All language subtitles for Knut s01e02 The Revenge Of A Landless King

This is a story of conquest, betrayal
and courage.

The story of a son of a Viking sovereign
forged in the shadow of battle.

A man destined for nothing, yet fated to
build an empire.

He was larger than life in his lifetime
and is somebody who had wide -ranging

achievements that surprised even many of
his contemporaries.

The story of a man who became ruler of
three kingdoms.

A Viking who became an emperor.

It's one of the great medieval success
stories. What he does, we have no word

for. It's completely new.

This is the legend of Canute, emperor of
the North Sea.

No longer mere invaders.

They are now conquerors.

After a lightning -fast campaign, Cnut
and Svein have subdued England.

The nobility has sworn allegiance to
them.

And King Æthelred has been driven into
exile in Normandy.

From this moment on, the land is theirs.

But conquering a kingdom is one thing.

Becoming its rightful rulers is another.

Canute and Swain did not come to
fundamentally change everything about

society. They came to take over its
head, the head of the snake, as it were,

control that. Once Swain has effected
military conquest of England, he then

achieve legitimacy and authority.

And that... cannot be asserted purely at
the end of a sword or a spear. And so

that starts with convening the so
-called Witan, that is, leading magnates

England who represent the realm, and
having them elect a monarch.

Canute and Thane must now secure the
loyalty of all the members of the Witan.

One of its most influential members
resides in York.

Archbishop Wulfstan, a pious and austere
man, and one of the

fiercest opponents of the Vikings.

We know that Wulfstan was deeply
concerned by the Viking threat.

He seems generally fearful of the return
of unchecked paganism in early 11th

century England.

And you see there a man who is railing
and screaming about, this is the end of

the world, this is the apocalypse, this
is the end of everything.

So he sees the Vikings as sent by God to
punish the English for their sins. And

I think for Wolfstan, the Vikings become
a symbol of the Antichrist.

Winning such a man over may seem
impossible, but Knut is

about to present a powerful argument.

Though many Danes still cling to pagan
traditions, Knut himself

was raised in the Christian faith.

All of Canute's actions suggest that he
was indeed Christian and his dynasty was

riding on the coattails of Christianity.

It's his grandfather, Harold Bluetooth,
who'd also made the Danes Christian.

Because one of the crucial teachings
that the church has is that there are

monarchs put in place by the grace of
God, that God has created the social

order. So if tapped into correctly,
Christianization and the Christian faith

become a powerful force.

The piety displayed by Thane and Knut
appears to reassure Wulfstan, yet no one

can truly guess their real intentions.

For Thane, the time has come to summon
the Witan.

Back in Gainsborough, he sends his
messengers across the kingdom.

The Assembly will meet in three weeks in
York, not London.

For it is from the north that he intends
to rule England, abandoning Wessex, the

traditional heart of English royal
power.

After he's conquered England, there's a
lieutenant being called in York. Well,

clearly, it's to crown him king.

and it's to give Canute some sort of
office or title in that region. And that

crucial because we can see then how
close Sven is to the north, how much he

focuses energies on it, and also what a
dreadful mistake he made. Because you

can't run a kingdom from its least
organized part.

powerhouse of England is in the south.

That's where the bureaucracies, that's
where the towns are, that's where the

markets are.

Primarily that's where the money -making
machine is. And if you want to be in

England, and you want to control it,
you've got to do it from the south.

England is about to open a new chapter
in its history.

Nothing seems capable of halting the
advance of the two Danes.

And yet, Fate will decide otherwise.

Canute rushes back to Gainsborough.

He has been summoned to the Royal
Palace.

At dawn, his father's lifeless body is
discovered.

The Conqueror of the North has died
suddenly at the age of 50, at the height

of his power.

His reaction, of course, to his father's
death has to be enormous shock.

Enormous shock. This is not what they
had planned.

They're about to become legitimate
rulers.

They're about to be accepted by the
nobles, ecclesiastical and secular, of

whole country, and suddenly his father's
dropped down dead.

There would have been a part of him, at
least, that is pleased that his father,

who was one of the main obstacles other
than his brother, to his own ambitions,

was gone, because he can't be king fully
until Swain's gone.

Standing before the man to whom he owed
everything, Canute finds himself utterly

alone, for he knows that now everything
rests upon him.

Swain's conquered England, but has not
managed to establish that kind of

authority that will allow him to pass
the throne without opposition.

to a son, because he's only been in
England a matter of months, not even a

year. So for Canute, that's come too
fast.

Does he want to claim to be king of
England following his father's death, or

does he have to go back to Scandinavia?
That sort of uncertainty, I think, would

have been a tremendous pressure for
Canute at this time.

Returning to Denmark is impossible.

His brother, Harald, has almost
certainly claimed the crown.

Without hesitation, Connaught asserts
his right to the throne of England.

He knows he can rely on the loyalty of
his army, and above all, on the hostages

handed over by the English nobility the
previous year as pledges of allegiance.

The Witan should be nothing more than a
mere formality.

Yet, behind the scenes of power, a very
different reality is beginning to

emerge.

He is elected king by the Danish army,
but the English, unsurprisingly, stop

say, wait a second, Swain was a known
entity, highly experienced campaigner,

were submitting to him, not to his son.
That wasn't the deal. It was Swain as

king.

He's just a young boy to the English
nobility. He's not even the king of the

Danes. And they would be conversations
in dark corners about the possibilities

here. What do we do?

In York, Wollstone has chosen his side.

Before a nobility consumed by doubt, he
delivers a sermon heavy with warning.

The Sermon of the Wolf.

A radical text calling on the English to
rise up and save their kingdom.

Thermo Lupi at Angloth is perhaps most
famous of the many apocalyptic sermons

Wolfstan of York, and in this he is...

all of the terrible things the English
have done and all of the signs of God's

wrath upon them, including the fact that
they have exiled their king, that

they've sent their king into exile,
their rightful king, Ethelred.

As guardian of moral order within the
kingdom, he calls on every man to stand

ready to defend his king.

In the utmost secrecy.

the English nobility sends envoys across
the channel to Normandy.

There, Æthelred has taken refuge under
the protection of his

brother -in -law, Duke Richard II.

For the old king, this sudden turn of
events may offer one final chance to

reclaim his throne.

And so they open negotiations, and part
of the deal struck with Ethelred is that

he agrees to rule them more justly than
he had before. That is the condition of

their return.

Ethelred appears to acknowledge his past
failures.

He accepts the negotiated terms of his
return.

promising to rule more wisely, to show
greater respect to his subjects, and to

forgive those who had betrayed him
during the previous year.

So in a sense, they prefer to bring in
Ethelred 2 .0 rather than risking it

a relatively unknown Canute from a
completely different kingdom.

Ethelred now plays what may be his last
car.

He calls upon all those who reject
Danish rule.

Among them stands a feared Viking war
leader,

Olaf Haraldsson.

The story is told when Æthelred comes
back from Normandy to England. He has

support of Olaf Haraldsson, this Viking
warlord who has his own fleet.

Olaf Haraldsson?

has been someone who's been involved in
raiding and attacking on England and

probably elsewhere in Europe, has made a
name for himself freebooting, like many

of these Viking adventurers do.

But crucially, he's also converted to
the Christian faith, and he seems to be

someone who Æthelred and his court are
trying to use and set up in opposition

Canute.

For Æthelred, the time has come to
reclaim his kingdom.

At the head of a fleet, he sets sail for
England and marches toward London.

London represents a potential
stronghold. It's a logistical hub, rich

measure.

Controlling it, even without fully
conquering it, was likely one of

primary objectives upon his return to
England.

Æthelred approaches the capital.

the only city that has remained loyal to
him.

He knows, however, that the
confrontation will be fierce.

London is held by Danish forces loyal to
Cnut.

There were points of resistance, as if
Cuen had deliberately garrisoned the

fortifications that had been captured.

It makes sense.

A newly conquered kingdom cannot be left
undefended.

There was no way to control the
territory.

Danish troops were plausibly stationed
across the land, guarding key towns and

fortresses.

The garrison entrenched itself in the
fortress on the southern bank of the

Thames, blocking access to the city.

At the heart of this defensive network
stands the London Bridge.

a fortified obstacle that controls the
river and connects both shores.

Against such a stronghold, a siege
borders on the impossible.

So Olaf volunteers for one of the most
perilous missions imaginable,

to destroy the London Bridge.

He said to have assembled a small
flotilla, choosing the most skilled and

courageous men.

With a few bows, they positioned
themselves beneath the bridge, secured

reeds and ropes,

and tore away its supports.

The collapse forced the surrender of
both Southwark and London.

Quite true or not, I think, is
debasable, but it is such a good story

it's very much embedded in the history
of Viking Age London.

Even if the story of the bridge's
destruction may be legend,

Ethelred enters the city as a victor.

Yet he does not linger.

Giving Canute time to regroup would be a
grave mistake.

Tomorrow, he will gather his forces and
march north.

In Gainsborough, Canute does not yet
grasp the approaching danger.

Why worry?

Has Ethelred not repeatedly proven
powerless against the Vikings?

Canute's reaction after his father's
death is puzzling.

Remarkably, Ethelred moves swiftly,
while Canute appears almost inactive. As

two months passed without any action.

Clute! He's only a young man. He's not
his father.

Can he control his own forces?

He can control some of them. Can he
control all of the alliances his

made with Scandinavians? I doubt it. I
think initially he must have seen

Scandinavians turn against him, and then
the Dane law and the other areas of

England that he could count on started
to show no support.

And this must be his age. This must be
his inexperience.

Two young, overconfident men.

Knut does not yet see the ground
slipping beneath him.

On April 25th, Easter Day, a message
reaches him from his scouts.

Ethelred has entered Lindsay with a
massive army.

Despite having promised to not repeat
part abuses, the first thing he does is

charges into the north.

This leads to a massacre in Lindsay, the
last unit that supported Knut.

We know Knut had secured the support of
Lincolnshire's inhabitants.

promising provisions for his defense,
particularly in anticipation of a

campaign. It is therefore entirely
logical that Ethelred, as Swain once

raids and plunders areas that show
disloyalty or pose potential opposition.

In Gainsborough, Knut finally gathers
his forces.

He urges them to defend their king.

But despite his warrior's determination,
it is already too late.

This time, the English army holds the
upper hand.

Canute at this point is on his back
foot. He's in a very difficult position.

so when the lights all go out one after
another...

Canute is a good tactician, and just
like Edelred, when he's left with only

region left, he left quickly, because at
that point he's trying to save whatever

he's got for the next assault.

Canute has no choice.

Leave England or die.

He gathers his last loyal men.

and takes to the sea at the head of his
fleet.

Behind him lies a land ravaged by the
vengeful fury of the Anglo -Saxons.

It's an enormous, chaotic, swinging
backwards and forwards situation.

Ethelred's been driven from the country.

Sven's come to power. Sven's died.
There's panic running around of all the

various forces.

Some stay with Canute, most don't.
Canute flees. The English...

Open negotiations with Aethelred and
Aethelred comes back. It's an immensely

chaotic time.

On his ship, Canute watches the English
coast recede.

Defeated by a man he considers weak, he
must flee.

He must have been furious.

There must have been quite a lot of
people who said they would support him

then turned against him. And so he did
exactly what he said he was going to do

in that scenario.

His fleet lands at Sandwich.

The hostages, given by the English
nobility during his father's conquests,

cast ashore.

What should be done with these men?

For Canute, mere execution would be far
too gentle a revenge.

He wants to make an example.

What if there's a time machine? Would
you like to have dinner with Canute?

Absolutely not. I think he's a ruthless,
scary individual, and I think all of us

in the modern world would run screaming
from him. I think if you survive in this

environment, if you thrive in this
environment, you're a pretty scary,

creature in yourself.

And Canute is good at it.

Without the slightest remorse.

He orders them to be mercilessly
mutilated.

Knut employed a range of corporal
punishments, standard under the law of

time, cutting off hands, parts of the
face, ears or nose.

These practices appear in contemporary
legal codes, including those issued by

Wolfstein. And so I think for him this
is a parting shot. This is saying, I may

be leaving now, but I'll be back.

And don't underestimate me. Do not cross
me.

This is what happens to people who cross
me.

They don't get killed. They get injured
in ways that will maim them for life and

make them and everyone else who meets
them remember what I'm capable of.

Harald watches with concern as his
brother ships near the coast.

crowned king of Denmark upon their
father's death.

He cannot know Knut's true intentions.

At the back of Harold's mind, and at the
back of Knut's mind, is this sort of

notion that this Danish kingdom isn't
big enough for the two of us here. This

a situation where the two brothers are
at some point going to have to face off,

potentially, against one another. One
might imagine that Harold would... feel

little bit nervous about the presence of
his war -experienced brother back at

the kingdom.

Though always close, Canute and Harold's
brotherly bond cannot mask the tension

that day.

Knut initially seems intent on
reclaiming part of the Danish kingdom.

From Harald's perspective, Knut is a
threat, because Knut's interests lie in

becoming king.

Harald's interests lie in keeping the
kingship, and so Knut back in Denmark is

one prince too many for a kingdom that
has just lost sway.

In the throne hall, now under his
control, Harald invites Knut to speak.

Yet his younger brother's claims could
ignite a dangerous war of succession.

If Harold refuses, Knut must choose.

Submit or fight.

If Knut was the astute politician I
believe, it made sense for him to adapt.

Very well, if you're unwilling to grant
me anything, I will demonstrate loyalty

and friendship instead.

This may have been the surest way to
achieve his aims, avoiding direct

confrontation and certain defeat.

Barely 20 years old, Knut has already
lost everything.

His throne, his kingdom, and perhaps
even his future.

Unwilling to live in his brother's
shadow, he sees one path.

Reclaim by force what he believes is
rightfully his.

This is not a man who is accepting his
role in Denmark as the second son.

This is instead a man who is waiting for
his opportunity to reinvade England.

He's waiting and he's watching for some
key mistake.

in the English regime to be made that
gives him a new way in.

After 30 years of a chaotic reign,
Æthelred

finally recovers his throne.

Yet he now faces a nobility steeped in
mistrust and betrayal.

A nest of scorpions, at whose heart he
believes he has found a loyal ally.

Eadric Streona.

Eadric Streona is the bad man of the
first half of the 11th century in

politics.

His nickname, Strainer, it means the
grasper, the acquisitor. In addition to

which, he doesn't seem to have very much
of what we would say moral fibre, or

he's a brilliant survivor, which one we
want to say. And he flip -flops between

supporting whoever looks like they might
win.

And we don't quite know why.

But for whatever reasons, Æthelred gives
Eadric more and more power and

authority, and it's clear that many of
those at court resent this, that the new

guard coming in, that Æthelred places
absolute trust in.

Eadric never leaves the king's side,
feeding his paranoia day after day.

At 47, weakened by illness,

Æthelred faces yet another threat, the
struggle for his own succession.

So all the sons of the king are
considered to be otherlings, so you

have a number of contenders to the
throne. It's a bit of a political brawl,

it also means that the son who's the
best leader and who has a strong...

faction behind him among the noblemen
will come to the top, rather than

necessarily the firstborn, who may not
be the best.

Two lines now vie for power.

First, from his union with Elgifu of
York.

Six sons.

At that point,

the eldest son, Edmund Ironside, appears
to have the upper hand.

He's a young man in his early 20s,
perhaps a little younger or older,

highly respected and clearly eager to go
to war.

Opposing him, the second line.

Edward and Alfred.

Born of Æthelred's second wife, a
noblewoman from across the Channel,

Emma of Normandy.

Emma of Normandy is the daughter of the
Duke of Normandy, Richard I.

who is a descendant of Rolo, so the
Viking who established Normandy as a

in the 9th century.

And she seems to be a very aggressive
political figure that she's influenced

there, as we know, by Norman politics,
where women took a much greater role.

They really didn't do this in English
politics.

She is extraordinarily powerful and not
shy about exerting that power.

So Emma dedicated her life, really, to
making sure that one of her sons was on

the throne.

Emma has no intention of letting the
throne slip from her grasp in favor of a

son from a previous marriage.

At court, the treacherous Eadric may
prove a valuable ally against Edmund's

ambition.

by Æthelred's later years. Emma, his
queen, quite possibly Æthelred himself,

certainly others at court aligned with
Eadric, or creating a faction.

And that faction may well be working to
try to line up eventually the succession

of Edward and Alfred, Æthelred's sons
with his second wife Emma, over his sons

with his first wife.

And so what we start seeing is a
fracturing of the dynasty between rival

The king summons a great assembly.

Nobles from across the realm gather.

Among them stand Seaforth and Morcar,
two leading figures of the

Danelaw, both known for supporting
Edmund's claim to the throne.

As the feast reaches its height,

Iadric Streona approaches the king.

With a simple gesture, Æthelred gives
the order to strike.

He has Seaforth and Morcar invited by
Iadric Streona to a meeting,

and then they are murdered. They are
just murdered.

The king seizes their lands, and he has
Seaforth's widow placed in Malmesbury

Abbey. What happens there is that
Ethelred has created a scenario whereby

son, his trusted friends and allies, are
now being attacked by his own father.

For Edmund, it is a crushing blow.

His closest allies are dead.

Worse, Ethelred now openly favours
Edward, Emma's son.

On August the 15th, 1015, Edmund acts.

He travels to the monastery of
Malmesbury,

abducts Yargif, widow of Sifir, and
marries her on the spot,

claiming her late husband's inheritance.

It's a crucial and enormous act if he's
aligning himself again. And

what we have here is shock and horror,
because suddenly the king and the

heir are at loggerheads, and they're at
war with each other.

By attacking the northern nobility,
Æthelred fractures his kingdom once

pushing England to the brink of civil
war.

The news spread like wildfire.

A few days earlier, Canute had issued
the call to arms.

Now, from one end of the country to the
other, thousands march towards

the capital.

Canute has waited months for this
moment.

The fractures tearing England apart
offer him the perfect opportunity for

revenge.

The tree has a trunk, and you see one
trunk above the ground, as it were. But

you were to grab that and pull it out of
the ground, you see all these roots,

and each root leaps to another unit and
to another unit, and they spread out in

a myriad of ways. So Canute doesn't have
direct contact with people even a few

stages down.

When a king calls, as opposed to a local
nobleman, you get an enormous amount of

uptake of this.

To launch his reconquest, Knut relies on
a man from Norway, Erik

of Lade, an old ally of his father,
destined to be the

cornerstone of his great army.

Erik's family has been slowly
consolidating power over northern

pretty much then all of Norway down to
the south. They are probably the most

powerful dynasty ruling any part of
Scandinavia.

Eric, moreover, has married one of
Knuth's half -fifters. He was therefore

family ally, a recognized war leader, a
man of great power and considerable

charisma, widely respected, and very
likely someone who played the role of a

mentor to Knuth.

As the army gathers, an alarm sounds.

A fleet approaches off the coast.

filled with men and weapons.

At its head is Thorkell the Tall,
fearsome Viking leader,

Æthelred's ally for more than three
years.

Of all his followers, Thorkell was
likely the most loyal. Yet, in 1015, he

to vanish from England, returning
discreetly to Denmark.

with only a few ships.

And he stays a little bit offshore.

This is a man who's not quite sure if
the Danish royal family are going to try

and kill him or not, but also he doesn't
want to give them the opportunity.

Knut is intrigued and agrees to hear out
this formidable adversary.

Fokker knows England extremely well. Its
balance of power, its terrain, such

knowledge could be of great value.

Knut studies the man.

30 years his senior.

Once among his father's greatest
enemies.

A single gesture could have ended him.

But instead, Knut offers his hand.

Knut accepts the allegiance very
quickly, without reserve.

Securing the support of such an
experienced, influential and

leader is sufficient.

Erik then stands as Knut's positive
guiding force.

Thorkell, his darker, more ambivalent
counterpart.

Together, they form the two paternal
figures around whom Knut builds himself

his army.

They're the very best allies he could
find, both among the Norwegians and the

Danes. His ability to surround himself
with talent is extraordinary.

At first light, Knut gives the order to
set sail.

At the head of a fleet of 200 ships, he
heads towards England.

The entomium of Queen Emma records the
fleet as being dazzling to behold. It

uses these sort of grandiose Latin
terms, emphasising sight of this

terrible war fleet that is brought.

to England in 1015 so for an observer
standing on the English coast

there must have been a view of this kind
of forest of masts and sails and it

must be a terrible sight to behold but

as the fleet nears the English coast

Canute turns south

Unlike his father two years earlier, he
does not aim for the north.

His target is the heart of power,
Wethix.

He's now had a taste of England. He's
been around it a bit. He's spent a bit

time there, and he can see that what he
needs more than anything else is he

doesn't need to go to the part that
looks like Scandinavia because it's most

convenient for him. He needs to go to
the part that's least convenient for him

to understand and interact with because
that's where you rule England from, and

that's the wealthy south.

The ships skirt the coast of Kent,
pushing into Dorset.

On board, carried by the dark waters of
the river,

Canute recalls the day a year earlier
when he first set foot on English soil

beside his father.

Today, he fights for his own name, for
the oath whispered over Zane's lifeless

body.

By the time Canute comes back to
England, he's... still young, but

considerable experience.

He's had those early moments in England,
working first with his father

successfully, those difficult moments
where it all went wrong. He's had a few

years' experience. He's had experience
now back at his brother's court in

Denmark and some of the difficulties
he's encountered there. So he's

coming back a wilyer, more experienced
political operator and not someone who

anybody in England, I think, would
underestimate.

Wessex is among the kingdom's best
defended territories.

But Knut is confident.

His ships give him a decisive edge.

These long ships, often miscalled
Dracars, are the key to Viking striking

Britain may see itself today as a navy
first in its military, but it wasn't

then. And it had nothing in comparison
to these longboats that the Vikings

What made Scandinavian ships so
effective in this period was the fact

managed to be very seaworthy, could
travel significant distances, could

large numbers of men, but still have a
relatively shallow draft.

And so what that allows them to do is to
travel quite far up navigable rivers,

to beach quite easily, and to land and
then attack local people.

Canute's army devastates all in its
path.

Dorset.

Wiltshire.

Somerset.

The young Dane advances relentlessly.

Between Knut's hesitation in 1013 to
1014 and his return in 1015 to 1016,

there's a dramatic shift. He knows
exactly what must be done, and he

coldly, efficiently, and with
calculation.

A highly effective approach, no doubt
advised by the two men at his side,

probably the finest war leaders of the
North.

Knut learned from his past mistakes.

He gives the enemy no respite.

At the head of their troops, Eric and
Thorkell descend on English lands like a

swarm of locusts.

Knut rarely goes into battle himself.

Like Octavian during Rome's civil war,
he remains behind.

reflecting, pulling strings, giving
orders, relying on powerful men to act.

But his followers clearly trust him and
are willing to go into battle in his

stead.

The Scandinavian forces set up camp in
Mercia, one of the kingdom's richest

regions and undoubtedly one of the most
difficult to subdue.

At least, until a man appears on the
outskirts of the camp.

Canute is intrigued and watches the
stranger approach.

It is none other than Jadrig Stryona,
Æthelred's closest advisor.

Instead of defending his king, he
presents himself before his most

enemy.

key moments in many ways in the
strategies of 1015.

Why Eadric decides to betray Æthelred is
really the million pound question.

He'd risen on Æthelred's coattails, but
if we look at Eadric's later career,

what it seems to teach us is that he's
somebody who was interested in one thing

and one person only, and that was Eadric
Streona. So what he does is he decides

to jump before he's pushed and figures
that his best bet for maintaining his

position of power and influence is to
then be the kingmaker, to be the one who

secures Canute's claim to the throne and
then hopefully reaps dividends from

that.

Like his father two years earlier,
Canute strikes at the very heart of the

kingdom.

Once again, Æthelred does nothing to
stop the invasion.

Left to fend for themselves, the nobles
have no choice but to submit to the

Dane, one after another.

By securing the allegiance of this
aristocracy through its very presence,

symbolically exposes the king's absence.

The ruler is not there to defend his
ancestral lands. He's a failed king, and

therefore an illegitimate one.
Politically, it's a masterstroke, and

it works.

The campaign seems almost effortless.

Yet Knut does not realize that this time
a far more formidable opponent awaits

him.

Feint intervenes once again.

King Æthelred falls gravely ill.

Setting aside old quarrels, he entrusts
command of the war to his son, Edmund

Ironside.

The big change that happens with Edmund
Ironside taking over is that we have a

competent and present English leader.

But he is the Englishman who will fight
back against Canute. Between those two,

there's an equality in their fights.

If you read this as a narrative, you're
not quite sure which way it's going to

go until the final battle happens, as it
were.

To confront Canute, Edmund must rally
the full strength of the kingdom.

For now, his army is dangerously thin.

Accompanied by his personal guard, he
rides tirelessly across the region,

loyal to the crown, calling upon the
fiat, the levy of free men.

Fiat is the term for the army, and it
would have been composed, typically, of

small inner entourage.

potentially professional soldiers or
near professional soldiers, senior

aristocrats, who saw war as one of their
main pastimes, but then supplemented

with a local militia, so with
individuals called up from local

in the army.

These men were expected to arrive with
their own resources and weapons, which

was far from simple.

Such levies often produced armies that
were uneven, poorly equipped, unevenly

trained. To resist Knut, Edmund
repeatedly mobilizes the kingdom's free

raising new forces whenever possible.

To his troops, Edmund strives to embody
leadership.

But the conflicts that once opposed him
to his father have left deep scars.

Many distrust the young prince, judging
him to be overly ambitious.

There was a real question for those
loyal to Æthelred as to whether or not

Edmund was friend or foe. This is one of
the things that hamstrings Edmund's

initial attempts to resist, is that he's
not able to secure that support and

that the main English army under
Æthelred's authority is not willing to

Edmund. This is quite serious.

This is a refusal to do the king's
bidding.

Edmund is there on behalf of his father,
and these armies are refusing to come

to the meeting places and join up. This
is very, very bad news.

In London, Ethelred receives a message.

His son pleads for aid.

Despite the illness consuming him, the
king orders his guard to assemble and

rides west.

A few days later, Edmund welcomes his
father.

He studies him closely.

All of England's hopes now rest on this
old, weary, ageing king.

As a final little sort of bump in this,
Ethelred is warned, maybe it's real,

maybe it's just paranoia, that some part
of the army or somebody there is going

to kill him.

The king apparently panics and runs into
the safety of London, and the army just

disbands. You can see the problems here
and the fragility of the English forces,

and this is the major problem that
Edmund has.

But once again, Ethelred withdraws.

Edmund is isolated and has no choice.

He rides north, prepared to risk
everything.

At Bamburgh, he meets Uhtred, Earl of
Northumbria.

The man supported Spain and Cnut the
previous year, yet remains tied to

through marriage alliances.

He's experienced as a warrior. He's got
troops.

He's got... power. And so Edmund reaches
out to Uhtred, and Uhtred actually

joins forces with the English forces
against the Danes. This might seem

anachronistic, because earlier Uhtred
seemed to have some association with the

Danes, but Uhtred is going to be friends
with whoever gets Uhtred the most

power. This is then combined with the
fact that he was closely allied with

people like Morcar and Seaforth, so
who've just been purged from the court,

therefore do not look kindly upon...

Aethelred and his regime, and so for
Edmund, Uhtred is a logical ally.

With Uhtred now at his side, Edmund
finally commands forces capable of

challenging Canute.

Yet instead of facing his rival, he
turns south towards Merthyr.

Unleashing his strength against those
nobles accused of treachery.

Once again,

the English fight among themselves while
the Danes devastate the kingdom.

Everybody thought that they would attack
the Danish army, but...

It's much better, from their
perspective, to pursue their own

And at this point, I think that their
interests are Iadric Streona. So Knut is

problem, yeah, sure, but Iadric's
support for Knut is the big problem.

And I don't think at this point they
necessarily have national interests at

heart. But, you know, in these
circumstances, who could blame them?

Facing the growing alliance between
Edmund and Uhtred, Canute turns to

A direct confrontation would be too
great a risk.

Together with his commanders, he devises
a daring plan.

At dawn, they will outmaneuver the enemy
and strike deep into the heart of

Uhtred's own lands.

Of course, the Uhtred episode, glorious
though it is for the English, is

unfortunately short -lived. What Knut
does, again, always the brilliant

tactician, he himself and Erik, they go
to Utrecht's house and they threaten him

at home when he's taken most of his
forces away with him to the south.

Danish forces descend upon Northumbria,
ravaging territories left dangerously

undefended.

In the awake, towns and villages fall,
one after another.

Uhtred is panicked. He was not ready for
this at all, and he withdraws from the

fight in the south of England, and he
heads home.

Returning to Bambara, Uhtred discovers
his stronghold already in Danish hands.

In the great hall of his palace, Canute
awaits him.

Seated upon the throne that once
belonged to his host.

Facing the young Dane, Uhtred
immediately understands that there is no

Submission is his only hope of survival.

The difference between Knut and Thrain
is clear.

Thrain relied on hostages and negotiated
loyalty.

Knut, however, had already experienced
how fragile aristocratic allegiance

be. Shortly after submitting, Uhtred was
most likely assassinated.

Uhtred is gone from the picture. This
mighty English warrior who could have

turned the tide for Edmund, he's a piece
that's off the chessboard. Click, and

he's gone, and it's checkmate to Knut
just for the moment.

Wessex, Mercia, and much of northern
England now lie under Canute's control.

Edmund can rely only on his own strength
if he hopes to prevail.

As for Æthelred, sick and weakened, he
remains confined within London.

For Canute, the conquest of England now
seems inevitable.

And yet, once more, Fate is about to
intervene.