The Maid of Normandy
It is the chanting of the monks, the ethereal call to worship, the pungent scent of incense blending with the smoke of many candles making their way to the windows high above, that remind and comfort the regal figure that she is in her place of sanctuary. A radiant ray of sunlight, emerging from those same windows, strikes the gold cross centered in the nave, a gift from her past but this church is more than a place of worship for her; it is the refuge she claimed so many years ago as a young bride.
In her reverie she recalls her walk down the aisle to fulfill a promise of marriage to a man chosen to be her destiny. Now years later, she shudders, reminded of the past abuses from a man of little grace and twenty years her senior Ethelred, the king and her groom. However, her thoughts return to remind her of the happiness she gained with a second marriage to another King of England, Knute the Great of Denmark.
The music emanating from the organ is somber, which reminds her of her duty; as a Queen Mother, she must witness the internment of her son beside his father King Knute; he is her “golden prince” and former King of England, Harthacanute. As the bishop approaches she kneels deeply, her cloak sweeps the floor but he clasps her hands to lift her up with a look of deep recognition as cheers are heard from the open doors interrupting the hush instilled by the sad occasion.
The people cry out in celebration at the arrival of their soon to be crowned Anglo Saxon king, Edward, son of Ethelred and the grieving mother. Mother and son walk into the sunlight together, a sign of mistakenly mutual accord. Her jeweled crown brought by Viking ancestors of King Knute from Persia sparkles in the light and the crowds bow to her as she lifts her head to greet them; she is reassured and reminded that she is their Queen Emma, who they call their “Maid of Normandy”.
Historians usually cannot decisively determine an exact date that an event occurs that transforms the course of history. The invasion of the Normans in 1066 CE. is an exception but events that transpired more than a half century earlier directed its course.
William the Conqueror, the man who led the invasion, was not the first Norman of noble birth to become royalty of England. That person was the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, named Emma.Richard II, her brother, negotiated her marriage to the King of England Ethelred II as a beneficial plan for both Normandy and England in 1002 CE. Emma's kinship with her great nephew became "the conduit through which Norman blood and ultimately Norman dukes entered England and its story." [Pauline Stafford author of Queen Emma and Queen Edith: Queenship and Women's Power in Eleventh Century England, Blackwell, 2001]
The king’s councilors saw the marriage alliance as a way to avert Norman aggression with an exchange of the vows. It did not matter that Ethelred was married with ten children to a wife who could be ‘set aside’ for the good of the people. Duke Richard II included in the negotiations that any sons born of the marriage would be designated as heirs to the throne. years. Emma was given the English name, Alice, but when the pomp and celebration was over the people affectionately named her, ‘The Maid of Normandy.’
The Alliance
During the reign of King Ethelred (978-1016), England was decimated by Danish Viking attacks from the sea and Danish soldiers overran the land. After their’ strike and run’ raids the pirates stopped at Norman ports. It infuriated the English King and his recourse was to compel the Pope to intervene. His complaint was that the Vikings who robbed his people were pagans who consorted with the Christian Normans. The Pope demanded a treaty between both parties in 991 CE. which forbid acts of vengeance against the Normans by the English king and the Normans could no longer welcome Danish Vikings to their ports.
The Vikings boldly continued their raids for the next decade and plunder changed to ransom in the form of payoffs known as Danegeld or’ gold for Danes’. This and other absorbent extortion payments led to heavy taxes with everyone ordered to contribute regardless of ability to pay.
The people blamed the king “grumbling that he should have fought the Danes and freed them from such a terrible burden.” Ethelred translates from Old English as -noble counsel but he is known in history as the unready, “ an ill-advised king”. The payoffs were only the beginning of his mistakes.
His greatest blunder occurred in the same year the marriage took place. Indignant and angered by the grumbling, King Athelred focused his great prejudices on the Danish people who lived in the Danelaw, where they had peaceably settled in East Anglia 50 years earlier. They eagerly learned farming methods from their English neighbors and used their own skills as merchants to build a bustling economy centered in the city of York.
They used their skills as merchants to build a bustling economy centered in the city of York. The once fearless race who defied the oceans of the world, became the famous Yorkshire culture within England today.
On November 13,1002 CE., the Christian feast of St, Brice orders were sent by the king to kill all the Danes of Danelaw. A declaration that it was a Christian duty to rid the kingdom of paganism sanctioned this despicable act. While they did not kill all the Danes 3,000 Danish people were slaughtered that day. Among the dead was the sister of Sweyn, King of Denmark executed as she begged for her life explaining that she and her son were on a mission to convert her people to Christianty.
King Sweyn invaded England determined to avenge his family and the Danish people.
A timeline of the events follows:
1203: King Sweyn sailed from Denmark with the largest army ever to invade England. After a successful landing he vengefully killed all the English in his march toward London but suffered heavy losses and had to sail back to his own kingdom. Queen Emma had fled to Normandy with her three young children, sons Alfred, Edward and daughter, Goda.
1213: King Sweyn returned with his 18 year old son, Knute to the decimated country with the intent to crown himself as king. His march through England was so effective that he was named the greatest general of his time which resulted in the collapse of English resistance. With a Danish army on the way Ethelred fled to Normandy to join Emma. Knute while wanting for the fleet for his father at the castle of Ealdorman of Northumbria married his daughter, Ealdgyth in a pagan ceremony. They were to have two children-Sweyn and Harold.
1214: As King Sweyn traveled to London to receive the crown of England, he fell from his horse and succumbed to his injuries before he reached London. The Witan sent a deputation to Ethelred to negotiate his return to England as king with the proviso that he was not to retaliate against any of those in disagreement with his ‘poor counsel. (Historians believe that the terms of his return suggest that there were those who had been willing to submit to Sweyn rather than have Ethelred as king.)
Sweyn’s death energized the English army and both nobles and commoners joined the march to confront his son. At the same time Knute, designated as the King of England by his father, prepared to march to London to finalize the revenge for his father but learned of a huge army on its way to destroy the fleet and its passengers. The young inexperienced prince was advised to leave for Denmark rather than be defeated by the English.
1215: Knute, the new King of Denmark returned to continue the struggle with 200 long ships and an army of Danes and Vikings recruited from all over Scandinavia promised rewards on the defeat of the English. He wisely sailed northwest rather than the usual pattern of invasion on the east coast and marched straight to Wessex, the seat of the royalty of England. The people were surprised by the unexpected diversion from the usual east coastal landings submitted to him almost immediately. Edmund led the English army through several battles with both good and bad results across the country Knute also experienced defeat and victories. The people surprised by the unexpected attack submitted to him almost immediately.
1216: King Ethelred died in London in April and the Saxons chose Edmund, son of his first wife, as their king. Knute and Edmund were formidable foes constantly fighting each other which was depleted both armies. It was decided that the two commanders would enter into a contest of hand to hand combat to name the victor as king. Both parties were equally skilled and after hours of serious competition a truce was called. A decision was made that divided England. Edmund received the Southern half and Knute the Northern half with a promise that in the event of the death of one party the other would inherit the rule of all of England. The agreement was signed in October of that year. Both armies favored the alliance because it would bring peace and increase the martial powers of both countries when integrated into one great military force.
King Edmund, called Ironsides for his bravery and skill as a warrior king, died on November 30, 1216 probably from his battle wounds. Knute was crowned King of England Christmas Day 1216.
1217: King Knute was consecrated on January 6,1217 but it was not until 1218 that he was accepted by all the nobles.
The Queen of England Weds the King of Denmark
After his conquest of England culminating in his consecration he began a twenty year reign by first marrying the widow of King Ethelred, Emma, Maid of Normandy. For Knute the marriage would help to legitimize his reign in the eyes of the English or face constant revolt.
For Emma there were two choices: either remain in England as queen consort or return to Normandy with the reduced status of noble woman with the loss of her wealth and landholdings in England. She chose the latter to be crowned Queen Consort Imperial, a right that made it explicit that she was invested with royal powers and as such the king’s partner.
She acted as his trusted regent when he was away which was often due to his duties as King of Denmark and by 1016, Norway. Emma and Knute had a son Harthacanute, born in 1018, and a daughter, Gunhilda born in 1020.
At his coronation Canute stressed that the rod with which he had been invested was to be a rod of justice, not a rod of power and domination. He also made it clear that he would remove anyone considered a threat to his throne. The young sons of the former King Edmund, Edward and Edmund were sent to Sweden to be disposed of or at least forgotten. But Olaf, King of Sweden, sent the toddlers to be raised by his daughter.
King Knute brought much needed stability to the affairs of England during his reign and although a Viking he treated English and Dane alike and wisely appointed Englishmen to positions of importance in the Church and at court, one of whom was Harold Godwin, Earl of Essex who became an indispensable counselor. a
The highlight of their reign was an invitation to the coronation of Conrad II as the Holy Roman Emperor, an indication of the high esteem the royal couple had reached in Europe by 1027. The coronation was to be held in Rome, a pilgrimage of considerable prestige for the rulers of Europe. King Canute’s reputation was so highly regarded by the Pope that he was asked to join the imperial procession and then stood by Conrad II on the pedestal during the ceremony.
Their seven year old daughter, Gunhilda was betrothed to the young son of Conrad II, Henry III, the future Emperor.
The English royal couple were quite popular and received many invitations to join the Roman elite among them the Gheraldini family. Queen Emma invited their young son Otho, to join her entourage and he agreed to travel to Normandy with her and eventually settled in England. Otho Gheraldini would become the patriarch of many of the most prestigious families in Britain.
While Emma went to Normandy to visit her sons and other kinfolk King Knute left Europe to sail for Denmark to investigate rumors of discontent in Scandinavia. Rebellion ensued in 1035 and Sweyn, the ruler of Norway who was son of Knute and Ealdgyth. He fled to his half brother’s kingdom of Denmark for his support.
The brothers called on their father for his intervention but instead received the news of his death.
King Knute was buried at Winchester’s Cathedral, once the capital of England, and the stronghold of the Wessex Dynasty he had overthrown two decades earlier.
Most historians have summed up his image as a good Christian king, a statesman and diplomat, roles he sought to project. He worked to modernize many of the English laws and he may be fairly described as one of the best kings England ever had.
King Harthacanut (1040- 1042)
Harthacanut succeeded his father as both King of Denmark and England in 1035 but was not crowned until 1040. He was advised not to leave Denmark with war imminent with Norway. Instead it was agreed that his half-brother Harold Harefoot would be his regent in England and his mother Queen Emma would hold Wessex and the royal treasury in his absence.
Harold became generally accepted as the ruler of England and had the influence of Earl Godwin, the opportunist, exerting his power to have him crowned. He may also have received support of the northern earls aided by bribery from his mother, Queen Ealdgyth. For the first time in the history of the monarchy the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to acknowledge him and would not crown nor consecrate him as the King of England. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle recorded that Harthacanut was…” forsaken because he was too long in Denmark.” In 1036 an episode would occur that would have significant repercussions. The story as related in the Econium, a biography of King Knute written by monks, was that a letter was sent to Emma’s sons in Normandy which invited them to visit their mother in England.
On their arrival Edward made his way to his mother’s castle in Winchester, while Alfred, feted by Earl Godwin, was captured and turned over to Harold. Harold claimed he was threatened by an invasion of his half-brothers and as punishment for treason had Alfred blinded with hot pokers along with his bodyguard. Alfred died of his wounds but Edward was able to escape to Normandy.
King Harthacanut (1035-1042)
Emma, threatened by imprisonment, sought asylum in Flanders in 1039. Harthacanut followed with ten war ships to meet his mother for a planned invasion of England. Harthacanut sailed with his mother, the Dowager Queen of England, from Flanders to accept the crown that he had inherited in 1035; lost by the subterfuge of his stepmother and half brother. The Queen and the Crown Prince landed at Sandwich on June 17, 1040 with a fleet of 62 warships prepared for an invasion if necessary. The coronation took place soon after at Canterbury followed by a rather strained celebration for the king by the English aristocracy but a genuine welcoming feast was prepared for Queen Emma, their beloved Maid of Normandy.
In 1041, Harthacanut, unmarried, childless, and suffering from illness invited his half brother Edward back from exile in Normandy. With the royal council in attendance he named Edward as co- ruler and his heir to the kingdom of England.
The Witan in agreement preferred that a member of the royal House of Wessex be restored rather than another’ foreign King ‘as ruler.
On June 8, 1042, as recorded by the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Harthacanut attended the wedding of a favorite of his father and as he drank to the health of the bride "he suddenly fell to the earth with an awful convulsion.” The likely cause of death was a stroke or cardiac arrest according to most historians who have analyzed the death scene but there were those who believed that he was poisoned. The author, Katherine Holman, wrote of her certainty that Harthacanut was poisoned, but felt the culprit will never be known due to “no shortage of discontented candidates.” Edward the heir to the throne was not left out of the suspects who conspired to hasten the king’s demise. There was one legendary story that added intrigue to the scenario:
It seems that Magnus I of Norway (1037-1047) attended the festivities and was received with all official honors. The two monarchs fell into an argument that concerned the etiquette of whom should receive the honor of the first drink from an offered cup- the host or the guest. It was agreed that the host would sip first; at that moment Queen Ealdgyth, from Northampton entered the hall, greeted King Magnus and offered him a poisoned cup! Harthacanut insisted that he should have the first drink after which he collapsed into convulsions. Queen Ealdgyth fled from the castle and seemingly disappeared from the country having avenged her son, Harold and brought grief to her hated rival, Queen Emma.
King Harthacanut was buried at Old Minister in Winchester, his father’s place of rest. King Edward the Confessor (1042-1065) Edward an Anglo Saxon prince was crowned King of England at Winchester Cathedral, the royal seat of his ancestors, on April 3, 1043.
Edward’s succession to the throne had been predestined at an earlier visit to England in 1041. According to the Quadripartius , an historical account written in the 12th century, states that he was recalled at that time by the Bishop Aelfwine of Winchester, a powerful and influential figure at King Cnut’s court, and Godwin, the equally prominent Earl of Wessex.
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle describes the popularity he enjoyed at his accession “before he [Harthacanut] was buried, all the people chose Edward as king in London.”
Edward complained that his mother had “done less for him than he wanted before he became king and afterwards.” It is thought that he referred to some knowledge that Emma had supposedly conspired to use her wealth to back Magnus’s claim to the throne before Edward’s coronation.
In November of 1043, he rode to Winchester with his three leading Anglo Saxon Earls to deprive his mother, Queen Emma, of her property and her own personal treasure. Edward claimed that the treasure she held belonged to the king, but a year later he restored her property to her.
Until her death in 1052, once the richest and most powerful woman in England, lived in obscurity to spend her time tending the grave site of her husband, the accepted role of a medieval noblewoman.
Emma, The Maid of Normandy, was buried on March 6,1052 next to King Knute at Winchester Minister, the first Queen to be laid to rest there.
Designated as the first Queen Mother of England; she was the mother of two kings and the great aunt of another, William the Conqueror. The Norman bloodline established through Emma introduced a succession of monarchs that lasted nearly 100 years of England. Queen Emma has been referred to as one of the most influential women in history of that nation.
Notes on the legendary Queen Emma
The Legend of the Ordeal by Fire; Exiled by King Edward to Winchester, a rumor was circulated that the Queen had an amorous affair with the Bishop of Winchester while married to Ethelred. The Archbishop of Canterbury ordered her to prove her innocence by undergoing an ordeal that included walking across red hot irons without any injury. Somehow her innocence was proven by the clerics who witnessed the ordeal. (It is more likely that a large donation to their churches was all the proof they needed.)
She is featured in the historical novel, King Hereafter, by Lady Dorothy Dunnett, a reconstruction of the life of Macbeth of Scotland. In the narrative, Macbeth, who served in her household as a guard became quite close to the queen and at one point he suggests that she might secure the” succession of England.” The reader is left with the question was it her nephew that he spoke of or “Emma of England.”
Compiled by Sandi B. Johnson, Historian
This document has been compiled by Sandra B. Johnson as an example of the interrelationships that merged the Anglo-Saxon and the Franco Norman Families. The Anglo Norman of England ARE the English of the present time.
Comments