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The Viking Emperor Season 1 Episode 2
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00:12This is a story of conquest, betrayal, and courage.
00:20The story of a son of a Viking sovereign forged in the shadow of battle.
00:25A man destined for nothing, yet fated to build an empire.
00:31He was larger than life in his lifetime and is somebody who had wide-ranging achievements
00:38that surprised even many of his contemporaries.
00:42The story of a man who became ruler of three kingdoms.
00:47A Viking who became an emperor.
00:51It's one of the great medieval success stories.
00:54What he does, we have no word for.
00:56It's completely new.
00:58This is the legend of Canute.
01:01Emperor of the North Sea.
01:27This is the legend of Canute.
01:33Canute thriller Farworths.zdk
01:50.com
01:56No longer mere invaders, they are now conquerors.
02:03After a lightning-fast campaign, Knut and Svein have subdued England.
02:10The nobility has sworn allegiance to them.
02:15And King Æthelred has been driven into exile in Normandy.
02:21From this moment on, the land is theirs.
02:26But conquering a kingdom is one thing.
02:30Becoming its rightful rulers is another.
02:36Knut and Svein did not come to fundamentally change everything about English society.
02:40They came to take over its head, the head of the snake, as it were, and control that.
02:45Once Svein has effected military conquest of England, he then must achieve legitimacy and authority.
02:53And that cannot be asserted purely at the end of a sword or a spear.
02:59And so that starts with convening the so-called witan, that is, leading magnates of England who represent the realm,
03:05and having them elect a monarch.
03:13Knut and Svein must now secure the loyalty of all the members of the witan.
03:21One of its most influential members resides in York.
03:28Archbishop Wulvstan.
03:31A pious and austere man.
03:34And one of the fiercest opponents of the Vikings.
03:41We know that Wulvstan was deeply concerned by the Viking threat.
03:45He seems generally fearful of the return of unchecked paganism in early 11th century England.
03:50And you see there a man who is railing and screaming about,
03:55this is the end of the world, this is the apocalypse, this is the end of everything.
03:58So he sees the Vikings as sent by God to punish the English for their sins.
04:04And I think for Wulvstan, the Vikings become a symbol of the Antichrist.
04:14Winning such a man over may seem impossible.
04:19But Knut is about to present a powerful argument.
04:26Though many Danes still cling to pagan traditions.
04:31Knut himself was raised in the Christian faith.
04:37All of Knut's actions suggest that he was indeed Christian,
04:41and his dynasty was riding on the coattails of Christianity.
04:45It's his grandfather, Harold Bluetooth, who'd also made the Danes Christian.
04:50Because one of the crucial teachings that the church has is that there are monarchs put in place by the
04:55grace of God,
04:56that God has created the social order.
04:59So if tapped into correctly, Christianization and the Christian faith can become a powerful force.
05:08The piety displayed by Svein and Knut appears to reassure Wulvstan.
05:14Yet no one can truly guess their real intentions.
05:19For Svein, the time has come to summon the Wulvstan.
05:29Back in Gainsborough, he sends his messengers across the kingdom.
05:34The assembly will meet in three weeks in York, not London.
05:41For it is from the north that he intends to rule England.
05:46Abandoning Wessex, the traditional heart of English royal power.
05:51After he's conquered England, there's a Witteniumok being called in York.
05:57Well, clearly, it's to crown him king.
05:59And it's to give Knut some sort of office or title in that region.
06:03And that is crucial because we can see then how close Svein is to the north, how much he focuses
06:09energies on it.
06:10And also, what a dreadful mistake he made.
06:13Because you can't run a kingdom from its least organized part.
06:20The powerhouse of England is in the south.
06:23That's where the bureaucracy is, that's where the towns are, that's where the markets are.
06:26Primarily, that's where the money-making machine is.
06:29And if you want to be in England, and you want to control it, you've got to do it from
06:32the south.
06:36England is about to open a new chapter in its history.
06:42Nothing seems capable of halting the advance of the two Danes.
06:48And yet, fate will decide otherwise.
07:02Knut rushes back to Gainsborough.
07:09He has been summoned to the royal palace.
07:17At dawn, his father's lifeless body is discovered.
07:23The conqueror of the north has died suddenly at the age of 50.
07:29At the height of his power.
07:34His reaction, of course, to his father's death has to be enormous shock.
07:38Enormous shock.
07:39This is not what they had planned.
07:41They're about to become legitimate rulers.
07:44They're about to be accepted by the nobles, ecclesiastical and secular, of the whole country.
07:50And suddenly, his father's dropped down dead.
07:53There would have been a part of him, at least, that is pleased that his father,
07:58who was one of the main obstacles other than his brother, to his own ambitions, was gone.
08:03Because he can't be king fully until Swain's gone.
08:09Standing before the man to whom he owed everything,
08:12Knut finds himself utterly alone.
08:16For he knows that now everything rests upon him.
08:20Swain's conquered England, but has not managed to establish that kind of authority
08:25that will allow him to pass the throne without opposition to a son.
08:30Because he's only been in England a matter of months, not even a full year.
08:34So, for Knut, that's come too fast.
08:37Does he want to claim to be king of England following his father's death?
08:42Or does he have to go back to Scandinavia?
08:44That sort of uncertainty, I think, would have been a tremendous pressure for Knut at this time.
08:52Returning to Denmark is impossible.
08:55His brother, Harald, has almost certainly claimed the crown.
08:59Without hesitation, Knut asserts his right to the throne of England.
09:07He knows he can rely on the loyalty of his army.
09:11And above all, on the hostages handed over by the English nobility the previous year
09:17as pledges of allegiance.
09:22The Wittan should be nothing more than a mere formality.
09:26Yet, behind the scenes of power, a very different reality is beginning to emerge.
09:33Is elected king by the Danish army, but the English, unsurprisingly, stop and say,
09:39wait a second, Swain was a known entity, highly experienced campaigner,
09:43we were submitting to him, not to his son.
09:46That wasn't the deal.
09:47It was Swain as king.
09:49He's just a young boy to the English nobility.
09:52He's not even the king of the Danes.
09:55And there would be conversations in dark corners about the possibilities here.
10:02What do we do?
10:09In York, Wolfstein has chosen his side.
10:18Before a nobility consumed by doubt, he delivers a sermon heavy with warning.
10:25The Sermon of the Wolf, a radical text calling on the English to rise up and save their kingdom.
10:38Sermon Lupi at Anglos is perhaps most famous of the many apocalyptic sermons of Wolfstein of York.
10:45And in this, he is adumbrating all of the terrible things that English have done and all of the signs
10:51of God's wrath upon them,
10:52including the fact that they have exiled their king, that they have sent their king into exile, their rightful king,
10:58Æthelred.
10:58As guardian of moral order within the kingdom, he calls on every man to stand ready to defend his king.
11:10In the utmost secrecy, the English nobility sends envoys across the channel to Normandy.
11:21There, Æthelred has taken refuge, under the protection of his brother-in-law, Duke Richard II.
11:33For the old king, this sudden turn of events may offer one final chance to reclaim his throne.
11:42And so they open negotiations, and part of the deal struck with Æthelred is that he agrees to rule them
11:48more justly than he had before.
11:50That is the condition of their return.
11:52Æthelred appears to acknowledge his past failures.
11:57He accepts the negotiated terms of his return.
12:01Promising to rule more wisely, to show greater respect to his subjects,
12:05and to forgive those who had betrayed him during the previous year.
12:11So in a sense, they prefer to bring in Æthelred 2.0,
12:15rather than risking it with a relatively unknown canute from a completely different kingdom.
12:25Æthelred now plays what may be his last card.
12:31He calls upon all those who reject Danish rule.
12:38Among them stands a feared Viking war leader.
12:44Olaf Haraldsson.
12:46The story is told when Æthelred comes back from Normandy to England.
12:51He has the support of Olaf Haraldsson, this Viking warlord who has his own fleet.
12:59Olaf Haraldsson has been someone who's been involved in raiding and attacking on England and probably elsewhere in Europe.
13:07Has made a name for himself freebooting, like many of these Viking adventurers do.
13:11But crucially, he's also converted to the Christian faith.
13:15And he seems to be someone who Æthelred and his corps are trying to use and set up in opposition
13:21to Canute.
13:25For Æthelred, the time has come to reclaim his kingdom.
13:30At the head of a fleet, he sets sail for England and marches toward London.
13:41London represents a potential stronghold.
13:45It's a logistical hub, rich beyond measure.
13:48Controlling it, even without fully conquering it, was likely one of Æthelred's primary objectives upon his return to England.
13:57Æthelred approaches the capital, the only city that has remained loyal to him.
14:05He knows, however, that the confrontation will be fierce.
14:10London is held by Danish forces loyal to Canute.
14:15There were points of resistance, as if Svein had deliberately garrisoned the main fortifications that had been captured.
14:23It makes sense.
14:24A newly conquered kingdom cannot be left undefended.
14:28There was no way to control the territory.
14:32Danish troops were plausibly stationed across the land, guarding key towns and fortresses.
14:40The garrison entrenched itself in the fortress on the southern bank of the Thames, blocking access to the city.
14:52At the heart of this defensive network stands the London Bridge,
14:57a fortified obstacle that controls the river and connects both shores.
15:09Against such a stronghold, a siege borders on the impossible.
15:17So Olaf volunteers for one of the most perilous missions imaginable.
15:24To destroy the London Bridge.
15:30He is said to have assembled a small flotilla, choosing the most skilled and courageous men.
15:36With a few boats, they positioned themselves beneath the bridge,
15:41secured it with reeds and ropes, and tore away its supports.
15:47The collapse forced the surrender of both Southwark and London.
15:56Whether that story is quite true or not, I think is debatable.
16:03But it is such a good story that it's very much embedded in the history of Viking Age London.
16:13Even if the story of the bridge's destruction may be legend,
16:19Æthelred enters the city as a victor.
16:23Yet he does not linger.
16:26Giving Knut time to regroup would be a grave mistake.
16:32Tomorrow, he will gather his forces and march north.
16:44In Gainsborough, Knut does not yet grasp the approaching danger.
16:54Why worry?
16:55Has Æthelred not repeatedly proven powerless against the Vikings?
17:03Knut's reaction after his father's death is puzzling.
17:07Remarkably, Æthelred moves swiftly, while Knut appears almost inactive.
17:12As if two months passed, without any action.
17:16Knut, he's only a young man.
17:19He's not his father.
17:21Can he control his own forces?
17:24He can control some of them.
17:25Can he control all of the alliances his father's made with Scandinavians?
17:29I doubt it.
17:30I think initially he must have seen certain Scandinavians turn against him.
17:34And then the Danelaw and the other areas of England that he could count on
17:39started to show no support.
17:41And this must be his age.
17:43This must be his inexperience.
17:47Two young, overconfident men.
17:52Knut does not yet see the ground slipping beneath him.
17:57On April the 25th, Easter Day, a message reaches him from his scouts.
18:04Æthelred has entered Lindsay with a massive army.
18:11Despite having promised to not repeat parts abuses,
18:14the first thing he does is he charges into the north.
18:18This leads to a massacre in Lindsay.
18:20The last unit that supported Knut.
18:25We know Knut had secured the support of Lincolnshire's inhabitants,
18:30promising provisions for his defense,
18:34particularly in anticipation of a campaign.
18:37It is therefore entirely logical that Æthelred, as Swain once did,
18:41raids and plunders areas that show disloyalty
18:44or pose potential opposition.
18:51In Gainsborough, Knut finally gathers his forces.
18:58He urges them to defend their king.
19:03But despite his warriors' determination, it is already too late.
19:10This time, the English army holds the upper hand.
19:14Knut, at this point, is on his back foot.
19:17He's in a very difficult position.
19:19And so, when the lights all go out one after another,
19:24Knut is a good tactician.
19:25And just like Æthelred,
19:27when he's left with only one region left,
19:29he left quickly.
19:31Because, at that point,
19:33he's trying to save whatever he's got
19:35for the next assault.
19:42Knut has no choice.
19:45Leave England or die.
19:49He gathers his last loyal men
19:53and takes to the sea at the head of his fleet.
19:59Behind him lies a land ravaged by the vengeful fury
20:03of the Anglo-Saxons.
20:05It's an enormous, chaotic,
20:07swinging backwards and forwards situation.
20:10Æthelred's been driven from the country.
20:12Sven's come to power.
20:14Sven's died.
20:15There's panic running around of all the various forces.
20:17Some stay with Knut.
20:18Most don't.
20:19Knut flees.
20:20The English open negotiations with Æthelred,
20:23and Æthelred comes back.
20:24It's an immensely chaotic time.
20:33On his ship,
20:36Knut watches the English coast recede.
20:41Defeated by a man he considers weak,
20:45he must flee.
20:49Trapped by his own pride.
20:57He must have been furious.
21:00There must have been quite a lot of people
21:02who said they would support him
21:03and then turned against him.
21:05And so he did exactly what he said he was going to do
21:08in that scenario.
21:15After several days at sea,
21:17his fleet lands at Sandwich.
21:23The hostages,
21:24given by the English nobility
21:25during his father's conquests,
21:28are cast ashore.
21:35What should be done with these men?
21:39For Knut,
21:40mere execution would be far too gentle a revenge.
21:46He wants to make an example.
21:49What if there's a time machine?
21:51Would you like to have dinner with Knut?
21:53Absolutely not.
21:54I think he was a ruthless, scary individual,
21:56and I don't think...
21:57I think we would all...
21:58All of us in the modern world
21:59would run screaming from him.
22:01I think if you survive in this environment,
22:03if you thrive in this environment,
22:04you're a pretty scary, ruthless creature in yourself.
22:07And Knut is good at it.
22:11Without the slightest remorse,
22:14he orders them to be mercilessly mutilated.
22:21Knut employed a range of corporal punishments,
22:24standard under the law of the time.
22:27Cutting off hands,
22:28parts of the face, ears, or nose.
22:30These practices appear in contemporary legal codes,
22:34including those issued by Wolfstein.
22:37And so I think for him,
22:38this is a parting shot.
22:39This is saying,
22:40I may be leaving now,
22:41but I'll be back,
22:42and don't underestimate me.
22:45Do not cross me.
22:46This is what happens to people who cross me.
22:49They don't get killed.
22:50They get injured in ways
22:51that will maim them for life
22:53and make them and everyone else who meets them
22:55remember what I'm capable of.
23:07Harald watches with concern
23:09as his brother's ships near the coast.
23:15Crowned king of Denmark upon their father's death,
23:18he cannot know Knut's true intentions.
23:22At the back of Harald's mind
23:25and at the back of Knut's mind
23:26is this sort of notion
23:27that this Danish kingdom
23:29isn't big enough for the two of us here.
23:31This is a situation
23:33where these two brothers are at some point
23:35going to have to face off,
23:38potentially, against one another.
23:41One might imagine
23:42that Harald would feel a little bit nervous
23:46about the presence of his war-experienced brother
23:49back in the kingdom.
23:55Though always close,
23:57Knut and Harald's brotherly bond
23:59cannot mask the tension that day.
24:09Knut initially seems intent
24:11on reclaiming part of the Danish kingdom.
24:14From Harald's perspective,
24:15Knut is a threat
24:16because Knut's interests lie
24:18in becoming king.
24:20Harald's interests lie
24:22in keeping the kingship.
24:24And so, Knut back in Denmark
24:25is one prince too many
24:27for a kingdom
24:28that has just lost swaying.
24:32In the throne hall,
24:33now under his control,
24:35Harald invites Knut to speak.
24:39Yet his younger brother's claims
24:41could ignite
24:42a dangerous war of succession.
24:47If Harald refuses,
24:49Knut must choose.
24:52Submit or fight.
24:56If Knut was the astute politician I believe,
24:59it made sense for him to adapt.
25:01Very well,
25:02if you're unwilling to grab me anything,
25:03I will demonstrate loyalty
25:04and friendship instead.
25:06This may have been
25:07the surest way
25:08to achieve his aims,
25:09avoiding direct confrontation
25:11and certain defeat.
25:14Barely 20 years old,
25:17Knut has already lost everything.
25:19His throne,
25:21his kingdom,
25:22and perhaps even his future.
25:27Unwilling to live
25:28in his brother's shadow,
25:29he sees one path.
25:33Reclaim by force
25:34what he believes
25:35what he believes
25:35is rightfully his.
25:37This is not a man
25:39who is accepting his role
25:41in Denmark
25:42as the second son.
25:44This is instead
25:45a man
25:46who is waiting
25:47for his opportunity
25:48to reinvade England.
25:50He's waiting
25:51and he's watching
25:51for some key mistake
25:54in the English regime
25:56to be made
25:56that gives him
25:57a new way in.
26:08After 30 years
26:09of a chaotic reign,
26:14Aethelred finally recovers
26:16his throne.
26:20Yet he now faces
26:22a nobility steeped
26:24in mistrust
26:24and betrayal.
26:26A nest of scorpions
26:29at whose heart
26:30he believes
26:31he has found
26:31a loyal ally.
26:35Yadric Stryona.
26:41Yadric Stryona
26:42is the bad man
26:44of the first half
26:45of the 11th century
26:46in English politics.
26:49His nickname Stryona
26:51it means
26:51the grasper,
26:52the acquisitor.
26:53In addition to which
26:54he doesn't seem
26:55to have very much
26:55what we would say
26:56moral fibre
26:57or he's a brilliant survivor
26:59which one do you want to say?
27:00And he flip-flops
27:01between supporting
27:03whoever looks like
27:04they might win.
27:05And we don't quite know why
27:07but for whatever reasons
27:08Aethelred gives Aedric
27:10more and more power
27:11and authority
27:11and it's clear
27:13that many of those
27:14at court resent this
27:15that this is a new guard
27:16coming in
27:17that Aethelred places
27:18absolute trust in.
27:22Yadric never leaves
27:24the king's side
27:26feeding his paranoia
27:28day after day.
27:31At 47
27:33weakened by illness
27:34Aethelred faces
27:36yet another threat
27:38the struggle
27:39for his own succession.
27:42So all the sons
27:43of the king
27:44are considered
27:45to be Aethelings
27:46so you actually have
27:47a number of contenders
27:48to the throne.
27:49It's a bit of a political brawl
27:51but it also means
27:53that the son
27:55who's the best leader
27:56and who has
27:57a strong faction
28:00behind him
28:01among the noblemen
28:02will come to the top
28:03rather than necessarily
28:04the firstborn
28:05who may not be the best.
28:11two lines
28:12now vie for power
28:14first
28:15from his union
28:17with Ergifu
28:18of York
28:20six sons
28:27At that point
28:28the elder son
28:30Edmund Ironside
28:31appears to have
28:32the upper hand.
28:34He's a young man
28:35in his early 20s
28:36perhaps a little younger
28:37or older
28:38already highly respected
28:39and clearly eager
28:40to go to war.
28:43Opposing him
28:44the second line
28:49Edward
28:50and Alfred
28:53born of Aethelred's
28:55second wife
28:55a noble woman
28:57from across the channel
29:00Emma
29:00of Normandy
29:05Emma of Normandy
29:06is the daughter
29:07of the Duke of Normandy
29:10Richard I
29:10who is a descendant
29:12of Rollo
29:13so the Viking
29:14who established Normandy
29:16as a county
29:17in the 9th century
29:18and she seems to be
29:20a very aggressive
29:20political figure
29:21that she's influenced there
29:23as we know
29:23by Norman politics
29:25where women
29:25took a much greater role
29:26they really didn't do this
29:28in English politics
29:29She is extraordinarily powerful
29:31and not shy
29:33about exerting
29:34that power
29:35so Emma
29:36dedicated her life
29:38really to making sure
29:39that one of her sons
29:40was on the throne
29:44Emma has no intention
29:46of letting the throne
29:48slip from her grasp
29:49in favour of a son
29:50from a previous marriage
29:54At court
29:55the treacherous Iadric
29:56may prove a valuable ally
29:58against Edmund's ambition
30:01By Aethelred's later years
30:03Emma, his queen
30:04quite possibly
30:05Aethelred himself
30:06and certainly others
30:07at court
30:07aligned with Iadric
30:08are creating a faction
30:10and that faction
30:11may well be working
30:12to try to line up
30:13eventually
30:13the succession
30:14of Edward and Alfred
30:17Aethelred's sons
30:18with his second wife
30:18Emma
30:20over his sons
30:21with his first wife
30:22and so what we start seeing
30:24is a fracturing
30:25of the dynasty
30:26between rival line
30:33The king summons
30:35a great assembly
30:39Nobles from across
30:41the realm gather
30:44Among them
30:45stand Seerferth
30:46and Morkar
30:49two leading figures
30:50of the Danelaw
30:52both known
30:53for supporting
30:54Edmund's claim
30:55to the throne
30:58As the feast
31:00reaches its height
31:02Iadric Sreona
31:04approaches the king
31:06With a simple gesture
31:08Aethelred gives the order
31:10to strike
31:12He has Seerferth
31:14and Morkar
31:15invited by Iadric Sreona
31:17to a meeting
31:18and then
31:19they are murdered
31:21they are just murdered
31:23The king seizes
31:25their lands
31:25and he has
31:26Seerferth's widow
31:28placed in
31:28Malmesbury Abbey
31:30What happens there
31:31is that
31:32Aethelred
31:33has created
31:33a scenario
31:34whereby his son
31:35his trusted
31:37friends and allies
31:38are now being
31:39attacked
31:39by his own father
31:44For Edmund
31:45it is a crushing blow
31:49His closest allies
31:51are dead
31:52Worse
31:53Aethelred now
31:54openly favours
31:55Edward
31:56Emma's son
31:59On August 15th
32:011015
32:02Edmund
32:03acts
32:06He travels
32:07to the monastery
32:08of Malmesbury
32:11Addax Yergyth
32:12widow of Seerferth
32:14and marries her
32:16on the spot
32:16claiming her
32:18late husband's
32:19inheritance
32:23It's a crucial
32:24and enormous act
32:26is he's aligning
32:27himself
32:27against
32:28Aethelred
32:29and what we have
32:30here
32:31is shock
32:32and horror
32:33because suddenly
32:33the king
32:34and the obvious
32:35heir
32:36are at loggerheads
32:37and they're at war
32:38with each other
32:42By attacking
32:43the northern nobility
32:44Aethelred fractures
32:45his kingdom
32:46once again
32:47pushing England
32:49to the brink
32:49of civil war
33:03The news
33:05spread like wildfire
33:07A few days earlier
33:09Canute had issued
33:10the call to arms
33:12Now
33:13from one end
33:14of the country
33:15to the other
33:18Thousands
33:18march towards
33:19the capital
33:24Canute has waited
33:25months for this
33:26moment
33:27The fractures
33:28tearing England
33:29apart
33:30offer him
33:31the perfect
33:31opportunity
33:32for revenge
33:34The tree
33:35has a trunk
33:35and you see
33:36one trunk
33:37above the ground
33:38as it were
33:38but if you were
33:39to grab that
33:40and pull it
33:41out of the ground
33:41you see
33:42all these roots
33:43and each root
33:43leads to another unit
33:44and to another unit
33:45and they spread out
33:46in a myriad of ways
33:47so Canute doesn't
33:48have direct contact
33:49with people
33:50even a few stages
33:51down
33:51When a king
33:53calls
33:54as opposed
33:54to a local
33:55nobleman
33:55you get
33:56an enormous
33:57amount
33:57of uptake
33:58of this
34:00To launch
34:01his reconquest
34:03Canute relies
34:04on a man
34:05from Norway
34:07Erik of Lade
34:10An old ally
34:12of his father
34:12destined
34:14to be
34:14the cornerstone
34:15of his
34:16great army
34:19Erik's family
34:20has been
34:21slowly consolidating
34:23power
34:23over northern
34:24Norway
34:24and pretty much
34:25then all of
34:26Norway
34:27down to the south
34:28They are probably
34:28the most powerful
34:29dynasty
34:30ruling any part
34:31of Scandinavia
34:32at that point
34:32Erik moreover
34:34has married
34:34one of Canute's
34:35half-sisters
34:36He was therefore
34:37a family ally
34:37a recognised war leader
34:39a man of great power
34:40and considerable charisma
34:41widely respected
34:42and very likely
34:44someone who played
34:44the role of a mentor
34:45to Canute
34:52As the army
34:53gathers
34:54an alarm
34:55sounds
34:58a fleet
34:59approaches
34:59off the coast
35:02filled
35:03with men
35:03and weapons
35:08At its head
35:09is Thorkil
35:10the Tall
35:12fearsome
35:13Viking leader
35:14Æthelred's
35:15ally for more
35:16than three years
35:19Of all his followers
35:21Thorkil was likely
35:22the most loyal
35:23yet in 1015
35:24he seems to vanish
35:26from England
35:27returning discreetly
35:28to Denmark
35:29with only a few ships
35:33and he stays
35:34and he stays a little bit
35:34offshore
35:35this is a man
35:36who's not quite sure
35:37if the Danish royal family
35:39are going to try
35:39and kill him or not
35:40but also he doesn't want
35:41to give them the opportunity
35:44Canute is intrigued
35:46and agrees to hear out
35:48this formidable adversary
35:53Thorkil knows England
35:54extremely well
35:55its balance of power
35:56its terrain
35:57such knowledge
35:58could be of great value
36:01Canute studies the man
36:0330 years his senior
36:06once among his father's
36:07greatest enemies
36:10a single gesture
36:12could have ended him
36:13but instead
36:15Canute offers his hand
36:21Knute accepts the allegiance
36:23very quickly
36:24without reserve
36:25securing the support
36:27to such an experienced
36:28influential
36:29and knowledgeable leader
36:31is sufficient
36:31Eric then stands
36:34as Knute's
36:34positive guiding force
36:36Thorkil his darker
36:38more ambivalent counterpart
36:40together
36:41they form the two
36:43paternal figures
36:44around whom
36:45Knute builds himself
36:46and his army
36:49they're the very best
36:50allies he could find
36:52both among the Norwegians
36:53and the Dates
36:56his ability to surround
36:57himself with talent
36:59is extraordinary
37:05at first light
37:09Knute
37:09gives the order
37:10to set sail
37:18At the head of a fleet
37:20of 200 ships
37:22he heads towards England
37:27The encomium of Queen Emma
37:30records the fleet
37:32as being dazzling
37:33to behold
37:34it uses these sort of
37:35grandiose Latin terms
37:38emphasizing sight
37:40of this terrible
37:42war fleet
37:43of Knute
37:43that is brought
37:44to England
37:45in 1015
37:47so for an observer
37:50standing on the
37:50English coast
37:52there must have been
37:53a view of this
37:54kind of forest
37:55of masts
37:56and sails
37:57and it must be
37:58a terrible sight
37:59to behold
38:05but as the fleet
38:06nears the English coast
38:08Knute turns south
38:11unlike his father
38:13two years earlier
38:14he does not aim
38:15for the north
38:16his target
38:17is the heart
38:18of power
38:19Wessex
38:21he's now had a taste
38:22of England
38:22he's been around it
38:24a bit
38:24he's spent a bit
38:25of time there
38:25and he can see
38:26that what he needs
38:27more than anything else
38:27is he doesn't need
38:29to go to the part
38:30that looks like Scandinavia
38:31because it's most convenient
38:32for him
38:33he needs to go to the part
38:34that's least convenient
38:35for him to understand
38:36and interact with
38:37because that's where
38:38you rule England from
38:40and that's the wealthy south
38:43the ships skirt
38:45the coast of Kent
38:46pushing into Dorset
38:53on board
38:54carried by the dark
38:55waters of the river
38:58Knute recalls the day
39:00a year earlier
39:01when he first set foot
39:02on English soil
39:03beside his father
39:08today
39:09he fights for his own name
39:12for the oath
39:13whispered over
39:14Svein's lifeless body
39:18by the time
39:20Knute comes back
39:21to England
39:21he's still young
39:23but already
39:24has considerable experience
39:26he's had those
39:27early moments
39:28in England
39:29working first
39:30with his father
39:30successfully
39:31those difficult moments
39:32where it all went wrong
39:33he's had a few years
39:35experience
39:36he's had experience
39:36now back
39:37at his brother's court
39:38in Denmark
39:39and some of the difficulties
39:40he's encountered there
39:41so he's certainly
39:42coming back
39:42a wilier
39:44more experienced
39:45political operator
39:46and not someone
39:46who anybody in England
39:47I think would underestimate
39:56Wessex is among the kingdom's best
39:59defended territories
40:05but Knute is confident
40:07his ships give him
40:09a decisive edge
40:11these long ships
40:13often miscalled dracars
40:15are the key
40:16the key to Vikings striking power
40:21Britain may see itself today
40:23as a navy first
40:26in its military
40:26but it wasn't then
40:28and it had nothing
40:29in comparison
40:30to these long boats
40:32that the Vikings used
40:33what made Scandinavian ships
40:34so effective
40:36in this period
40:36was the fact
40:37that they managed
40:38to be very seaworthy
40:39could travel
40:39significant distances
40:41could carry
40:42large numbers of men
40:43but still have
40:44a relatively
40:45shallow draft
40:46and so what that
40:47allows them to do
40:48is to travel
40:48quite far up
40:49navigable rivers
40:50to beach quite easily
40:52and to land
40:53and then attack
40:53local people
41:00canute's army
41:02devastates
41:03all in its path
41:07Dorset
41:08Wiltshire
41:10Somerset
41:14the young
41:16Dane
41:17advances
41:17relentlessly
41:28between
41:29Knut's hesitations
41:30in 1013
41:31to 1014
41:32and his return
41:33in 1015
41:33to 1016
41:34there's a dramatic shift
41:35he knows exactly
41:37what must be done
41:38and he executes it
41:39coldly
41:40efficiently
41:40and with calculation
41:42a highly effective approach
41:44no doubt advised
41:45by the two men
41:46at his side
41:46probably the finest
41:47war leaders
41:48of the north
41:52Knut learned
41:53from his past mistakes
41:56he gives the enemy
41:57no respite
42:00at the head
42:02of their troops
42:02Erik and Thorkell
42:04descend on English lands
42:06like a swarm
42:07of locusts
42:11Knut rarely goes
42:12into battle himself
42:15like Octavian
42:17during Rome's
42:17civil war
42:18he remains behind
42:21reflecting
42:21pulling strings
42:23giving orders
42:24relying on powerful men
42:25to act
42:26but his followers
42:28clearly trust him
42:29and are willing
42:30to go into battle
42:31in his stead
42:38the Scandinavian forces
42:39the Scandinavian forces
42:40set up camp
42:40in Mercia
42:42one of the kingdom's
42:43richest regions
42:45and undoubtedly
42:46one of the most
42:47difficult to subdue
42:52at least
42:53until a man appears
42:55on the outskirts
42:56of the camp
43:06Canute
43:07Canute is intrigued
43:07and watches
43:08the stranger
43:09approach
43:13it is none other
43:14than
43:15Yadric
43:15Stryona
43:20he presents himself
43:26before his
43:27most formidable
43:28enemy
43:36Yadric
43:36Stryona's choice
43:37to side
43:38with Canute
43:39seems to be
43:40one of these
43:40key moments
43:42in many ways
43:43in the
43:43strategies
43:45of 10-15
43:46why Yadric
43:48decides to betray
43:49Ethelred
43:50is really
43:51the million pound
43:52question
43:53he'd risen
43:54on Ethelred's
43:55coattails
43:55but if we look
43:56at Yadric's
43:57later career
43:58what it seems
43:59to teach us
44:00is that he's
44:00somebody who is
44:01interested in
44:01one thing
44:02and one person
44:03only
44:03and that was
44:04Yadric Stryona
44:05so what he does
44:06is he decides
44:07to jump
44:08before he's pushed
44:09and figures
44:10that his best bet
44:11for maintaining
44:12his position of
44:13power and influence
44:13is to then be
44:15the kingmaker
44:15to be the one
44:16who secures
44:18Canute's claim
44:19to the throne
44:19and then hopefully
44:20reaps dividends
44:21from that
44:23Like his father
44:25two years earlier
44:27Canute strikes
44:28at the very heart
44:29of the kingdom
44:30Once again
44:31Ethelred does nothing
44:33to stop the invasion
44:37Left to fend
44:39for themselves
44:39the nobles
44:40have no choice
44:41but to submit
44:42to the Dane
44:43one after another
44:46By securing
44:48the allegiance
44:48of this aristocracy
44:50through his very presence
44:51Knute symbolically
44:52exposes
44:53the king's absence
44:54The ruler is not there
44:56to defend
44:57his ancestral lands
44:58He's a failed king
44:59and therefore
45:00an illegitimate one
45:01Politically
45:02it's a masterstroke
45:03and above all
45:03it works
45:10The campaign
45:11seems almost effortless
45:13Yet Knute
45:15does not realise
45:16that this time
45:17a far more
45:18formidable opponent
45:19awaits him
45:34Faint intervenes
45:36once again
45:38King Ethelred
45:40falls gravely ill
45:41Setting aside
45:44old quarrels
45:45he entrusts
45:46command of the war
45:47to his son
45:47Edmund Ironside
45:51The big change
45:52that happens
45:53with Edmund Ironside
45:54taking over
45:55is that we have
45:56a competent
45:57and present
45:58English leader
46:00but he is
46:01the Englishman
46:02who will fight
46:03back against Knute
46:04between those two
46:05there's an equality
46:06in their fights
46:07If you read this
46:08as a narrative
46:09you're not quite sure
46:11which way it's going
46:11to go
46:12until the final
46:13battle happens
46:14as it were
46:18To confront Knute
46:19Edmund must rally
46:21the full strength
46:22of the kingdom
46:26For now
46:27his army
46:27is dangerously thin
46:31Accompanied by
46:32his personal guard
46:33he rides tirelessly
46:35across the regions
46:36still loyal
46:37to the crown
46:38calling upon
46:39the fiat
46:40the levy
46:41of free men
46:45Feared is the term
46:46for the army
46:47and it would have
46:47been composed
46:48typically
46:49of a small
46:50inner entourage
46:52of potentially
46:53professional soldiers
46:54or near professional
46:55soldiers
46:55senior aristocrats
46:56who saw war
46:58as one of their
46:59main pastimes
47:00but then supplemented
47:01with a local
47:03militia
47:03so with individuals
47:04called up
47:05from local counties
47:06to serve
47:07in the army
47:09These men
47:10were expected
47:10to arrive
47:11with their own
47:11resources and weapons
47:13which was far
47:13from simple
47:14Such levies
47:15often produced armies
47:16that were uneven
47:16poorly equipped
47:17unevenly trained
47:18To resist Knute
47:20Edmund repeatedly
47:21mobilizes
47:22the kingdom's
47:22free men
47:23raising new forces
47:24whenever possible
47:27To his troops
47:29Edmund strives
47:30to embody leadership
47:33But the conflicts
47:34that once opposed him
47:35to his father
47:36have left deep scars
47:39Many distrust
47:40the young prince
47:42Judging him
47:43to be overly ambitious
47:47There was a real question
47:48for those loyal
47:49to Ethelred
47:50as to whether or not
47:52Edmund was
47:53friend or foe
47:55This is one of the things
47:55that hamstrings
47:57Edmund's initial attempts
47:58to resist
47:59is that he's not able
48:00to secure that support
48:01and that the main
48:03English army
48:03under Ethelred's authority
48:04is not willing
48:06to join Edmund's
48:07This is quite serious
48:08This is a refusal
48:10to do the king's bidding
48:11Edmund is there
48:12on behalf of his father
48:13and these armies
48:14are refusing to come
48:15to the meeting places
48:16and join up
48:17This is very, very bad news
48:24In London
48:26Ethelred receives
48:27a message
48:32His son pleads
48:34for aid
48:34Despite the illness
48:36consuming him
48:37the king
48:38orders his guard
48:39to assemble
48:40and rides west
48:46A few days later
48:49Edmund welcomes
48:51his father
48:55He studies him closely
48:56All of England's hopes
48:58now rest on this
49:00old, weary
49:01aging king
49:03As a final little
49:05sort of bump in this
49:06Ethelred is warned
49:08maybe it's real
49:10maybe it's just paranoia
49:11that some part of the army
49:12or somebody there
49:13is going to kill him
49:16The king apparently panics
49:18and runs into the safety
49:20of London
49:20and the army
49:22just dispats
49:24You can see
49:25you can see
49:26the problems here
49:27and the fragility
49:28of the English forces
49:29and this is the major problem
49:31that Edmund has
49:36But once again
49:38Ethelred withdraws
49:41Edmund is isolated
49:43and has no choice
49:46He rides north
49:48prepared to risk everything
49:53At Bamboura
49:55he meets Uhtred
49:57Earl of Northumbria
50:01The man supported
50:03Svein and Knut
50:04the previous year
50:05yet remains tied to Edmund
50:07through marriage alliances
50:10He's experienced as a warrior
50:12he's got troops
50:13he's got power
50:15and so Edmund reaches out
50:17to Uhtred
50:17and Uhtred actually
50:19joins forces
50:20with the English forces
50:21against the Danes
50:22This might seem
50:23somewhat anachronistic
50:24because earlier
50:26Uhtred seemed to have
50:27some association
50:28with the Danes
50:29but Uhtred is going
50:30to be friends
50:31with whoever
50:32gets Uhtred the most power
50:34This is then
50:34combined
50:35with the fact
50:36that he was closely allied
50:38with people like
50:38Morkar and Sierferth
50:39so who've just been
50:40purged from the core
50:41and therefore
50:42do not look kindly
50:43upon Ethelred
50:44and his regime
50:45and so for Edmund
50:47Uhtred is a logical ally
50:52With Uhtred now
50:54at his side
50:56Edmund finally commands
50:57forces capable
50:58of challenging
50:59Canute
51:04Yet instead of facing
51:06his rival
51:08he turns south
51:10towards Mercia
51:16Unleashing his strength
51:17against those nobles
51:19accused of treachery
51:29Once again
51:30the English fight
51:32among themselves
51:33while the Danes
51:34devastate the kingdom
51:38Everybody thought
51:39that they would
51:40attack the Danish army
51:42but it's much better
51:44from their perspective
51:45to pursue
51:46their own interests
51:48and at this point
51:49I think that their
51:50interests are
51:51Iadric Strayona
51:53So Canute is a problem
51:55yeah sure
51:55but Iadric's support
51:57for Canute
51:57is the big problem
51:58and I don't think
52:00at this point
52:00they necessarily
52:01have national interests
52:03at heart
52:05but you know
52:06in these circumstances
52:07who can blame them
52:16Facing the growing alliance
52:17between Edmund and Uhtred
52:20Canute turns to strategy
52:23A direct confrontation
52:25would be too great a risk
52:27Together with his commanders
52:29he devises a daring plan
52:32At dawn
52:33they will outmaneuver the enemy
52:35and strike deep into the heart
52:37of Uhtred's own lands
52:41Of course
52:42the Uhtred episode
52:43glorious though it is
52:44for the English
52:45is unfortunately short-lived
52:47What Canute does
52:48again always the brilliant tactician
52:50he himself and Eric
52:51they go to Uhtred's house
52:53and they threaten him
52:54at home
52:54when he's taken
52:55most of his forces
52:56away with him
52:57to the south
53:03Danish forces
53:04descend upon Northumbria
53:07ravaging territories
53:09left dangerously undefended
53:12In their wake
53:14towns and villages
53:15fall
53:15one after another
53:18Uhtred is panicked
53:20but he was not ready
53:21for this at all
53:22and he withdraws
53:23from the fight
53:24in the south of England
53:25and he heads home
53:31Returning to Bamboura
53:32Uhtred discovers
53:34his stronghold
53:35already in Danish hands
53:40In the great hall
53:42of his palace
53:42Canute awaits him
53:45seated upon the throne
53:46a throne that once belonged
53:47to his host
53:52facing the young Dane
53:53Uhtred immediately understands
53:55that there is no way out
53:59submission
53:59is his only hope
54:01of survival
54:05The difference between
54:07Knut and Svein
54:08is clear
54:08Svein relied on hostages
54:10and negotiated loyalty
54:12Knut however
54:13had already experienced
54:14how fragile
54:15aristocratic allegiance
54:16could be
54:16Shortly after submitting
54:18Uhtred was most likely
54:20assassinated
54:23Uhtred is gone from the picture
54:24this mighty English warrior
54:26who could have turned
54:27the tide for Edmund
54:28he's a piece
54:29that's off the chessboard
54:30click
54:30and he's gone
54:31and it's checkmate
54:33to Knut
54:33just for the moment
54:36Wessex
54:37Mercia
54:37and much of northern England
54:39now lie under
54:40Canute's control
54:44Edmund
54:45can rely only
54:46on his own strength
54:47if he hopes to prevail
54:50As for Ethelred
54:51sick and weakened
54:52he remains confined
54:54within London
54:57For Canute
54:58the conquest of England
54:59now seems inevitable
55:02and yet
55:03once more
55:04fate is about to intervene
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