Reign of King Harthacnut

Historical Context Essay

Timothy Bolton (University of Oslo)
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Harthacnut, the son of King Cnut and his second wife, Emma, held the English throne from the death of his half-brother, Harald Harefoot, in 1040 and until his own sudden death in 1042.

Harthacnut's birth must be placed within a few years of his parents'  marriage in 1017, and he is first referred to, as a child accompanying his mother, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's record of the translation of the relics of St Ælfheah from London to Canterbury in 1023.

After 1026 he began his political career as a figurehead for his father's authority in Denmark, and it seems likely that as he grew older he began to exert power there as his father's deputy. The problems associated with maintaining control of this region, in particular …

570 words

Citation: Bolton, Timothy. "Reign of King Harthacnut". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 May 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1666, accessed 31 October 2024.]

1666 Reign of King Harthacnut 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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