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Category Archives: History
Cnut’s Mum
In The Steel Beneath the Silk, the novel that concludes my Emma of Normandy Trilogy, several characters appear who are new to the story. One of them is Cnut’s mum. Who was she? Of course, her son Cnut is well … Read More
Posted in History
Tagged Cnut, Emma of Normandy, Gunhild, King Swein, Sigrid the Haughty, The Steel Beneath the Silk
2 Comments
The Great Famine
I have been doing some research while I shelter in place, dipping into books that I’ve been meaning to read but haven’t had the time to until now. One of them is The Third Horseman by William Rosen. The title … Read More
Æthelred the King
On 23 April 1016, Æthelred, king of England, died in London. He was about 50 years old, and he’d ruled England for 38 years. At his death he’d not yet been given the byname, Unræd, (ill-counseled, a play on the … Read More
The Brief Reign of King Harold I of England
The first king of England to be named Harold (there would be a second Harold, whose reign was even more brief but who is far more famous) died on March 17, 1040 at the age of about 25. His by-name, … Read More
Emma of Normandy: A Life
Emma of Normandy, Dowager Queen of England, died on 6 March, 1052, in Winchester. She was only the second woman to be crowned queen of all England, and the only woman ever to be crowned queen of England twice. For … Read More
Queen Emma and St. Valentine
Despite the painting above of King Cnut wooing Emma of Normandy, this is not a love story. But it IS about Queen Emma and St. Valentine. Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, was long remembered as a generous patron by … Read More
The Death of Swein Forkbeard
Candlemas, February 2 On this day in 1014 Swein Forkbeard died; although it might actually have been in the early hours of Feb. 3. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written a decade after Swein’s death reported, confusingly: Swein ended his days on … Read More
Cnut the Great, d. 12 November
Cnut the Great, England’s Viking king, died on Wednesday, 12 November, 1035. Cnut’s birth date was not recorded, but it was likely some time in the 990’s, so he was probably in his early to mid-forties when he died at … Read More
The Battle of Assandun
And all the nobility of the English nation was there undone! … Read More
Posted in History
Tagged Battle of Assandun, Cnut, Edmund Ironside, Frederiksborg, Hastings
2 Comments
Emma of Normandy & Bayeux
The charming town of Bayeux near the coast of Normandy is perhaps best known for its remarkable Tapestry, a very long length of embroidered linen that portrays events surrounding the Battle of Hastings in 1066. A few years ago I … Read More