Emma, Cnut and the NS Empire

• In 978, Aethelred became king after his supporters killed his brother, Edward. Aethelred was taken advantage of by his advisors and was seen as a bad judge of character.
• In 991, a huge Viking army [led by Sven Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason] arrived at Folkestone in a fleet of 90 ships.
• The Vikings defeated the English at the Battle of Maldon in 991. Aethelred paid them to leave and the taxes raised to pay for this were known as Danegeld.
• Danegeld cost around £1.8 million in today's money and made the English furious due to the high taxes.
• Aethelred and the Normans agreed to support eachother against their enemies. This meant the Vikings couldn't use Normandy as a base to attack Britain.
• In November 1002, Aethelred kills all Viking men, women and children south of the Danelaw. This became known as the St. Brice's Day Massacre.
• Sven Forkbeard's sister died in the massacre and this angered him. He summoned a large army to conquer England, and Aethelred fled.
• When Forkbeard died in 1014, he was succeeded by Cnut who was then forced back to Denmark by Aethelred, who reclaimed the English throne.
• From 1014 - 1016, Cnut's supporters in England rebelled against Aethelred and even his own son joined in.
• In April 1016, Aethelred dies and his son, Edmund, becomes king.
• In October 1016, Cnut beats King Edmund at the Battle of Assandun. The two agree that Edmund may rule Essex, but the rest of the country will belong to Cnut. If one of them dies, the other will gain control of the land.
• In November 1016, Edmund died and Cnut became king of all of England.
• Cnut's North Sea Empire included Denmark and Norway [which he inherited], parts of Sweden and Britain.