Alfred the Great laid the foundations, Æthelstan set up, and Edgar unified England, but Edgar was assassinated and replaced by Ezelred, who was later nicknamed the King (Unlady). Met.
As his nickname suggests, he lacks discretion, neglects to consider the Witan, and gradually allows disagreements with the princes and the rise of the princes.
With such a chance, the Danes again invade England, and Ezelred opposes by forming an alliance by marrying Emma, the sister of Richard Duke of Normandy.
The land of England plunges into a three-way battle between the Germanic King of England, the Duke of Normandy of France, and the Danes.
Three-way battle
Ezelred, who formed an alliance with the Duke of Normandy, ordered the killing of all the Dane people in England. As a result, the Danes fled to the city of Oxford, and even though they fled to the shrine, the entire shrine was burned down.
Upon hearing this news, King Sweyn of Denmark led a large army to attack the land of England and retaliated to burn Oxford down the entire city. Æthelred succeeded in driving the Danes out of the territory by paying a large amount of peace money, but his incompetence resented the English forces and fled to his wife's parents' home, Normandy, and left England. The aristocrats welcomed the supposed enemy, King Sweyn of Denmark, to King England.
The following year, Sven died, and his eldest son, Haral, became King of Denmark, and his second son, Knut, became King of England.
And here is the reason why the leading role Knut finally appeared.
However, there was a man who was not silent about this. A man like the incompetent King History Representative, Ezel Red. He has a cool name.
With the support of the Duke of Normandy, Æthelred pulls a large army and lands in England to seize the throne of England.
Upon hearing this, Denmark sent a large army to England, and Knut led the army to London.
And maybe it was a shock to hear that, Ezel Red leaves for the world at this worst timing. The second incompetent monarchs in England are John and Ezelred. The timing of death is not good for a bad guy.
The successor to Ezelred was his son Edmund, who reigned as Edmund II, but the princes of England welcomed the Danish Knut.
Although they clashed in the battle of Essex, Cnut won, and Edmund II died when the peace was reached, and as a result of the wise men's meeting, Cnut was recognized as a legitimate King of England.
At this time, Canuto declares that he has succeeded to King Edgar, announces his marriage to the widow of King Ezelred, that is, Emma, the daughter of the Duke of Normandy, and establishes a dynasty called the Dane dynasty in history.
The history of England is strange, and when you look at successive dynasties, there are many cases where non-British people have kingship. The result of the Glorious Revolution was the Duke of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands, and the current British royal family is also the lineage of the Emperor Hanover, who originally ruled the Hanover region of Germany. Knut may be said to be that run in a sense.
North Sea Empire
In Europe, including the United Kingdom, there is a concept called the personal union, which is a concept not found in Japan. This is unthinkable in Japan, for example, as the King of Austria concurrently serves as the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire or the King of Hungary. If this is applied to the Far East, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan will also be the King of the Philippines and the King of Samoa.
In Europe, it is common to concurrently serve as multiple kings and emperors in this way. When Knut's brother Harald II of Denmark died, Knut took over the title of King of Denmark. In other words, Knut was both King of England and King of Denmark.
In order to rule the vast land, Knut divided England into four parts, Wessex, Mercia, Northern Bria, and Anglia, and ruled each of them as a count (Ardam) by aristocrats called counts.
The reason why Knut adopted such a form may be that Denmark was targeted by Sweden and Norway. Knut began invading Sweden and Norway in a preemptive manner, occupying Norway brilliantly, and in 1028 he also served as King of Norway.
As a result, Norway, Denmark and England became connected, trade became active through the North Sea trade, and England's national power greatly improved.
Knut also focused on diplomacy, such as going to Italy for an audience with the Pope and attending the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Konrad II, turning England, which was rather a frontier of Europe, into a great power. It can be said that it was raised.
Personal evaluation of Knut
Seven years after Knut's death, the Dane dynasty will perish.
The aristocrats called Haku had too much power. In particular, the rise of Godwin, Earl of Wessex was remarkable, and after the death of Canute, he took the throne and assassinated his own convenient person. Eventually, he reigned King Edward's testimony and returned the King of England to the lineage of the Kingdom of Wessex.
As the history beyond that is told on another occasion, it can be said that the person named Knut is a very talented person, who has well-contained a wide range of lands.
He was originally a Danish, and perhaps Scandinavian Denmark and Finland were more important than the land of England. Britain was a remote area at the time, and given the vast territory of the North Sea Empire, it was not so important.
If Knut had placed great importance on the land of England and had a solid foundation, British history would have changed significantly.
Royal families with foreign ground are easy to control.
After Knut, British aristocrats will operate the nation with this idea.
Originally Britain had a strong aristocratic character, but since Knut, that character has become stronger and stronger, and the aristocrats have created a mechanism to move politics, and even today there is a House of Peers in Britain.
It can be said that the British aristocratic system was so deeply rooted that the count (Earl), which began to expand its power around this time, still remains as the count (Earl), and its foundation was laid around this time.
It is difficult to tell whether it is good or bad.
People are not equal by nature.
Britain's philosophy is hateful and even refreshing, but given that it was inherited by the United States and traditionalized the causative of black slaves, it may be guilty of human history. do not have.
However, with the famous Lord Derby and Earl of Sandwich, it is also certain that the aristocracy has developed various cultures.
History is difficult to make.