CANUTE AND THE ENGLISH CHURCH
1017-1026
The English Church enjoyed Canute's favour from the very beginning: the
King was a Christian; furthermore, he no doubt saw in the Church a
mighty force that should not be antagonised. At the same time, there is
no evidence of any close union between church and monarchy before 1020;
and even then it was more like an _entente cordiale_ than an open
aggressive alliance, as it later came to be. Canute was a Christian, but
he was also a shrewd statesman and a consummate politician. The
religious situation among his Danish supporters in England as well as
the general religious and political conditions in the North probably
made it inexpedient, perhaps impossible, to accede to the full demands
of the Church without danger to his ambitions and probable ruin to his
imperialistic plans.
When the eleventh century opened, the North was still largely heathen.
Missionaries had been at work for nearly two centuries--ever since
Saint Ansgar entered the Scandinavian mission field in the days of
Louis the Pious--and the faith had found considerable foothold in
Denmark, especially on the Jutish peninsula. Canute's father Sweyn had
been baptised; but other indications of his Christian faith are
difficult to find. His queen, Sigrid the Haughty, was almost violent in
her devotion to the old gods. Sweden remained overwhelmingly heathen for
some years yet, while the progress of the Church in Norway depended on
royal mandates supported by the sword and the firebrand. Only five years
before the death of Canute, Norse heathendom won its last notable
victory, when Saint Olaf fell before the onslaught of the yeomanry at
Stiklestead (1030).
[Illustration: POPPO'S ORDEAL (Altar decoration from about 1100. Danish
National Museum).]
[Illustration: AN ENGLISH BISHOP OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY (From the
Bayeux Tapestry.)]
The army that conquered England for Canute was no doubt also largely
heathen. It seems, therefore, safe to assume that during the early years
of the new reign, the worship of the Anse-gods was carried on in various
places on English soil; surely in the Danish camps, perhaps also in some
of the Danish settlements. This situation compelled the Christian King
to be at least tolerant. Soon there began to appear at the English court
prominent exiles from Norway, hot-headed chiefs, whose sense of
independence had been outraged by the zealous missionary activities of
Olaf the Stout.[225] Canute had not been lord of England more than six
or seven years before the Norwegian problem began to take on unusual
interest. Before long the missionary King found his throne completely
undermined by streams of British gold. The exiles who sought refuge at
Winchester and the men who bore the bribe-money back to Norway were
scarcely enthusiastic for the faith that frowned on piracy; consequently
it continued to be necessary for Canute to play the rôle of the
tolerant, broad-minded monarch, who, while holding firmly to his own
faith, was unwilling to interfere with the religious rites of others. In
his later ecclesiastical legislation, Canute gave the Church all the
enactments that it might wish for; but it is a significant fact that
these laws did not come before the Northern question had been settled
according to Canute's desires and his viceroy was ruling in Norway.
Edgar's laws, which were re-enacted in 1018, at the Oxford assembly,
deal with the matter of Christianity in general terms only. The more
explicit and extensive Church legislation of Ethelred's day was set
aside and apparently remained a dead letter until it was in large
measure re-enacted as a part of Canute's great church law late in the
reign.
The early surroundings of the King had not been such as to develop in
him the uncompromising zeal that characterised the typical Christian
monarch in mediæval times. We do not know when he was baptised; it may
have been in childhood, and it must have been before the conquest of
England, as the Christian name Lambert, which was added in baptism to
the heathen name by which we know him, would suggest that the rite was
administered by a German ecclesiastic.[226] It is believed that he was
confirmed by Ethelnoth the Good, the English churchman who later became
Archbishop of Canterbury.[227] We do not know when the rite of
confirmation was administered, but the probabilities point to the winter
months of 1015-1016; for during these months Canute was several times in
South-western England where Ethelnoth lived at the time.
The subjection of England to an alien, half-heathen aristocracy must
have caused many difficulties to the English Church. How the problems
were met we do not know. The Mediæval Church, however, was usually to be
found on the side of power: the Church loved order and believed in
supporting good and efficient government whenever circumstances would
permit it. Soon after the meeting at Oxford, apparently in 1019,
Archbishop Lifing made a journey to Rome; we may conjecture that he went
to seek counsel and to obtain instructions as to what attitude the
English clergy should assume toward the new powers, but we do not know.
It is clear, however, that the subject was seriously discussed at the
papal court, for the archbishop brought back a letter to Canute
exhorting him to practise the virtues of Christian kingship. It must
have nattered the young Dane to receive this, for he refers to it in his
Proclamation:
I have taken to heart the written words and verbal messages that
Archbishop Lifing brought me from the pope from Rome, that I should
everywhere extol the praise of God, put away injustice, and promote
full security and peace, so far as God should give me
strength.[228]
That same year the venerable Primate died, and Ethelnoth the Good was
appointed to succeed him as Archbishop of Canterbury.[229] The choice
was evidently the King's own and the two men seem to have laboured
together in singular harmony. But though Ethelnoth was primate, the
dominant influence at court seems to have been that of an abbot in
Devonshire. When Abbot Lifing was yet only a monk at Winchester, he
seems to have attracted the King's attention; at any rate, we are told
by the historian of Malmesbury that he became an intimate friend of
Canute and exerted great influence with him.[230] It may have been this
friendship that secured to Lifing the abbacy of Tavistock, perhaps in
1024, in which year he witnessed charters for the first time as abbot.
Lifing's advance to power was rapid. Two years after his first
appearance in the documents as abbot, we find that he had been elevated
to the episcopal office, having probably been advanced to the see of
Crediton.[231] The Devonshire country had been the centre of a
persistent anti-Danish movement, it appears, and it was surely a prudent
move to place a strong partisan of the new order in control of the
Church in the southwestern shires. In the same year, the King further
honoured him with landed estates in Hampshire. This must have been just
prior to the Holy River campaign in Sweden, on which expedition the
bishop probably accompanied his royal master (William of Malmesbury
tells us that he frequently went to Denmark with Canute); at all events,
when Canute without first returning to England made his journey to Rome,
in the early months of 1027, the bishop of Crediton was an important
member of the King's retinue. It was Bishop Lifing who was sent back to
England with Canute's famous message to the English Church and people,
the King himself going on to Denmark. William of Malmesbury describes
him as a violent, wilful, and ambitious prelate; when he died (in 1046)
the earth took proper notice and trembled throughout all England.[232]
The year 1020 was one of great significance for English history in the
reign of Canute. In that year he returned to England as Danish king; in
that same year he issued his Proclamation to his Anglian subjects and
announced his new governmental policy; the same year saw the appointment
of a new and friendly primate of the Anglican Church; in that year, too,
began a series of benefactions and other semi-religious acts that made
Canute's name dear to the English churchmen and secured him the favour
of monastic chroniclers. These took various forms: new foundations were
established and many of the older ones received increased endowments;
monasteries that had been defiled or destroyed in the Danish raids were
repaired or rebuilt; the fields where the Lord of Hosts had given the
victory to Canute's armies were adorned with churches where masses were
said for the souls of the slain; saints were honoured; pilgrimages were
made; heathen practices were outlawed.
The series properly begins with the consecration of the church on
Ashington field in 1020. The church itself was apparently a modest
structure, but the dedication ceremonies were elaborate. As the primacy
was evidently vacant at the time, Archbishop Lifing having died about
mid-year (June 12),[233] the venerable Wulfstan of the northern province
was called on to officiate. With him were numerous ecclesiastics,
bishops, abbots, and monks. King Canute and Earl Thurkil also graced the
occasion with their presence.[234] It is interesting to note that the
office of chapel priest at Ashington was given to a clerk of Danish
blood, the later prelate Stigand, one of the few Danes who have held
ecclesiastical offices in England. Stigand for a time sat on the
episcopal throne in the cathedrals of Winchester and Canterbury.
Doubtless a Dane could perform the offices on this particular field with
a blither spirit than a native Englishman. If the intention was to
impress the English Church, Canute clearly succeeded. Though details are
wanting, it is understood that similar foundations soon graced the other
fields where Canute had fought and won.
In that same year, apparently, monks were substituted for secular clerks
as guardians of Saint Edmund's shrine. Grievously had the Danes sinned
against the holy East Anglian King. Five generations earlier he had
suffered ignominious martyrdom at the hands of the vikings. The saint
had again suffered outrage in the closing months of King Sweyn's life by
what seemed to be petty persecution of the priests who served at his
sacred shrine. As we have already seen, the King's sudden death while
the matter of tribute was still unsettled gave rise to the legend that
Saint Edmund struck down the Dane "in like manner as the holy Mercurius
slew the nithing Julian."
It was charged that the priests of the holy place led disorderly lives,
and on the advice of the neighbouring bishop, Elfwine of Elmham, it was
determined to eject them. Earl Thurkil's consent was asked and received.
Monks to the number of twenty were brought from Saint Benet Hulme and
Ely.[235] The same year a new church was begun, that the relics of the
martyr might have a more suitable home. The monks naturally organised
themselves into a monastic community, which seems to have enjoyed full
immunity from the very beginning: a trench was run around Saint Edmund's
chapel on the edge of which all tax-gathering was to stop. In addition
it is said that the Lady Emma pledged an annual gift of tour thousand
eels from Lakenheath, though this was probably a later contribution. The
brethren of the monastery also claimed that Canute granted them
extensive jurisdiction over the manors that belonged to the new
foundation.[236] It is evident that large endowments were given and
Canute in this way became in a sense the founder of one of the most
important sanctuaries of mediæval England.
William of Malmesbury tells us that Canute disliked the English saints,
but the evidence indicates the contrary. The only instance of ill-will
recorded is in the case of Saint Edith, King Edgar's holy daughter.
Saint Edith rested at Wilton, where there was a religious house for
women that had enjoyed her patronage. Canute expressed a doubt as to the
sanctity of a daughter of the immoral Edgar and ordered the shrine to be
opened. The offended princess arose, we are told, and struck the impious
King in the face.[237] Canute acknowledged his error and did penance.
There may be some truth in the story so far as it relates to the King's
hostility or incredulity, for Saint Edith was the sister of Canute's old
enemy, King Ethelred.
It may have been the vigorous argument of Saint Edith, or genuine piety,
or political considerations that wrought the change, but it is clear
that Canute soon developed a profound respect for the saints that rested
in England. He caused the relics of Saint Wistan to be translated from
Repingdon to a more suitable home in the honoured abbey of Evesham.[238]
The remains of Saint Felix were brought back to Ramsey in the face of
strong opposition from the jealous monks of Ely.[239] On one of his
northern journeys the King turned aside to Durham to adore the bones of
the mighty Saint Cuthbert. Five miles did the King walk with bare feet
to the Durham sepulchre, and after showing proper respect and
veneration, he concluded his visit with a royal gift of lands, two
manors, we are told, with all their belongings.[240] Toward the close of
his reign, by legislative act, he gave the strenuous Dunstan a place on
the calendar of English saints.[241]
By far the most famous act of homage of this sort was the translation of
Saint Alphege from London to Canterbury in 1023, famous not because of
its peculiar importance, but because certain literary monks saw fit to
write long accounts of it. This, too, was an act of expiation: so far as
the sins of Canute's people were concerned the case of Bishop Alphege
was much like that of the martyred King Edmund. Alphege was from Western
England and became a monk at Deerhurst in Gloucestershire. He was for a
time abbot of Bath and later bishop of Winchester. It was he who
confirmed Olaf Trygvesson and thus indirectly began the work that
resulted in the conversion of Norway. As Archbishop of Canterbury he
seems to have taken a pastoral interest in the Danish besiegers, for
which he was rewarded with indignities and death. His bones had been
laid at rest at Saint Paul's in London; but Canterbury was naturally
anxious to have her first martyred bishop in her own house, while
London, on the other hand, is said to have watched over the sacred
remains with a jealous care that bore the marks of avarice rather than
of veneration.
We are told that Canute earlier had formed the purpose of translating
the relics and that certain calamities had recalled the intention to his
mind. He suggested the project to Archbishop Ethelnoth, who doubted the
feasibility of the venture. According to the highly-coloured report of
the monk Osbern who claims to have his information from an eye-witness,
the King and the Archbishop secretly removed the body from its
resting-place and gave it to a monk who bore it to the Thames where the
King's ship lay ready to receive it. The attention of the Londoners was
diverted to other parts of the city by feigned excitement at the farther
gates, for which the King's housecarles were responsible. Meanwhile, the
royal ship, with Canute himself at the rudder, was conveying the remains
to Southwark, where they were given into the keeping of the Archbishop
and his companions, who bore them joyfully on to Rochester. Here the
party was joined by Queen Emma and the five-year-old princeling
Harthacanute accompanied by a strong force of housecarles. The
translation was effected in June and occupied seven days.[242]
The Dane's interest in the Church also expressed itself in frequent and
important endowments. While it is not always possible to verify these
grants, there can be little doubt that the monastic records are usually
correct on the points of possession and donors, though the extant
charters are frequently forgeries produced at a time when titles were
called into question. In some of these gifts, too, we see clearly a
desire to atone for past wrongs. Canterbury, which had suffered heavy
losses at the hands of Thurkil and his wild comrades, was assured of its
liberties and immunities early in the reign.[243] Another act of
expiation was the visit and gift to Glastonbury, the famous monastery
that had received the bones of Edmund Ironside. A century after Canute's
time Edmund's grave was covered with a "pall of rich materials,
embroidered with figures of peacocks." Legend ascribes the gift to
Canute, and may in this case be trustworthy. With the King at Edmund's
grave stood Archbishop Ethelnoth, who was at one time a monk at
Glastonbury.[244] The visit seems to have been made in 1026, perhaps on
the eve of Canute's expedition against the Norwegians and Swedes.
Perhaps Canute's most famous gift was the golden cross at Winchester.
Some time in the early years of his reign, apparently in 1019, probably
just before his visit to Denmark, he gave to the New Minster a
"magnificent golden cross, richly ornamented with precious stones"; in
addition to this, "two large images of gold and silver, and sundry
relics of the saints."[245] It seems to have been a gorgeous present,
one that was keenly appreciated by the recipients, and the history of
which was long recounted. The gift was apparently accompanied by a
donation of valuable lands.[246]
Canute also showed an interest in the monastery of Saint Benet Hulme, to
which three manors were given.[247] It is claimed that he granted
certain immunities to the church of Saint Mary Devon in Exeter, but the
evidence is not trustworthy.[248] The great abbey of Evesham was not
forgotten: the blessed Wistan was given a black chasuble and other
ornaments, probably at the time of his translation.[249] It may be that
in making this gift the King wished to show his appreciation of the
abbot as well as to honour the saint: Abbot Elf ward is said to have
been Canute's cousin; if such was the case he must have been the son of
the ill-starred Pallig.
Gifts there also were of a more personal character, gifts to various
ecclesiastics, monks, and priests whom the King wished to honour;
especially may we mention the grants to Bishop Burhwold and to Bishop
Lifing.[250] But such donations were not numerous; Canute seems to have
preferred to honour foundations, probably because in mediæval times the
institution was of greater consequence than the individual.
The gifts enumerated were made during the first half of the reign.
Grants were made in the second period as well: Abingdon claims to have
enjoyed his favour[251]; the Old Minster at Winchester was endowed with
lands and adorned with specimens of the goldsmith's art[252]; a
considerable gift of lands was made to York cathedral[253]; but these
seem to reveal a different spirit and purpose in the giver. Before his
career closed the great Dane became an ardent Christian; but in his
earlier years, the politician left little room to the churchman: the
Church was a factor merely, though a great factor, in the political
situation. Other kings have gloried in new foundations as monuments to
religious zeal; Canute selected the long-established, the
widely-influential shrines and houses and gave his favour chiefly to
them. In return he doubtless expected the favour of Saints Cuthbert,
Alphege, Edmund, Felix, and Dunstan, and the support of Canterbury,
Evesham, Winchester, and the other great institutions that he endowed.
It is to be noted that nearly all the institutions that shared the royal
bounty were located in the Anglo-Saxon South where Canute especially
needed to build up a personal following. The exceptions were York,
Durham, and Coventry where the faithful rejoiced in an arm of Saint
Augustine, a relic of peculiar value that Canute is said to have
bestowed on the city.[254]
Whatever his motives were, it is clear that Canute showed an interest in
matters ecclesiastical far beyond what the Church might reasonably
expect from a king whose training had scarcely been positively
Christian, and who still kept in close touch with the non-Christian
influences that dominated so much of the North. Still, one desire
remained unsatisfied: thus far the King had done nothing to make the
Christian faith compulsory in England. The Proclamation of 1020 looks in
that direction; but it contains no decree of the desired sort. It is a
peculiar document, remarkable more for what it omits than for what it
actually contains. God's laws, by which the rules of the Church are
doubtless meant, are not to be violated; but the important task of
bringing the violators to justice is committed to the old pirate,
Thurkil the Tall, whose appreciation of Christian virtues and divine
commandments cannot have been of the keenest.[255] Certain
characteristically heathen sins are to be avoided: among the things
forbidden is to consort with witches and sorceresses.[256] But the only
crime of this nature for which the document prescribes a specific
penalty is that of marrying a nun or any other woman who has taken
sacred vows:
And if any one has done so, let him be an outlaw before God and
excommunicated from all Christendom, and let him forfeit all his
possessions to the king, unless he quickly desist from sin and do
deep penance before God.[257]
It is evident, however, that Canute believed that the process of
education in the church from Sunday to Sunday would eventually solve the
problem of heathenism in England; for he closes his Proclamation with an
exhortation to all his subjects to attend faithfully the divine
services:
And further still we admonish all men to keep the Sunday festival
with all their might and observe it from Saturday's noon to
Monday's dawning; and let no man be so bold as to buy or sell or to
seek any court on that holy day.
And let all men, poor and rich, seek their church and ask
forgiveness for their sins and earnestly keep every ordained fast
and gladly honour the saints, as the mass priest shall bid us,
that we may all be able and permitted, through the mercy of the
everlasting God and the intercession of His saints, to share the
joys of the heavenly kingdom and dwell with Him who liveth and
reigneth forever without end. Amen.[258]
FOOTNOTES:
[225] Snorre, _Saga of Saint Olaf_, cc. 130, 131, 139.
[226] Adamus, _Gesta_, ii., c. 50: schol. 38. It seems to have been
customary to add a Christian name in baptism.
There is an allusion to Canute's conversion in the Chronicle of Adémar
de Chabannes (ii., c. 55), who seems to believe that Canute became a
Christian after the conquest of England. But the authority of the
Aquitanian chronicler, though contemporary, cannot be so weighty as that
of the records of the church of Bremen which the Scholiast seems to have
used in the entry cited above. For Adémar's statement see Waitz,
_Scriptores (M.G.H.)_, iv., 140.
[227] Langebek, _Scriptores_, ii., 454: Osbern's tract concerning the
translation of Saint Alphege. Osbern tells us that Ethelnoth was dear to
Canute because he had anointed him with the sacred chrism. This cannot
refer to his coronation, nor is it likely to have reference to his
baptism, as Ethelnoth, would scarcely have given Canute a German name.
It seems, therefore, that it must allude to his confirmation.
[228] Liebermann, _Geschichte der Angelsachsen_, i., 273.
[229] Florence of Worcester, _Chronicon_, i., 183.
[230] _Gesta Pontificum_, 200.
[231] Kemble, _Codex Diplomaticus_, No. 743. Florence of Worcester,
_Chronicon_, i., 185. To this he afterwards added the see of Worcester,
to which he was appointed by Harold in 1038. _Ibid._, 193.
[232] _Gesta Pontificum_, 200-201.
[233] Stubbs, _Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum_, 31.
[234] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 1020.
[235] _Memorials of Saint Edmund's Abbey_, I., xxvii, 47, 126.
[236] _Ibid._, i., 343.
[237] William of Malmesbury, _Gesta Pontificum_, 190.
[238] _Chronicon Abbatiæ de Evesham_, 325-326.
[239] _Historia Rameseiensis_, 127-128.
[240] Simeon of Durham, _Opera Omnia_, i., 90.
[241] Liebermann, _Gesetze der Angelsachsen_, i., 298.
[242] Most of these details are from Osbern's tract on the life and
translation of Saint Alphege. See Langebek, _Scriptores_, ii., or
Wharton's _Anglia Sacra_, ii. The account in the _Chronicle_ is briefer
but more reliable.
[243] Kemble, _Codex Diplomaticus_, Nos. 727 and 731; of these the
former is scarcely genuine.
[244] William of Malmesbury, _Gesta Regum_, i., 224.
[245] _Liber de Hyda_, xxxvi.
[246] _Ibid._, 324.
[247] Kemble, _Codex Diplomaticus_, No. 740.
[248] _Ibid._, No. 729.
[249] _Chronicon Abbatiæ de Evesham_, 83.
[250] Kemble, _Codex Diplomaticus_, Nos. 728, 743.
[251] _Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon_, i., 434 ff.
[252] _Annales Monastici_, ii., 16.
[253] Kemble, _Codex Diplomaticus_, No. 749.
[254] Gervase of Canterbury, _Historical Works_, ii., 56. The arm was
brought to England from Rome by Archbishop Ethelnoth. William of
Malmesbury, _Gesta Regum_, i., 224.
[255] Sec. 9.
[256] Sec. 15. As the term used for sorceress seems to be Norse, this
prohibition was evidently aimed at practices in the Danelaw.
[257] Sec. 17.
[258] Secs. 18-20.