Cnut the Great

Cnut the Great (Old Norse: Knútr inn ríki;c. 995– 12 November 1035), more commonly known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden, together often referred to as the Anglo-Scandinavian or North Sea Empire. After his death, the deaths of his heirs within a decade, and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history. The medieval historian Norman Cantor has made the statement that he was "the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history", although Cnut himself was Danish not British or Anglo-Saxon.

Cnut's name is popularly invoked in the context of the legendary story of King Canute and the waves, but usually misrepresenting Cnut (Canute) as a deluded monarch believing he had supernatural powers, when the original story in fact relates the opposite and portrays a wise king.

Cnut's father was Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark (which gave Cnut the patronym Sweynsson, Old Norse Sveinsson). The identity of his mother is uncertain, although medieval tradition makes her a daughter of Mieszko I. As a Danish prince, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe. His accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut maintained his power by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, rather than by sheer brutality. After a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia, Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut. He had coins struck there that called him king, but there is no narrative record of his occupation.

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Mzansi’s King Canute

Business Day 17 Apr 2025
This could mean that the ANC’s support could plummet further in the next election, after its decline in support of 17 percentage points in the general election last year.  ... .
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