(ii)   Margaret

(

see here, under Malcolm III, King of Scotland).

(iii)   Christina

Born in Hungary, she became a nun, firstly – according to some authorities – at Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire, and then, in c.1086, at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire. She is sometimes called Abbess of Romsey, but only on very slender evidence. She died before 1102 (?).

2   Edmund

He was born either in 1016, or in 1017. He was taken to Hungary by his family in childhood, where he later died. Some sources state that he died young, but he must have lived at least into his teens.

Edmund married (no record exists of the date) in Hungary:

Hedwig

She was either the daughter of Stephen I, King of Hungary, by Gisela, daughter of Conrad II, Emperor of Germany, or the daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria.

After Edmund’s death, she married secondly Eppo, Count of Nellenburg.

EDMUND II

He died on 30 November, 1016, in Oxford or in London, and was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset.

He was succeeded by Canute, son of King Sweyn, who claimed the throne by right of conquest.

King Canute

FATHER: King Sweyn(

see here).

MOTHER: Gunhilda of Poland(

see here, under King Sweyn).

SIBLINGS: (

see here, under King Sweyn).

KING CANUTE

Alternatively called Cnut or Knud, and known as ‘the Great’, he was born in c.995 in Denmark. He succeeded Edmund II as King of England on 30 November, 1016, claiming the throne by right of conquest, and is said to have been crowned on 6 January (?), 1017, at Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London, although there is no contemporary evidence for this. He succeeded his brother Harold as King of Denmark in 1018/19, and became King of Norway by right of conquest in 1028.

Canute married, on 2 July, 1017 (although no record exists as to where):

Emma

She was the widow of Ethelred II (

see here, under Ethelred II).

Issue of marriage:

1   King Harthacanute(

see here).

2   Gunhilda

Alternatively called Ethelfrida, she adopted the name Kunigunde upon her marriage. Born in c.1020, she married Henry III, Emperor of Germany ( d.1056), on 10 June, 1036, at Nimeguen, Germany, and had issue:

1  Beatrice ( b.1037), Abbess of Quedlinburg.

Gunhilda died on 16 or 18 July, 1038, on the Adriatic coast.

3   Daughter

Her name is not known; neither are her dates. She died aged about 8, and was buried in Bosham Church, Sussex.

Canute also had the following illegitimate issue:

By Elgiva (996?–1044?), daughter of Alfhelm, Ealdorman of Northampton, by his wife Wulfrun; some sources state that Elgiva was Canute’s ‘handfast’ wife, according to Danish custom; others state that she was his repudiated wife; at all events, their union was uncanonical. They had issue:

1  Sweyn, King of Norway (1015?–1036/7).

2  Harold I (

see here).

There were contemporary doubts in certain court circles that Canute was the father of Elgiva’s two sons.

KING CANUTE

He died on 12 November, 1035, at Shaftesbury, Dorset, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. His bones now lie in one of the mortuary chests there.

He was succeeded by his son Harthacanute.

King Harthacanute

FATHER: King Canute(

see here).

MOTHER: Emma of Normandy(

see here, under King Canute).

SIBLINGS: (

see here, under King Canute).

KING HARTHACANUTE

Alternatively called Hardicanute, he was born in c.1018, and was designated titular King of Denmark in 1028. He succeeded his father as King of Denmark on 12 November, 1035, and as King of England on the same day, in his absence from that country. He remained in Denmark, and his authority in England was usurped by his half-brother Harold I in 1037. He was restored to the English throne on 17 March, 1040, upon the death of Harold I. He is said to have been crowned in June, 1040, at Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, but no contemporary evidence exists to show that he was consecrated at all.

KING HARTHACANUTE

He died unmarried (and childless), on 8 June, 1042, at Lambeth in London, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.

He was succeeded by his half-brother Edward, the son of Ethelred II.

Harold I

FATHER: King Canute(?) (

see here).

MOTHER: Elgiva of Northampton, Canute’s concubine or handfast wife.

SIBLINGS: (

see here, under King Canute).

HAROLD I

He was born in c.1016/17, perhaps at Northampton. He was probably illegitimate, but contemporary doubts as to his paternity were probably mere political propaganda. In 1037, when King Harthacanute was still in Denmark, Harold usurped the throne of England and was recognised as King, being crowned that same year at Oxford.

Harold I married(although no record exists of the date or the place):

Elgiva

Her origins are unknown, as are her dates.

Issue of marriage:

1   Elfwine

He was born in London, but no dates are recorded for his life. Some sources infer he was illegitimate, but they are unreliable. He became a monk at Sainte-Foi Abbey, Conques, Aquitaine, his own foundation.

HAROLD I

He died on 17 March, 1040, at Oxford, and was buried, according to a faint tradition, in the old Abbey Church of St Peter at Westminster. It is less probable that he was buried in Winchester Cathedral, as is sometimes stated. His body, after a dishonourable exhumation, was reburied, probably in St Clement Danes Church, Strand, London (less probably, in St Olave’s Church, Southwark, London). He was succeeded by his half-brother Harthacanute, whom he had once deposed (

previous chapter), who, in turn, was succeeded by Edward, son of Ethelred II.

King Edward the Confessor

FATHER: Ethelred II(

see here).

MOTHER: Emma of Normandy(

see here, under Ethelred II).

SIBLINGS: (

see here, under Ethelred II).

KING EDWARD

Known as ‘the Confessor’, he was born around c.1003/4 (by 1005) at Islip, Oxon. When he succeeded his half-brother King Harthacanute, on 8 June, 1042, the crown of England reverted from the usurping Danish dynasty to the line of Cerdic once more, and for the last time. Edward was crowned on 3 April, 1043, at Winchester Cathedral.