Showing posts with label Denmark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Denmark. Show all posts

Thursday, May 2, 2019

Emma Of Normandy—11th-Century England Incarnate



The Duchy of Normandy was born following the Treaty of St. Clair-sur-Epte in the year 911, when the Viking Hrolf (or Rollo) was bequeathed power in northern France by King Charles III “the Simple”. The new rulers of Normandy adopted parts of French culture, such as Christianity and the vernacular of France, yet they never completely assimilated. Instead, they became something that was not fully French and not fully Scandinavian—they were Norman.

Duke Hrolf’s grandson was Duke Richard I “the Fearless” (r. 942-996). In his day, the link between the Normans and Scandinavia was very much still alive. Richard I married a woman named Gunnor, who was reportedly a Dane. They had several children, the most important being the eventual heir, Richard II, as well as a daughter named Emma.

When Richard II became duke in 996, friendly relations between the Normans and their Scandinavian cousins continued. To the annoyance of Æthelred the Unready (the king of England since 978), Viking raiders who needed a break from pillaging in Britain, or wanted to offload some looted cargo, could quickly find friendly ports by sailing to Normandy. The Anglo-Saxons of England were aware of this and noted it in their records—as in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for the year 1000, where the chronicler explained a lull in otherwise annual Viking raids with the statement, “the hostile fleet was this summer gone to Richard’s dominions” (ASC 1000).

Naturally, the Anglo-Saxons did not appreciate Normandy’s enabling of Viking attacks on Britain, and the king and the duke likely exchanged heated letters to each other through ambassadors. Yet, in 1002, an interesting agreement was reached between the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons—Emma, the young sister of Richard II, would wed King Æthelred the Unready of England.

Born between 985 and 990, Emma would have been in her early teens, possibly as young as twelve, when she was shipped off to England by her brother. Emma, however, did not go alone. She brought with her a sizable retinue of Normans, which at times could look like a private army. Most memorably, her Norman followers caused a stir in 1003, when “Exeter was taken by storm, through the French count Hugo, whom the lady [Emma] had appointed her reeve” (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1003). In addition to her Norman retinue, Emma was given large swaths of land (and tax exemptions) by Æthelred the Unready, which would eventually turn the savvy Emma into England’s richest woman. Despite being sent to a war-torn land and forced to marry a man around twenty years older than herself, she was living in luxury.

The marriage between Emma of Normandy and Æthelred the unready was presumably a match meant to reduce the Scandinavian threat to England—with Emma serving as a queen of England, her brother, Duke Richard II of Normandy, would be less eager to help Britain-bound Vikings. Around the same time that the marriage occurred, Æthelred also made a large tribute payment to a group of Scandinavian raiders in order to buy peace. Yet, despite extending these two olive branches, Æthelred himself devastated any chance of ending his Viking problem before the year was even over. In 1002, right after sending tribute money to the raiders and marrying Emma, Æthelred launched the so-called St. Brice’s Day Massacre, in which “the king commanded all the Danish men who were in England to be slain” (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1002). For Emma, with a Norman father and a Danish mother, it must have been an awkward time.

In response to the massacre, Danish fleets sent by King Sweyn (or Svein) Forkbeard began relentlessly attacking England, invading almost on an annual basis. Despite this, Queen Emma made the best of her situation. For the sake of the Anglo-Saxons, she adopted the name, Ælfgifu—which curiously was also the name of Æthelred’s previous wife (Ælfgifu of York). Between hearing reports of Viking raids and Sweyn Forkbeard sightings, Æthelred the Unready and Emma managed to have three children together, two sons (Alfred and Edward), as well as a daughter (Goda). Neither of Emma’s sons, however, were Æthelred’s heir apparent. Instead, a man named Edmund Ironside, born from Æthelred’s previous wife, was the nominated successor to the kingdom.

After years of warfare, Sweyn Forkbeard’s wrath proved too much for Æthelred the Unready. By 1013, rampaging Danish warriors forced Æthelred and Emma to flee across the English Channel. While the refugee royals escaped to Emma’s homeland of Normandy, Sweyn Forkbeard and the Danes claimed the throne of England. Sweyn Forkbeard, however, died the very next year and was succeeded by his untested son, Canute. With England and Denmark both showing questionable loyalty to Canute, Æthelred the Unready and Emma were able to return to Britain and claim the English throne in 1014. Yet, Canute—who would later be given the epithet “the Great”—was not one to be underestimated. With an army of loyalists, Canute quickly began marauding through England and encouraging local lords to defect. The warfare lasted until King Æthelred’s death in 1016 and continued into the reign of his successor, Edmund Ironside. The new king was not called “Ironside” for nothing, and, with him at the head off England’s forces, the Danish assault was ground down to a stalemate. Yet, Edmund, too, died in 1016 and Canute subsequently became the king of England.

For Queen Emma, the death of her husband and the rise of Canute was not the end of her political career, but a new beginning. The victorious king fancied Emma (as well as her ties to the Normans) and quickly began courting her. Like the late Æthelred, Canute had a previous wife (who bore him a son named Harold Harefoot), but Canute set the woman aside so that he could marry Emma. Canute and Emma reportedly got along quite well and were married as early as 1017. Children arrived quickly after their marriage—a son named Hardecanute was born around 1018 or 1019, and they also had a daughter named Gunnhild. Unlike in her previous marriage, this time Emma supposedly was given reassurances from Canute that it would be her children (not those of his previous wife) that would succeed to the throne. The agreement, however, extended only to Emma’s children fathered by Canute. Those fathered by the late Æthelred were sent into exile and lived in Normandy with their uncle, Duke Richard II.

Queen Emma’s life with Canute the Great was a wild ride. After seeing to things in England, Canute sailed back to Denmark and asserted his claim over the kingdom between 1018 and 1019. Later, as if England and Denmark were not enough, he usurped power in Norway by deposing King Olaf II Haraldsson (Saint Olaf) in 1028. During this time, Queen Emma was reportedly a trusted advisor to King Canute and also was greatly influential in the life of her son, Hardecanute, even after the boy was sent to be tutored in Denmark and later named the governor or minor king of the region around 1028.

Unfortunately, King Canute the Great died unexpectedly in 1035 and, despite the late king’s supposed assurances to the contrary, Emma’s son, Hardecanute, was not guaranteed succession in England. The aforementioned Harold Harefoot had for years been recruiting a powerful coalition of English thanes and earls while his half-brother, Hardecanute, was away in Denmark. When Canute died, Harold contested the succession and had on his side the majority of England’s lords, of which Earl Leofric of Mercia was his most vocal supporter. In protest, Queen Emma delved into a battle of politics and intrigue to fight for Hardecanute’s claim on England. She recruited the powerful Earl Godwine of Wessex to her side and they managed to keep Harold Harefoot contained to the rank of co-king or regent for a time. While engaged in her political battles with Harold, Queen Emma had some autonomy and was described as being well-guarded “at Winchester with her son’s [Hardecanute’s] ‘hûscarls’” (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1036). Yet her position was precarious, and her foe was a worthy adversary in court intrigue.

Earl Godwine was eventually swayed over to the faction of Harold Harefoot and England became an increasingly dangerous place for Emma and her family. Although her son, Hardecanute, had easily claimed the throne of Denmark, Harold was simultaneously tightening his control over English politics. A breaking point was reached in 1036, when Alfred (Emma’s son by Æthelred) returned to England. At that time, Harold Harefoot had such power in the realm that Alfred was quickly arrested, mutilated, and left to die—the gruesome act was reportedly carried out by Emma’s former ally, Earl Godwine. There was no longer any need for Harold Harefoot to pretend to be a co-ruler or regent. In 1037, he proclaimed himself the sole king of England and forced Emma into exile.

Interestingly, Emma chose not to join her son Hardecanute in Denmark, or to visit her other son, Edward, in Normandy. Instead, she reportedly sailed to Flanders, where a certain Count Baldwin gave her shelter. In late 1039, the filial Hardecanute went to meet his mother in Flanders, bringing with him a fleet of around sixty ships. Yet, before Hardecanute and Emma could reroute their fleet back to England, Harold Harefoot died in March 1040. With the throne vacant, Hardecanute was able to become king of England without bloodshed. Nevertheless, he had unfinished business with his late half-brother, so Hardecanute reportedly exhumed Harold’s body and had the remains unceremoniously tossed into a wetland.

With Hardecanute in power, the long-exiled Edward (son of Æthelred and Emma) was allowed to return to England in 1041. He arrived just in time, for Hardecanute reportedly drank himself to death in 1042. With his half-brother dead, Edward “the Confessor” became the new king. Emma, now living once again in Winchester, likely hoped that she could rekindle that mother-son spark with her long-neglected child.  Yet, Emma’s marriage to the Danish king, the more than twenty years absence from Edward’s life, as well as her clear favoritism toward Hardecanute, undoubtedly caused some strain in the relationship between King Edward and his mother. It has also been claimed that Emma withheld support from Edward during his succession to the throne, or possibly backed another candidate. Whatever the case, King Edward was clearly unhappy with his mother’s behavior. In 1043, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Edward “and earl Leofric, and earl Godwine, and earl Siward, with their attendants, rode from Gloucester to Winchester unawares upon the lady [Emma], and they bereaved her of all the treasures which she owned, which were not to be told; because she had before been very hard to the king her son, inasmuch as she had done less for him than he would, before he was king, and also since then” (ASC 1043).

In Edward’s systematic undermining of his mother in 1043, he stripped away much of her land, her wealth and her influence, even momentarily excluding her from his court. The two were eventually somewhat reconciled, but Emma never regained the power she once had. With her political heyday unmistakably over, Emma of Normandy learned to live a quiet life and died in 1052. Edward the Confessor continued to rule in England until he died without an heir in 1066. In the political chaos after Edward’s death, with Norwegians, Anglo-Saxons, and Normans battling for the throne of England, it would be Emma’s great-nephew, William the Conqueror, who would emerge victorious.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Depiction of Queen Emma from a manuscript in the Cambridge University Library, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:
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Thursday, January 24, 2019

The Bold Tale Of Jarl Einar Of Orkney



Jarl Rognvald was one of the Norwegian chieftains that aligned with Harald Finehair (r. 860-940), the first king to spread his influence over all regions of Norway. The last vestige of Norwegian resistance against Harald’s rule was crushed in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which was dated to have occurred in 872 by medieval historians, but now is believed to have taken place possibly as late as 900. Jarl Rognvald became one of Finehair’s staunchest and most powerful supporters, and the jarl was greatly rewarded for his loyalty. According to the Norwegian-Icelandic tradition, King Harald gave Rognvald control of North More, South More and Romsdal. In addition to that, Finehair also offered the jarl control of Orkney and Shetland after Rognvald’s son, Ivar, was killed during a campaign to claim those islands for Norway and to clear them of disloyal Vikings. Jarl Rognvald, however, was content with his land in Norway and decided to transfer control of Orkney and Shetland to his brother, Sigurd.

Although Sigurd proved to be a capable leader, even expanding his territory into parts of Scotland, he unfortunately died of an infection. Sigurd’s sickly son, Guthorm, inherited control of the islands, but he, too, died after only a year. When Guthorm died childless, control of Orkney passed back to Jarl Rognvald of More. Yet, once again, he did not want to keep the lands for himself. This time, Rognvald decided to give the islands to one of his sons. At the time, the jarl was said to have had five living sons—Hrolf the Walker (who would become a duke of Normandy), Thorir, Hallad, Hrollaug and Einar. Rognvald eventually chose Hallad to become the new ruler of the islands.

Hallad quickly became disillusioned in Orkney. Beleaguered by Viking raids and annoyed by local grumbling farmers, Hallad eventually grew homesick and returned to Norway, abandoning the islands. In his absence, Viking crews once more overran the region and the islands were virtually cut off from Norwegian control. According to the Orkneyinga Saga, two Vikings from Denmark took over the region. Their names were supposedly Thorir Tree-Beard and Kalf Scurvy, and they set up their main camp in Orkney.

When Rognvald heard that Hallad had abandoned Orkney and that the region was now occupied by Vikings—Danish Vikings no less—the jarl became enraged and called a meeting with his sons (excluding Hallad). At the time, Hrolf the Walker was apparently away on an expedition, so only Thorir, Hrollaug and Einar spoke with their father. Rognvald was said to have undervalued Einar (his mother was allegedly a slave), so the jarl ignored him and asked only Thorir and Hrollaug which of them wanted to reclaim Orkney from the Vikings. When both sons dryly stated that they would follow their father’s wishes, but did not show much enthusiasm for the prospect, Einar stepped forward and confidently volunteered himself for the task.

According to the sagas, Rognvald chose to accept Einar’s offer less as an acknowledgment of his son’s martial abilities and more as a way to get his unwanted son out of Norway. Whatever the case, Rognvald funded Einar’s expedition. Rognvald’s contributions, however, supposedly only bought a single ship and enough warriors to fill twenty benches. With his ship and crew, Einar sailed across the sea and made landfall in the Shetland Islands. There, he recruited more warriors and discovered that the Danish Viking leaders were still camped on Orkney.  Armed with this information, Einar, his forces, and the recruits from Shetland sailed to the Orkney Islands and tracked down the Vikings. Proving himself a skilled tactician, Einar attacked his enemy and reportedly slew both Thorir Tree-beard and Kalf Scurvy with ease. With the Viking leaders defeated, Einar reclaimed the island territories for Norway and became the new jarl of the region.

Although life was going well for Jarl Einar, he would eventually discover that the chaotic politics of the Norwegian royal family would pose much more potent danger than bands of Danish Vikings. According to Norwegian-Icelandic tradition, Harald Finehair had four sons with a beautiful woman named Snæfrid.  She died an early death, and, after a period of mourning, the king supposedly came to believe that she had been a witch. Harald’s suspicion of Snæfrid quickly grew to encompass even her sons, prompting the king to send them away. The shunned sons understandably became quite disgruntled with their father.  Like many unhappy children, the sons of Snæfrid unfortunately decided to do something scandalous to get their father’s attention.

Hálfdan Hálegg and Gudrod Ljómi were two such sons of Snæfrid and Harald Finehair. According to the sagas, Hálfdan and Gudrod decided that the best way to draw the eye of their father was to kill one of his most trusted Jarls. With this in mind, the two brothers traveled to More and crept their way over to the hall of the local jarl. While everyone inside the building was asleep, Hálfdan and Gudrod set fire to the hall and murdered over sixty people. Among those burned alive was Jarl Rognvald, the father of Einar.

When Harald Finehair heard of the killing, he was said to have launched a manhunt for his wayward sons. Gudrod Ljómi surrendered to Harald and reportedly suffered no major consequences for his actions—he mended his relationship with his father and eventually died at sea. Hálfdan Hálegg, however, fled from the Norwegian mainland with a fleet of three ships.

Even though Gudrod and Hálfdan were not Harald Finehair’s favorite sons, the king tried to arbitrate a peace before a feud erupted between his children and the sons of Rognvald. As a first step, the king publicly gave support to Rognvald’s heir, Thorir, confirming him to be the new jarl of More. In addition, Harald arranged for his own daughter, Álof, to marry Jarl Thorir. Despite these moves by King Harald toward peace, a certain rogue son of his did not get the memo.

According to the sagas, Hálfdan Hálegg and his three ships full of warriors sailed for the British Isles. Out of all the shorelines and islands that were available for a landing, his small fleet made landfall on the one group of islands where his presence would inevitably cause drama—Orkney. Jarl Einar still controlled the region, and even though his relationship with Rognvald had been strained, hearing that his father had been painfully burned alive inspired a new level of filial piety in the jarl.

Despite his emotions, Jarl Einar was caught off guard by the sudden arrival of Hálfdan Hálegg. As his warriors disembarked from their ships, the rogue royal claimed the islands for himself and tried to use his status as a son of Harald Finehair to sway the locals to his side. Instead of facing Hálfdan unprepared, Jarl Einar decided to retreat to Scotland until he was ready to attack.

Although Hálfdan Hálegg had forced Einar to flee Orkney, the jarl still had public support on his side. Since becoming ruler of Orkney, Einar had proven himself a capable military leader to his subjects. Additionally, he had a reputation for being able to solve problems—in this regard, he even became known as Turf-Einar after he encouraged people in timber-scarce regions to burn peat moss as a substitute for firewood. It also helped that Einar had the stature of a man that people would want to follow into battle. He was reportedly tall, strong, and had even lost an eye during a battle, leaving a scar that added to his fierce aura. With such respect from the people living in his domain, it did not take long for Einar to recruit an army with which to challenge his father’s killer.

In less than a year after being forced to withdraw, Jarl Einar returned with a large army and attacked Hálfdan Hálegg near North Ronaldsay, a small island in the northeast of Orkney. The two forces battled until nightfall, at which point Hálfdan and his warriors scattered into the darkness. When morning arrived, Jarl Einar hunted down the survivors of the battle and captured Hálfdan alive.  As punishment for the murder of Rognvald and the attempted usurpation of power in Orkney, Jarl Einar sentenced Hálfdan Hálegg to suffer one of the most brutal executions known to the Viking age—the “blood eagle.” The flesh on Halfdan’s back was cut lengthwise, his rib cage was pried open, and his lungs were pulled out and placed on his parted ribs so that his corpse looked like a bloodied bird.

When news of the execution reached mainland Norway, it caused an uproar among the many, many brothers and half-brothers of Hálfdan. Even King Harald, who still wanted to end the feud, could not let the execution go unanswered. A king’s jarl just could not give the king’s son a gruesome blood eagle without any repercussions—it was a matter of principle. Therefore, King Harald Finehair reportedly gathered a large fleet and sailed for Orkney to remind Jarl Einar just who was the boss.

When Einar saw the sails of an armada on the horizon, he panicked and fled to Scotland. King Harald, however, was still in a mood to negotiate. The two sent messengers to each other and a meeting was eventually arranged. After some typical haggling, King Harald offered to forgive Einar for the brutal execution of his wayward son in exchange for a fine of sixty marks of gold. The king even allowed Einar to extract the fee from the people of Orkney, if he was so inclined. In a genius, (albeit ruthless) political move, Einar presented the option to the people of Orkney, telling them that they could either pay the fee through unpleasant taxes or let their jarl take up the burden by paying the king’s fine with his own money. The people of Orkney, of course, chose the second option, but there was a catch—in exchange for saving his subjects from paying the king’s fine, Jarl Einar made the people of Orkney relinquished their allodial rights (the right to hold land without obligation to an overlord).

After the execution of Hálfdan, and the fine imposed by Harald Finehair, Jarl Einar seemingly lived a relatively peaceful life. The sagas mention no more feuding or life-threatening warfare for the remainder of his days. According to the Orkneyinga Saga, he died naturally in his bed after a long reign. The Orkneyinga Saga and Heimskringla (History of the Kings of Norway), do not present a date for the death of the jarl, but Einar seemed to have died before Harald Finehair’s son, Eirik Bloodaxe, fled to the British Isles in the years after he was kicked out of Norway around 945.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Jomsvikings at the Battle of Svolder, by Nils Bergslien (1853–1928), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:
  • Heimskringla, by Snorri Sturluson and translated by Lee Hollander. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964, 2018.  
  • Orkneyinga Saga, written anonymously approximately c. 1200, translated by Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards. New York: Penguin Classics, 1981.
  • https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-I-king-of-Norway 
  • http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Rognvald_Eysteinsson  
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Thursday, September 27, 2018

Árni Magnússon And His Many Chests Of Original Icelandic Manuscripts



In the year 1663, Árni Magnússon was born in the region of Kvennabrekka, Iceland. The occupations and status of his family would serve him well in later life—Árni’s father was a local sheriff with some political clout and his grandfather and uncle were familiar with the processes of printing and scribing. As these latter two men oversaw Árni Magnússon’s early education, their love of books evidently affected the young boy’s future interests.

After graduating from the Skálholt School in Iceland, Árni Magnússon accompanied his father on a trip to Denmark in 1683. While there, he enrolled at the University of Copenhagen and found a job as an assistant to Thomas Bartholin Jr., the Keeper of the Royal Antiquities in Denmark. This trip to Denmark was a momentous event in Árni Magnússon’s life, as the Keeper of Antiquities would set the young scholar on a task that would become his lifelong passion.
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