North Sea Empire

Denmark, 1016–1035. Draft, not yet reviewed

The North Sea Empire was the personal union of the kingdoms of England, Denmark and Norway for most of the period between 1013 and 1042 towards the end of the Viking Age. The first king to unite all three kingdoms was Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark since 986 and of Norway since 1000, when he conquered England in 1013. His son Cnut the Great acquired England in 1016, Denmark in 1018 and Norway in 1028. At the height of his power, when Cnut ruled all three kingdoms (1028–1035), he was the most powerful ruler in western Europe after the Holy Roman Emperor.

Seat of power: Roskilde

Rulers

Harald II of Denmark

Monarch of Denmark, 1014–1018

After his father's death, he was elected to the Danish throne in 1014, while his brother, the later king Cnut the Great was elected to the throne of England. Little detail is known about Harald II.

Cnut the Great

Monarch of Denmark, 1018–1035

Cnut was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. Cnut sought to keep this power base by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom.

Portrait of Cnut the Great: See Description (unknown), Public domain, file

Culture

The larger of the two stones was raised by King Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, in memory of his parents, celebrating his conquest of Denmark and Norway, and his conversion of the Danes to Christianity.
The stones are strongly identified with the creation of Denmark as a kingdom.
Cnut deemed himself "King of all England and Denmark and the Norwegians and of some of the Swedes" in a letter written for the benefit of his subjects.
Cnut cemented his power by marrying Æthelred's widow Emma in the summer of 1017.

Picture

The Jelling stones are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark.

Image: Alicudi, CC BY-SA 3.0, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.