaches Gainsborough, a small fortified town south of York.
32:05Zvein orders the landing.
32:11For Knut, who is experiencing his first military campaign,
32:15everything seems too easy.
32:19Since leaving the North Sea, nothing has stood in their way.
32:23No traps, no ambushes.
32:27This is an area of England which has often been distant from royal control and power,
32:32which is naturally suspicious of English monarchs at the best of time.
32:35And that means that when Knut and Swain land at Gainsborough,
32:39they're rapidly able to gain the support of the local population.
32:42And they almost certainly know that in advance.
32:44It's no accident that they, instead of attacking the south of England,
32:47the heartlands of the English kingdom,
32:49they go to precisely where there is the chink in Æthelred's armour.
32:57A group of horsemen approaches the camp.
33:01At their head rides the powerful Uhtred of Northumbria.
33:06He comes to request an audience with Zvein.
33:16Knut watches him in silence.
33:20Here stands the enemy he expected to fight.
33:25But Uhtred has not come for battle.
33:28Instead, he offers his submission,
33:31that of Lince and the five boroughs.
33:35To Knut, raised in the Viking code of honour,
33:38this surrender without battle or glory speaks volumes about his adversary.
33:46What we have to realise at this time
33:49is that the idea of English unity
33:52is only a relatively recent construction of the 10th century.
33:59And for Uhtred, it was probably his interests
34:02to submit to a Danish lord
34:05rather than a distant English king in the south of the island.
34:11It seems he was caught off guard,
34:14that he's defending his own interests in an unstable situation.
34:18Separated from the main Anglo-Saxon army,
34:20he knows no help is coming.
34:22For him, it becomes a matter of real politic.
34:25If he does not submit, he knows he will die.
34:27Thus, he becomes Swain's ally, at least in the short term.
34:32As a pledge of good faith,
34:34Uhtred does not come alone.
34:36He brings with him the sons of the great northern families
34:40sent to serve as hostages.
34:45Young men, barely older than Knut himself.
34:49And yet, everything separates them.
34:55On one side, the young conqueror.
34:59On the other, an unarmed youth,
35:02handed over as collateral for an oath.
35:06If you come to an agreement
35:07with anybody in politics in this period,
35:10you try to take a hostage
35:11to make sure the man is going to do what he's going to do.
35:13And those hostages are then a token of their seriousness.
35:17They have to be very high-ranking individuals
35:20and they are your collateral.
35:22This is saying, well,
35:23we're not going to leave them tied up to a radiator
35:25with handcuffs on.
35:27We will treat them with honour, with dignity.
35:29But if anything should happen,
35:31then it's the end of your son here.
35:34You know, this is a very practical guarantee,
35:37but it's also playing on this idea of honour as well.
35:45Without spilling a drop of blood,
35:48Zvein and Knut seize control of northern England.
35:56But for Zvein, this is only the beginning.
36:00What he wants is the crown.
36:03The northern nobility gathers
36:05and proclaims Zvein king of England,
36:08rejecting Æthelred.
36:13But the rest of the realm still has to be persuaded
36:16to accept such a dramatic change of allegiance.
36:21And what better way to seal that bond than marriage?
36:28A union between Knut and a young noble woman
36:32from a powerful Anglo-Danish lineage
36:34could ease tension and seal alliance.
36:39Her name is Elgifu from Northampton.
36:45Elgifu from Northampton.
36:47Here's the woman that Sven Forkbeard
36:49looks at the political landscape of the north
36:51and says, that one.
36:53She's the one that's going to marry my son
36:55because she's the one
36:56who can help us control this region.
36:58She's the heiress to this old political machinery.
37:01She is the daughter of Alfhelm,
37:04who had been a alderman,
37:06so the leading man in the southern part of Northumbria.
37:09But he had been murdered in Æthelred's court
37:12in 1006 in a purge.
37:14But that family nonetheless remains important
37:17and very alienated from Æthelred.
37:20And so, in a sense,
37:22she can be a lightning rod
37:23for channeling that descent
37:24towards support for Svein and Knut.
37:27And so for Knut coming in with Svein,
37:29perhaps also at the back of his mind,
37:31the prospect may be of becoming
37:33an eventual king of England
37:35or an under-king of England under his father.
37:37She is the perfect match to make in that moment.
37:45Knut knows exactly what Svein expects of him.
37:48Without hesitation,
37:51he leads this perfect stranger to the altar.
37:58And under his father's watchful eye,
38:01he takes Elgifu as his wife.
38:07The young prince understands
38:09that his destiny is now lying here.
38:12The path is set.
38:14Knut will not look back.
38:22At the end of summer,
38:24Svein orders his army to prepare.
38:28Supplies,
38:29reinforcements,
38:31horses.
38:35To his seasoned warriors
38:37are added the levies raised in the Danelaw.
38:42Before departing,
38:43he entrusts his son
38:44with the reins of the conquered territory.
38:48Knut might have preferred to march to war,
38:51but instead,
38:53another trial awaits him.
38:55In his father's absence,
38:57he must guard the fleet,
38:59watch over the hostages,
39:02and raise the funds needed to sustain the war.
39:08Sons are expected to be trained up in kingship
39:11and to learn the tricks of the trade
39:12as soon as possible.
39:13And one of the best ways to do this
39:15for someone like Svein,
39:16to ensure his sons that experience,
39:18is to allow them an element of rule
39:20while he's still alive.
39:21So we're seeing him potentially setting up
39:23Knut as his under-king,
39:26his representative in England.
39:28And the sense of responsibility
39:29that this new conquest,
39:30this new land,
39:31this new world, as it were,
39:33that they've struck into,
39:34is now his to control.
39:36It must be overwhelming,
39:37but simultaneously,
39:39simultaneously,
39:40steps up to the plate.
39:42Is it a mark of trust being placed in him?
39:45Partly, perhaps.
39:46But what always strikes me
39:48is that Knut still does not fight.
39:50He's not on the front lines
39:52learning how to lead an army.
39:53He really gives the impression
39:55of being kept safe in reserve by his father.
39:57In a way,
39:58he's already being shaped into an administrator
40:00who's learning governance,
40:02which is, in fact, rather wise.
40:06For the young Viking,
40:07the moment of truth has come.
40:11Knut watches his father
40:13disappear in the distance.
40:20Now alone,
40:22he must prove himself
40:23worthy of the task.
40:26More than anything,
40:28he must ensure his father
40:30will be proud of him.
40:36Svein's long column of troops
40:38stretches southward,
40:40towards the heart of the kingdom.
40:43But instead of heading for London
40:46where Æthelred awaits,
40:48Svein leads his men west,
40:51towards Oxford.
40:56Svein's decision to attack Oxford
40:58rather than London
41:00almost certainly is suggestive
41:02of serious strategic calculation.
41:04While Æthelred's regime
41:06has shown itself
41:06to be toothless in many respects,
41:09not very successful
41:10on the battlefield,
41:11it remains capable
41:12of deploying armies
41:14of a large scale
41:16and it still has the forces
41:17of Æthelred at Æthelred at Æthelred at Æthelred.
41:20If Svein had rushed his campaign
41:22and gone for that,
41:23then potentially
41:24this might have been
41:25game over for Svein
41:27too early
41:28and it made sense
41:30to essentially
41:31take the pieces
41:32on the playing board
41:34first of all
41:35before going
41:36to London.
41:43In early autumn,
41:44the invading army
41:45crosses Watling Street.
41:50This ancient Roman road
41:52runs across England
41:53from east to west
41:54and marks a symbolic frontier
41:56between the Danelaw
41:58and the southern lands,
41:59still loyal to Æthelred.
42:05Svein's orders
42:06are clear.
42:07Beyond this line,
42:08there will be no mercy.
42:14From farm to farm,
42:16village to village,
42:19his army unleashes
42:20its full destructive force.
42:25There's no Geneva Convention,
42:27so the objective
42:28is obviously
42:28to put pressure
42:29on the enemy,
42:30to scare them.
42:31Men loot,
42:32kill and burn
42:33as they please.
42:36It's a phrase
42:37frequently used
42:38to describe Viking armies.
42:39Psychological warfare
42:40is nothing new.
42:41It exists in every conflict,
42:42in every era.
42:43And for civilian populations,
42:45it has always meant
42:46the same thing
42:46throughout history.
42:48Raiding the countryside,
42:49seizing resources,
42:50living off the land,
42:51and killing a few people
42:52in a particularly dramatic way
42:54are all part
42:55of the usual practices.
42:59After a few days,
43:01Svein and his men
43:02reach Oxford.
43:04The troops take position
43:06before the fortified town.
43:11The city gates
43:13slowly open.
43:16A man steps forward
43:18and speaks a few words.
43:21The city surrenders
43:23without a fight.
43:28The inhabitants of Oxford
43:29had already suffered greatly
43:31over the previous decade.
43:33Resisting now
43:34would mean
43:34a second full-scale plundering
43:36or another round
43:37of mass destruction.
43:38Clearly,
43:39not everyone is eager
43:40to turn their city
43:41into another Stalingrad.
43:42Surrendering is the logical choice
43:44if it spares lives
43:45and avoids crushing tribute.
43:51Zvein and his men
43:52enter the city
43:53after a victory
43:54won without
43:55a single sword stroke.
43:59The strategy of fear
44:01worked.
44:04The local nobility
44:05submits.
44:10But for Zvein,
44:13it is not enough.
44:18Sven Forkbeard
44:19is trying to terrorise
44:21the south of England.
44:22He has to subdue that part.
44:24He's got to do this
44:24with big public displays.
44:26The lords of each region
44:28must essentially
44:29kneel before him
44:30in public.
44:32He needs Wessex
44:33to be seen
44:34to be beaten
44:35and to be under the heel
44:37of the Danish oppressor.
44:44In the days that followed,
44:46the southern cities
44:47fell one after another.
44:50Exeter,
44:53Winchester,
44:54all surrendered
44:55without resistance.
44:58In London,
45:00Ethelred remains
45:01barricaded in his palace.
45:04More cut off
45:06from his people
45:06than ever,
45:07he watches helplessly
45:09as his kingdom
45:10collapses.
45:12Ethelred's passivity
45:14has really
45:15dammed the reputation
45:17of Ethelred.
45:19The 12th century
45:20William of Malmesbury
45:21referred to him
45:22as being lazy,
45:23essentially,
45:24and not getting out of bed.
45:26But I think
45:27we also have
45:29to remember
45:29that he had
45:31to rely
45:31on regional governors
45:34to raise forces
45:36and his commanders,
45:38his aldermen,
45:39are just unwilling
45:40to act on his behalf
45:41while he's in London.
45:43So it's something
45:43of a difficult situation
45:46for Ethelred
45:47at this time.
45:52As autumn begins,
45:54the noose
45:54tightens around Ethelred.
45:59From the ramparts,
46:00he observes
46:01Svein's troops
46:02across the river.
46:06He knows
46:07his survival
46:08may depend
46:08on what happens
46:09here and now.
46:11Losing the city,
46:13the last stronghold
46:14of resistance
46:15against the Danes,
46:16would mean
46:16losing the crown.
46:22Beyond the walls,
46:23Svein knows
46:24the confrontation
46:25will be harsh.
46:26For more than a century,
46:29London has remained
46:30unconquered.
46:35London benefits
46:36from its Roman walls
46:37that survived
46:38throughout the Middle Ages
46:39and were extensively
46:40restored for defense.
46:42It is the nerve center
46:43of Ethelred's defense.
46:45This is where he resides,
46:46likely with his
46:47household troops.
46:49Thorkell is there as well,
46:51probably with his fleet.
46:52And then there's London,
46:54large, wealthy, powerful.
46:55The inhabitants
46:56do not seem at all
46:57inclined to surrender
46:58to the first newcomer.
47:01Svein knows
47:02a frontal assault
47:03would be doomed
47:04to fail.
47:05So, to bypass
47:07the English defenses,
47:08he orders his men
47:10to forge the Thames.
47:19It's possible
47:20that they tried
47:20to cross the river
47:22to the west
47:23of London
47:24at low tide,
47:25but you have to know
47:26the river
47:26in order to do this.
47:30The maneuver
47:31turns into a disaster.
47:33Hundreds of men
47:34are swept away
47:35by the current
47:35and the river's
47:36tumultuous waters.
47:42The likelihood
47:43that many men drowned
47:45while trying to do this
47:46would have been
47:47likely to cause
47:49Svein to think about
47:51changing the direction
47:53of his campaign.
47:57Svein is forced
47:58to face the truth.
48:00To persist
48:01would cost
48:02countless warriors
48:03and endanger
48:04the entire campaign.
48:09The siege of London
48:10ultimately
48:11is going to fail.
48:12London is just
48:13too tough
48:14a nut to crack
48:15in Svein's time.
48:16So, Svein pulls out
48:18and he heads
48:18to the west.
48:24If he cannot
48:25force London
48:26to yield,
48:27Svein may
48:28try to isolate it
48:29from the rest
48:30of the kingdom.
48:32To do that,
48:33he must seize
48:34the last key
48:35stronghold
48:36of Wessex,
48:38Bath.
48:40This city,
48:41where Ethelred's
48:42father was crowned,
48:43enjoys near-imperial
48:45prestige
48:45and is home
48:47to one of the
48:47kingdom's most
48:48influential noble families.
48:51This, if you're going
48:52to crack an easier nut
48:54and you're going
48:54to make an enormous
48:55political splash,
48:56do it with these people.
48:58They're related
48:58to the kingship,
48:59they're long related
49:00to the kingship
49:00and that is a huge
49:02money-making area
49:03for Anglo-Saxon England.
49:05If you can break
49:06the west,
49:07maybe you don't have
49:08to break London.
49:09Maybe London
49:09will fall on its own.
49:13By the end
49:14of 1013,
49:15the nobles
49:16of Bath,
49:17weary of Ethelred's
49:18chaotic rule,
49:19rally to the Dane.
49:22Soon,
49:23the rest
49:24of the kingdom
49:24follows.
49:28Ethelred
49:28will have seen it
49:30sitting in London
49:31as the lights
49:32going out
49:32one after another
49:33across the entire country
49:35as they just
49:36stopped talking to him.
49:37and when you've got
49:38nothing left
49:39except the city
49:39of London,
49:40then I think you leave.
49:43Abandoned by all,
49:45Ethelred,
49:46the last king
49:47of a five-century-old dynasty,
49:49flees toward Normandy.
49:57And there,
49:58he can remain
49:58king in exile,
50:00awaiting his moment
50:01to reappear.
50:02So he's kind of
50:03a bit like
50:03the free French government
50:05in London
50:05in World War II,
50:06if you will.
50:07He's potentially
50:08there in Normandy
50:09as the,
50:10to his mind,
50:11genuine
50:12English king
50:14and the real government
50:15waiting for an opportunity
50:17to step back
50:18into those shoes.
50:27Aboard the ship
50:28carrying him
50:29into exile,
50:31Ethelred
50:31watches the English
50:32coastline
50:33fade into the mist.
50:37His defeat
50:38tastes of betrayal.
50:43His people
50:44did not raise
50:46their weapons
50:46to defend him.
50:48The nobles
50:49abandoned him
50:50for a king
50:50from the north.
50:51But Ethelred
50:52is not broken.
50:54He swears
50:55he will return,
50:56whatever the cost.
51:12In Lincoln,
51:13Canute awaits
51:14his father.
51:16The man he finds
51:18is no longer
51:19only king of Denmark.
51:21He is now
51:22king of England.
51:24before him
51:26stands a transformed son,
51:29seasoned
51:29and hardened
51:30by the demands
51:31of power.
51:34It's a new world.
51:35It's the conquest
51:36of somewhere
51:37for him to rule.
51:38Harold would now
51:39have Denmark,
51:40he will have England
51:41and he is
51:42the second son
51:43and he's got
51:44the conquest.
51:45But what a conquest.
51:46There is far
51:47more money
51:48there in England
51:49than there will
51:50ever be in Denmark.
51:51And that wealth
51:53will be used
51:54by his dynasty
51:55to push
51:56its ambitions
51:58far into
51:59Scandinavia
51:59to rule
52:00what we have
52:02to use
52:02the modern word
52:03empire.
52:04If he ever dreamed
52:05of being an emperor,
52:07he did so
52:08on the day
52:09they conquered
52:10southern England.
52:14Together,
52:15Thane and Canute
52:16have achieved
52:17the unthinkable,
52:19seizing the richest
52:20kingdom in the
52:21western world.
52:22For the young prince,
52:23the future
52:24now seems set.
52:26But history
52:27is far from
52:28finished with him.
52:28England will soon
52:30slip from their grasp
52:32and Canute
52:33will be forced
52:33to face
52:34a new enemy,
52:36far more formidable
52:37than any before.
52:40The end of the year
52:57is far from
52:58coming to the earth.
52:59The end of the year
52:59to the end of the year
52:59and ever
52:59will soon
53:00the end of the year
53:00will soon
53:00be forced
53:00to face
53:00to face
53:00the world
53:00world.
53:00You
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