1 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:15,440 This is a story of conquest, 2 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,520 betrayal and courage. 3 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,760 The story of the son of a Viking sovereign 4 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:25,720 forged in the shadow of battle. 5 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:30,840 A man destined for nothing, yet fated to build an empire. 6 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,160 He was larger than life in his lifetime 7 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,400 and as somebody who had wide ranging achievements 8 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,240 that surprised even many of his contemporaries. 9 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,440 The story of a man who became ruler of Three Kingdoms. 10 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:50,440 A Viking who became an emperor. 11 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,320 He's one of the great medieval success stories. 12 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,560 What he does, we have no word for, it's completely new. 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,200 This is the legend of Knut, 14 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,520 Emperor of the North Sea. 15 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,800 No longer mere invaders... 16 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:02,600 ...they are now conquerors. 17 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,480 After a lightning-fast campaign, Knut and Sweyn have subdued England. 18 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,280 The nobility has sworn allegiance to them... 19 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,200 ...and King Aethelred has been driven into exile in Normandy. 20 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,120 From this moment on, the land is theirs. 21 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,640 But conquering a kingdom is one thing. 22 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,200 Becoming its rightful rulers is another. 23 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,720 Knut and Sweyn did not come to fundamentally change 24 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:40,560 everything about English society. 25 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,200 They came to take over its head, the head of the snake, 26 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,040 as it were, and control that. 27 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,080 Once Sweyn has affected military conquest of England, 28 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,480 he then must achieve legitimacy and authority, 29 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:58,800 and that cannot be asserted purely at the end of a sword or a spear. 30 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,360 And so that starts with convening the so-called witan, that is, 31 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:05,760 leading magnates of England who represent the realm, 32 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:07,880 and having them elect a monarch. 33 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,880 Knut and Sweyn must now secure the loyalty 34 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:17,800 of all the members of the Witan. 35 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,000 One of its most influential members resides in York. 36 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,400 Archbishop Wulfstan. 37 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,680 A pious and austere man, 38 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,680 and one of the fiercest opponents of the Vikings. 39 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,600 We know that Wulfstan was deeply concerned 40 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:44,960 by the Viking threat. 41 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,240 He seems genuinely fearful of the return of unchecked paganism 42 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:49,960 in early eleventh-century England. 43 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,960 And you see there a man who is railing and screaming about 44 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,000 "This is the end of the world. This is the apocalypse. 45 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:58,360 This is the end of everything." 46 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,280 So he sees the Vikings as sent by God to punish the English 47 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,480 for their sins. And I think for Wulfstan, 48 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,800 the Vikings become a symbol of the Antichrist. 49 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,200 Winning such a man over may seem impossible. 50 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,320 But Knut is about to present a powerful argument. 51 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,400 Though many Danes still cling to pagan traditions... 52 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,960 ...Knut himself was raised in the Christian faith. 53 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,280 All of Knut actions suggest that he was indeed Christian, 54 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,920 and his dynasty was riding on the coattails of Christianity. 55 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:46,880 It's his grandfather, Harald Bluetooth, 56 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,320 who'd also made the Danes Christian. 57 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,000 Because one of the crucial teachings that the Church has 58 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,160 is that there are monarchs put in place by the grace of God, 59 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,600 that God has created the social order. 60 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,320 So if tapped into correctly, 61 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,840 Christianisation and the Christian faith can become a powerful force. 62 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,240 The piety displayed by Sweyn and Knut 63 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,520 appears to reassure Wulfstan. 64 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,880 Yet no one can truly guess their real intentions. 65 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,920 For Sweyn, the time has come to summon the Witan. 66 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:33,600 Back in Gainsborough, he sends his messengers across the kingdom. 67 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,640 The assembly will meet in three weeks in York, not London. 68 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,720 For it is from the North that he intends to rule England, 69 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:50,280 abandoning Wessex, the traditional heart of English royal power. 70 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:53,280 After he's conquered England, 71 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,960 there's a Witan being called in York. 72 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,280 Well, clearly it's to crown him King, 73 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,400 and it's to give Knut some sort of office or title in that region. 74 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:04,880 And that is crucial, 75 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,480 because we can see then how close Sweyn is to the north, 76 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:10,800 how much he focused his energies on it, 77 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,360 and also what a dreadful mistake he made, 78 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,800 because you can't run a kingdom 79 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,200 from its least organised part. 80 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,000 The powerhouse of England is in the South. 81 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,440 That's where the bureaucracy is. That's where the towns are. 82 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,080 That's where the markets are primarily. 83 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:29,000 That's where the moneymaking machine is. 84 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,840 And if you want to be in England and you want to control it, 85 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:33,600 you got to do it from the South. 86 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,280 England is about to open a new chapter in its history. 87 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:45,680 Nothing seems capable of halting the advance of the two Danes. 88 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,440 And yet, fate will decide otherwise. 89 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,760 Knut rushes back to Gainsborough. 90 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:12,920 He has been summoned to the royal palace. 91 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,400 At dawn, his father's lifeless body is discovered. 92 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,000 The conqueror of the North has died suddenly at the age of fifty... 93 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:31,680 ...at the height of his power. 94 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,520 His reaction, of course, to his father's death 95 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,400 has to be enormous shock. Enormous shock. 96 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,080 This is not what they had planned. 97 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,000 They're about to become legitimate rulers. 98 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,280 They're about to be accepted by the nobles, 99 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,960 ecclesiastical and secular, of the whole country, 100 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,880 and suddenly his father's dropped down dead. 101 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:55,960 They would have been a part of him at least, 102 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,080 that is pleased that his father, 103 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,480 who was one of the main obstacles other than his brother 104 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,120 to his own ambitions, was gone 105 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,440 because he can't be king fully until Sweyn's gone. 106 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,200 Standing before the man to whom he owed everything, 107 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,040 Knut finds himself utterly alone. 108 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,560 For he knows that now, everything rests upon him. 109 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,440 Sweyn's conquered England, but has not managed to establish 110 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,320 that kind of authority that will allow him to pass the throne 111 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,480 without opposition to a son, 112 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:32,800 because he's only been in England a matter of months, 113 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:37,520 not even a full year. So for Knut, that's come too fast. 114 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:40,520 Does he want to claim to be king of England 115 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:42,360 following his father's death? 116 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:44,160 Or does he have to go back to Scandinavia? 117 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,160 That sort of uncertainty, I think, would have been a tremendous 118 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:49,560 pressure for Knut at this time. 119 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,800 Returning to Denmark is impossible. 120 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,600 His brother Harald has almost certainly claimed the crown. 121 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:04,520 Without hesitation, Knut asserts his right to the throne of England. 122 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:12,560 He knows he can rely on the loyalty of his army, and above all, 123 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,680 on the hostages handed over by the English nobility 124 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,240 the previous year as pledges of allegiance. 125 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,320 The Witan should be nothing more than a mere formality. 126 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:28,640 Yet behind the scenes of power, 127 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,800 a very different reality is beginning to emerge. 128 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,040 He is elected king by the Danish army, but the English, 129 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,120 unsurprisingly, stop and say, wait a second. 130 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,480 Sweyn was a known entity, highly experienced campaigner. 131 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,000 We were submitting to him, not to his son. 132 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,680 That wasn't the deal. It was Sweyn as King. 133 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,440 He's just a young boy to the English nobility. 134 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,320 He's not even the king of the Danes. 135 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,280 And they would be conversations in dark corners 136 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,680 about the possibilities here. What do we do? 137 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:10,800 In York... 138 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,480 ...Wulfstan has chosen his side. 139 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,760 Before a nobility consumed by doubt, 140 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:25,120 he delivers a sermon heavy with warning: 141 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:27,840 the sermon of the Wolf. 142 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:32,680 A radical text calling on the English to rise up 143 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:34,520 and save their kingdom. 144 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:41,160 Sermo Lupi ad Anglos is perhaps the most famous 145 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,440 of the many apocalyptic sermons of Wulfstan of York, 146 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:48,720 and in this he is adumbrating all of the terrible things 147 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,240 the English have done and all of the signs of God's wrath upon them, 148 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,400 including the fact that they have exiled their king, 149 00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:57,040 that they've sent their king into exile, 150 00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:58,600 their rightful king, Aethelred. 151 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,080 As guardian of moral order within the kingdom, 152 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:06,080 he calls on every man to stand ready to defend his king. 153 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,720 In the utmost secrecy... 154 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:18,680 ...the English nobility sends envoys across the channel, to Normandy. 155 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,640 There, Aethelred has taken refuge... 156 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:29,080 ...under the protection of his brother-in-law, 157 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,080 Duke Richard II. 158 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,080 For the old king, 159 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,520 this sudden turn of events may offer one final chance 160 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:40,320 to reclaim his throne. 161 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:44,160 And so they open negotiations, 162 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,280 and part of the deal struck with Aethelred is 163 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:50,040 that he agrees to rule them more justly than he had before. 164 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:51,960 That is the condition of their return. 165 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:57,120 Aethelred appears to acknowledge his past failures. 166 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,520 He accepts the negotiated terms of his return, 167 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:02,960 promising to rule more wisely, 168 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,160 to show greater respect to his subjects, 169 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,280 and to forgive those who had betrayed him 170 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:09,120 during the previous year. 171 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,880 So in a sense, they preferred to bring in Aethelred 2.0, 172 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,360 rather than risking it with a relatively unknown Knut 173 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:20,520 from a completely different kingdom. 174 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:28,240 Aethelred now plays what may be his last card. 175 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,440 He calls upon all those who reject Danish rule. 176 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,840 Among them stands a feared Viking war leader: 177 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,000 Olaf Haraldsson. 178 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:47,600 The story is told 179 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,760 when Aethelred comes back from Normandy to England, 180 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,360 he has the support of Olaf Haraldsson. 181 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,840 This Viking warlord who has his own fleet. 182 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:04,440 Olaf Haraldsson has been someone who's been involved in raiding 183 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,280 and attacking on England and probably elsewhere in Europe, 184 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,200 has made a name for himself free booting, 185 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:11,440 like many of these Viking adventurers do. 186 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:15,520 But crucially, he's also converted to the Christian faith. 187 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,120 And he seems to be someone who Aethelred and his court 188 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:22,520 are trying to use and set up in opposition to Knut. 189 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,920 For Aethelred, the time has come to reclaim his kingdom. 190 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,960 At the head of a fleet, he sets sail for England... 191 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,240 ...and marches toward London. 192 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,920 London represents a potential stronghold. 193 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,120 It is a logistical hub, rich beyond measure. 194 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,760 Controlling it, even without fully conquering it, 195 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:52,960 was likely one of Aethelred's primary objectives 196 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:54,920 upon his return to England. 197 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,320 Aethelred approaches the capital... 198 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,080 ...the only city that has remained loyal to him. 199 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,560 He knows, however, that the confrontation will be fierce. 200 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,880 London is held by Danish forces loyal to Knut. 201 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,880 There were points of resistance, 202 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,040 as if Sweyn had deliberately garrisoned the main fortifications 203 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:22,880 that had been captured. 204 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:27,960 It makes sense: a newly conquered kingdom cannot be left undefended. 205 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,560 They're no way to control the territory. 206 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,080 Danish troops were plausibly stationed across the land, 207 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,800 guarding key towns and fortresses. 208 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,280 The garrison entrenched itself in the fortress 209 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,560 on the southern bank of the Thames, blocking access to the city. 210 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,720 At the heart of this defensive network stands the London Bridge... 211 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:03,800 ...a fortified obstacle that controls the river and connects both shores. 212 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:13,760 Against such a stronghold, a siege borders on the impossible. 213 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,000 So Olaf volunteers for one of the most 214 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:21,920 perilous missions imaginable: 215 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,000 to destroy the London Bridge. 216 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,000 He is said to have assembled a small flotilla, 217 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,600 choosing the most skilled and courageous men. 218 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:40,640 With a few boats, they positioned themselves beneath the bridge, 219 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,640 secured it with reeds and ropes, and tore away its supports. 220 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:51,400 The collapse forced the surrender of both Southwark and London. 221 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:03,440 Whether that story is quite true or not, I think is debatable, 222 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,920 but it is such a good story that it's very much embedded 223 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,560 in the history of Viking Age London. 224 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,760 Even if the story of the bridge's destruction 225 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:17,280 may be legend... 226 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,520 ...Aethelred enters the city as a victor. 227 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:25,960 Yet he does not linger. 228 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,840 Giving Knut time to regroup would be a grave mistake. 229 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,680 Tomorrow he will gather his forces and march north. 230 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:46,040 In Gainsborough... 231 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,800 ...Knut does not yet grasp the approaching danger. 232 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:55,360 Why worry? 233 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,720 Has Aethelred not repeatedly proven powerless against the Vikings? 234 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,880 Knut's reaction after his father's death is puzzling. 235 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,840 Remarkably, Aethelred moves swiftly, 236 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,520 while Knut appears almost inactive, 237 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,840 as if two months passed without any action. 238 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:20,360 Knut? He's only a young man. He's not his father. 239 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,280 Can he control his own forces? He can control some of them. 240 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,800 Can he control all of the alliances his fathers made with Scandinavians? 241 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:30,120 I doubt it. 242 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,360 I think initially he must have seen certain Scandinavians 243 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:34,560 turn against him, 244 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,840 and then the Danelaw and the other areas of England 245 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,320 that he could count on started to show no support. 246 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,760 And this must be his age. This must be his inexperience. 247 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,160 Too young, overconfident men. 248 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,560 Knut does not yet see the ground slipping beneath him. 249 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,000 On April 25th, Easter Day, 250 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,840 a message reaches him from his scouts. 251 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:09,160 Aethelred has entered Lindsey with a massive army. 252 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,720 Despite having promised to not repeat past abuses, 253 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,440 the first thing he does is he charges in to the north. 254 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:23,440 This leads to a massacre Lindsey. The last unit that supported Knut. 255 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:28,320 We know Knut had secured the support 256 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,480 of Lincolnshire's inhabitants, 257 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,240 promising provisions for his defence, 258 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,160 particularly in anticipation of a campaign. 259 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:41,080 It is therefore entirely logical that Aethelred, as Sweyn once did, 260 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,240 raids and plunders areas that show disloyalty 261 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,320 or pose potential opposition. 262 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,160 In Gainsborough, Knut finally gathers his forces. 263 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,320 He urges them to defend their king. 264 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,240 But despite his warrior's determination, 265 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,280 it is already too late. 266 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,480 This time the English army holds the upper hand. 267 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:16,960 Knut, at this point, is on his back foot. 268 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:19,520 He's in a very difficult position. 269 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:23,800 And so when the lights all go out, one after another, 270 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,320 Knut is a good tactician. 271 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:29,680 And just like Aethelred, when he's left with only one region left, 272 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:31,120 he left quickly, 273 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:33,840 because at that point he's trying to save 274 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,520 whatever he's got for the next assault. 275 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:47,280 Knut has no choice: leave England or die. 276 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,240 He gathers his last loyal men... 277 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,680 ...and takes to the sea at the head of his fleet. 278 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,680 Behind him lies a land ravaged by the vengeful fury 279 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:04,560 of the Anglo-Saxons. 280 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,000 It's an enormous, chaotic, 281 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,080 swinging backwards and forwards situation. 282 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,280 Aethelred has been driven from the country. 283 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,960 Sweyn's come to power. Sweyn's died. 284 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:17,240 There's panic running around of all the various forces. 285 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:19,160 Some stay with Knut. Most don't. 286 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,920 Knut flees, the English open negotiations with Aethelred 287 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,480 and Aethelred comes back. It's an immensely chaotic time. 288 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:35,840 On his ship, 289 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,960 Knut watches the English coast recede. 290 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,120 Defeated by a man he considers weak... 291 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:47,320 ...he must flee... 292 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:51,960 ...trapped by his own pride. 293 00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:59,240 He must have been furious. 294 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,960 There must have been quite a lot of people, 295 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:05,080 who said they would support him and then turned against him. 296 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,280 And so he did exactly what he said he was going to do in that scenario. 297 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:19,880 After several days at sea, his fleet lands at Sandwich. 298 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:24,520 The hostages, 299 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,920 given by the English nobility during his father's conquests, 300 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:29,840 are cast ashore. 301 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:37,320 What should be done with these men? 302 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:43,560 For Knut, mere execution would be far too gentle a revenge. 303 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:48,160 He wants to make an example. 304 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:51,320 What if there's a time machine? 305 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,800 Would you like to have dinner with Knut? Absolutely not. 306 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,440 I think he was a ruthless, scary individual. 307 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,440 And I don't think- I think we would all, all of us in the modern world, 308 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:00,880 would run screaming from him. 309 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:03,400 I think if you survive in this environment, 310 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:05,160 if you thrive in this environment, 311 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,600 you're a pretty scary, ruthless creature in yourself 312 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,800 and Knut is good at it. 313 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,800 Without the slightest remorse, 314 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,360 he orders them to be mercilessly mutilated. 315 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,320 Knut employed a range of corporal punishments, 316 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,960 standard under the law of the time: 317 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:31,120 cutting off hands, parts of the face, ears, or nose. 318 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,160 These practices appear in contemporary legal codes, 319 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,400 including those issued by Wulfstan. 320 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:39,280 And so I think for him, this is a parting shot. 321 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:41,560 This is saying I may be leaving now, 322 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,440 but I'll be back and don't underestimate me. 323 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,000 Do not cross me. 324 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,920 This is what happens to people who cross me. 325 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:50,360 They don't get killed. 326 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,080 They get injured in ways that will maim them for life 327 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,960 and make them and everyone else who meets them 328 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:57,920 remember what I'm capable of. 329 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,840 Harald watches with concern 330 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,080 as his brother's ships near the coast. 331 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,920 Crowned King of Denmark upon their father's death, 332 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,240 he cannot know Knut's true intentions. 333 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,800 At the back of Harold's mind and at the back of Knut's mind, 334 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,040 there's this sort of notion that this Danish kingdom isn't big enough 335 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:31,720 for the two of us here. 336 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,600 This is a situation where these two brothers are at some points 337 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:40,960 going to have to face off, potentially against one another. 338 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:46,600 One might imagine that Harald would feel a little bit nervous 339 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,600 about the presence of his more experienced brother 340 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:51,080 back in the Kingdom. 341 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,120 Though always close, Knut and Harald's brotherly bond 342 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:01,600 cannot mask the tension that day. 343 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,840 Knut initially seems intent on reclaiming 344 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:13,240 part of the Danish kingdom. 345 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,640 From Harold's perspective, Knut is a threat 346 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,520 because Knut's interests lie in becoming king. 347 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,560 Harald's interests lie in keeping the kingship. 348 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,240 And so Knut back in Denmark is one prince too many 349 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,320 for a kingdom that has just lost Sweyn. 350 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:35,320 In the throne hall now under his control, 351 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,000 Harald invites Knut to speak. 352 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,680 Yet his younger brother's claims could ignite 353 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,000 a dangerous war of succession. 354 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,760 If Harald refuses, Knut must choose: 355 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,760 submit or fight. 356 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,160 If Knut was the astute politician I believe, 357 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:01,120 it made sense for him to adapt. 358 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,440 "Very well, if you are unwilling to grant me anything, 359 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,080 I will demonstrate loyalty and friendship instead." 360 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,280 This may have been the surest way to achieve his aims, 361 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,600 avoiding direct confrontation and certain defeat. 362 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:19,040 Barely twenty years old, Knut has already lost everything : 363 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:22,320 his throne, his kingdom, 364 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,040 and perhaps even his future. 365 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:29,760 Unwilling to live in his brother's shadow, 366 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,360 he sees one path: 367 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,720 reclaim by force what he believes is rightfully his. 368 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:43,120 This is not a man who is accepting his role in Denmark 369 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:44,440 as the second son. 370 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,440 This is instead a man who is waiting for his opportunity 371 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:49,920 to re-invade England. 372 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:51,920 He's waiting, and he's watching 373 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:56,400 for some key mistake in the English regime to be made 374 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,200 that gives him a new way in. 375 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,160 After thirty years of a chaotic reign... 376 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,480 ...Aethelred finally recovers his throne. 377 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:25,600 Yet he now faces a nobility steeped in mistrust and betrayal. 378 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,120 A nest of scorpions, 379 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,120 at whose heart he believes he has found a loyal ally. 380 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:37,400 Eadric Streona. 381 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:46,280 Eadric Streona is the bad man of the first half of 11th century 382 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:47,800 in English politics. 383 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,560 His nickname, Streona, it means the Grasper, the Inquisitor, 384 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:55,880 in addition to which he doesn't seem to have very much 385 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:57,400 of what we would say moral fibre. 386 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,280 Or he's a brilliant survivor, which one, we can't to say. 387 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:04,960 And he flip flops between supporting whoever looks like they might win. 388 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,640 And we don't quite know why, but for whatever reasons, 389 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,040 Aethelred gives Eadric more and more power and authority, 390 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,880 and it's clear that many of those at court resent this, 391 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,480 that this is a new guard coming in, 392 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,520 that Aethelred places absolute trust in. 393 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,080 Eadric never leaves the king side, 394 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,720 feeding his paranoia day after day. 395 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,920 At forty-seven, weakened by illness, 396 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,240 Aethelred faces yet another threat: 397 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,000 the struggle for his own succession. 398 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:46,160 So all the sons of the king are considered to be aethelings. 399 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,640 So you actually have a number of contenders to the throne. 400 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,160 It's a bit of a political brawl. 401 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:55,880 But it also means that the son who's the best leader 402 00:27:56,040 --> 00:28:01,840 and who has a strong faction behind him among the noblemen, 403 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,360 will come to the top rather than necessarily the firstborn, 404 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:07,200 who may not be the best. 405 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,880 Two lines now vie for power. 406 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:21,000 First, from his union with Elgifu of York, six sons. 407 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:29,920 At that point, the elder son, 408 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,280 Edmund Ironside, appears to have the upper hand. 409 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,480 He's a young man in his early twenties, 410 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,200 perhaps a little younger or older, 411 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,920 already highly respected and clearly eager to go to war. 412 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,160 Opposing him, the second line: 413 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,040 Edward and Alfred... 414 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,200 ...born of Aethelred's second wife, 415 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,120 a noblewoman from across the channel. 416 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,280 Emma of Normandy. 417 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,480 Emma of Normandy is the daughter of the Duke of Normandy, 418 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:11,160 Richard I, 419 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:13,520 who is a descendant of Rollo, 420 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,400 so the Viking who established Normandy as a county 421 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:18,680 in the ninth century. 422 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,800 And she seems to be a very aggressive political figure 423 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,800 that she's influenced there, as we know by Norman politics, 424 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:26,640 where women took a much greater role. 425 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,000 They really didn't do this in English politics. 426 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,240 She is extraordinarily powerful, 427 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:35,400 and not shy about exerting that power. 428 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:39,480 So Emma dedicated her life, really, to making sure 429 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,040 that one of her sons was on the throne. 430 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,240 Emma has no intention of letting the throne 431 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,920 slip from her grasp in favour of a son from a previous marriage. 432 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:58,080 At court, the treacherous Eadric may prove a valuable ally 433 00:29:58,240 --> 00:29:59,880 against Edmund's ambition. 434 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,520 By Aethelred's later years, Emma his queen, 435 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,200 quite possibly Aethelred himself, 436 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,560 and certainly others at court, aligned with Eadric 437 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:10,480 or creating a faction. 438 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,840 And that faction may well be working to try to line up eventually 439 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,760 the succession of Edward and Alfred, 440 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:19,120 Aethelred's sons with his second wife Emma, 441 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:22,680 over his sons with his first wife. 442 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,080 And so what we start seeing is a fracturing of the dynasty 443 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,160 between rival line. 444 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,040 The king summons a great assembly. 445 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,080 Nobles from across the realm gather. 446 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,360 Among them stand Sigeferth and Morcar... 447 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,480 ...two leading figures of the Danelaw. 448 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,360 Both known for supporting Edmund's claim to the throne. 449 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,000 As the feast reaches its height... 450 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,520 ...Eadric Streona approaches the king. 451 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,200 With a simple gesture, Aethelred gives the order to strike. 452 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:17,720 He has Sigeferth and Morcar invited by Eadric Streona 453 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,000 to a meeting, and then they are murdered. 454 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:22,480 They are just murdered. 455 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:28,120 The king seizes their lands and he has Sigeferth widow 456 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:29,920 placed in Malmesbury Abbey. 457 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,400 What happens there is that Aethelred has created a scenario 458 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:38,400 whereby his son, his trusted friends and allies 459 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:40,800 are now being attacked by his own father. 460 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,000 For Edmund, it is a crushing blow. 461 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,880 His closest allies are dead. 462 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:57,000 Worse, Aethelred now openly favours Edward, Emma's son. 463 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:03,680 On August 15th, 1015, Edmund acts: 464 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,240 he travels to the monastery of Malmesbury... 465 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,880 ...abducts Ealdgyth, widow of Sigerferth, 466 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,120 and marries her on the spot, 467 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,040 claiming her late husband's inheritance. 468 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,360 It's a crucial and enormous act, 469 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,400 he's aligning himself against Aethelred 470 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,920 and what we have here is shock and horror, 471 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:35,960 because suddenly the king and the obvious heir 472 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,240 are at loggerheads and at war with each other. 473 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:44,600 By attacking the northern nobility, 474 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,600 Aethelred fractures his kingdom once again, 475 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,800 pushing England to the brink of civil war. 476 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,600 The news spreads like wildfire. 477 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,640 A few days earlier, Knut had issued the call to arms. 478 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:15,920 Now, from one end of the country to the other... 479 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,880 ...thousands march towards the capital. 480 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,600 Knut has waited months for this moment. 481 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:31,960 The fracture tearing England apart offers him the perfect opportunity 482 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:33,560 for revenge. 483 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,040 The tree has a trunk and you see one trunk above the ground, 484 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:39,280 as it were. 485 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:41,640 But if you were to grab that and pull it out of the ground, 486 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:43,040 you see all these roots, 487 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:45,600 and each root leads to another unit, into another unit, 488 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:47,440 and they spread out in a myriad of ways. 489 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:51,520 So Knut doesn't have direct contact with people, even a few stages down. 490 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,720 When a king calls, as opposed to a local nobleman, 491 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:59,280 you get an enormous amount of uptake of this. 492 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:05,840 To launch his reconquest, Knut relies on a man from Norway. 493 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:08,760 Erik of Lade,... 494 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,120 ...an old ally of his father, 495 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,880 destined to be the cornerstone of his great army. 496 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,360 Eric's family has been slowly consolidating power 497 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:24,680 over northern Norway, 498 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:27,800 and pretty much then all of Norway down to the south. 499 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,160 They are probably the most powerful dynasty 500 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,800 ruling any part of Scandinavia at that point. 501 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,040 Erik, moreover, has married one of Knut's half-sisters. 502 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,040 He was therefore a family ally, a recognised war leader, 503 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,480 a man of great power and considerable charisma, 504 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:42,880 widely respected, 505 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,600 and very likely someone who played the role of a mentor to Knut. 506 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,520 As the army gathers, an alarm sounds. 507 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:00,840 A fleet approaches off the coast... 508 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,080 ...filled with men and weapons. 509 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:14,440 At its head is Thorkell the Tall, fearsome Viking leader, 510 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,680 Aethelred's ally for more than three years. 511 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:23,200 Of all his followers, Thorkell was likely the most loyal. 512 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:27,120 Yet, in 1015, he seems to vanish from England, 513 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:31,600 returning discreetly to Denmark with only a few ships. 514 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:35,440 And he stays a little bit offshore. 515 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:38,680 This is a man who's not quite sure if the Danish royal family 516 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,280 are going to try and kill him or not, but also he doesn't want 517 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,000 to give them the opportunity. 518 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,320 Knut is intrigued 519 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,880 and agrees to hear out this formidable adversary. 520 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,600 Thorkell knows England extremely well: 521 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:57,480 its balance of power, its terrain. 522 00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:59,720 Such knowledge could be of great value. 523 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:05,880 Knut studies the man, thirty years his senior, 524 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:09,000 once among his father's greatest enemies. 525 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:14,040 A single gesture could have ended him, 526 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:18,120 but instead Knut offered his hand. 527 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,480 Knut accepts the allegiance very quickly, 528 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:26,120 without reserve. 529 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,840 Securing the support of such an experienced, influential, 530 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,040 and knowledgeable leader is sufficient. 531 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:36,920 Erik then stands as Knut's positive guiding force, 532 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:40,120 Thorkell his darker, more ambivalent counterpart. 533 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,440 Together, they form the two paternal figures 534 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,760 around whom Knut builds himself and his army. 535 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:51,880 They are the very best allies he could find, 536 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,640 both among the Norwegians and the Danes. 537 00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:00,680 His ability to surround himself with talent is extraordinary. 538 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:11,640 At first light, Knut gives the order to set sail. 539 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:22,400 At the head of a fleet of 200 ships, 540 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:24,960 he heads toward England. 541 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:32,560 The encomium of Queen Emma records the fleet as being 542 00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:34,160 dazzling to behold. 543 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:38,560 It used the sort of grandiose, Latin terms 544 00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:43,920 emphasizing sight of this terrible war fleet of Knut 545 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:47,480 that is brought to England in 1015. 546 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:51,960 So for an observer standing on the English coast, 547 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:57,000 there must have been a view of this kind of forest of masts and sails. 548 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,000 And it must be a terrible sight to behold. 549 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:10,080 But as the fleet nears the English coast, Knut turns south. 550 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:15,960 Unlike his father two years earlier, he does not aim for the north. 551 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,720 His target is the heart of power: Wessex. 552 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,920 He's now had a taste of England. He's been around it a bit. 553 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:27,120 He spent a bit of time there, and he can see that what he needs more 554 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,240 than any else, he doesn't need to go to the part that looks like 555 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,960 Scandinavia because it's most convenient for him. 556 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:35,400 He needs to go to the part that's least convenient for him 557 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:37,200 to understand and interact with, 558 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,720 because that's where you rule England from, 559 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:41,560 and that's the wealthy South. 560 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,920 The ships skirt coast of Kent, pushing into Dorset. 561 00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:56,840 On board, carried by the dark waters of the river... 562 00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:02,440 ...Knut recalls the day a year earlier when he first set foot 563 00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:05,280 on English soil beside his father. 564 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:12,120 Today he fights for his own name, 565 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:15,840 for the oath whispered over Sweyn's lifeless body. 566 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:21,560 By the time he comes back to England, 567 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:26,560 he's still young, but already has considerable experience. 568 00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:29,080 He's had those early moments in England, 569 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:31,280 working first with his father successfully, 570 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:33,560 those difficult moments where it all went wrong. 571 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:35,840 He's had a few year's experience. 572 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,160 He's had experience now back at his brothers court in Denmark 573 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:41,280 and some of the difficulties he's encountered there. 574 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:44,720 So he's certainly coming back a wilier, more experienced 575 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:46,000 political operator 576 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:49,480 and not someone who anybody in England I think would underestimate. 577 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,720 Wessex is among the kingdom's best-defended territories. 578 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:07,120 But Knut is confident. 579 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,240 His ships give him a decisive edge. 580 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,160 These longships, often miscalled Drakkars, 581 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,040 are the key to Viking striking power. 582 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:26,920 Britain may see itself today as a navy first in its military. 583 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:30,400 But it wasn't then and it had nothing in comparison 584 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,080 to these longboats that the Vikings used. 585 00:40:33,240 --> 00:40:36,640 What made Scandinavian ships so effective in this period 586 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,240 was the fact that they managed to be very seaworthy, 587 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:43,360 could travel significant distances, could carry large numbers of men, 588 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:46,240 but still have a relatively shallow draft. 589 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,120 And so what that allows them to do is to travel quite far up 590 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,920 navigable rivers to beach quite easily and to land, 591 00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:54,560 and then attack local people. 592 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:03,800 Knut's army devastates all in its path. 593 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:09,840 Dorset. 594 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:11,640 Wiltshire. 595 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:13,120 Somerset. 596 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,720 The young Dane advances relentlessly. 597 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:32,160 Between Knut's hesitations in 1013-1014 598 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:35,640 and his return in 1015-1016, there is a dramatic shift. 599 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:39,800 He knows exactly what must be done and he executes it coldly, 600 00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:42,040 efficiently and with calculation. 601 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:44,320 A highly effective approach, 602 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:46,680 no doubt advised by the two-men at his side, 603 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:49,160 probably the finest war leaders of the North. 604 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:54,880 Knut learned from his past mistakes. 605 00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:59,160 He gives the enemy no respite. 606 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,000 At the head of their troops, 607 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:06,240 Erik and Thorkell descend on English lands 608 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:08,160 like a swarm of locusts. 609 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:13,640 Knut rarely goes into battle himself. 610 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:18,480 Like Octavian during Rome's civil war, 611 00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:22,040 he remains behind, reflecting, 612 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:26,000 pulling strings, giving orders, relying on powerful men to act. 613 00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:29,320 But his followers clearly trust him 614 00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:31,840 and are willing to go into battle in his stead. 615 00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:41,280 The Scandinavian forces set up camp in Mercia. 616 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:45,280 One of the kingdom's richest regions 617 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:48,880 and undoubtedly one of the most difficult to subdue. 618 00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:56,880 At least until a man appears on the outskirts of the camp. 619 00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:10,200 Knut is intrigued and watches the stranger approach. 620 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:16,240 It is no other than Eadric Streona. 621 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:20,360 Aethelred's closest advisor. 622 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,280 Instead of defending his king, 623 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:29,560 he presents himself before his most formidable enemy. 624 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:39,280 Edric Streona choice to side with Knut 625 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:42,480 seems to be one of these key moments in many ways, 626 00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:46,600 in the strategies of 1015. 627 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:51,320 Why Eadric decides to betray Aethelred is really 628 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:53,600 the million pound question. 629 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:55,840 He risen on Aethelred's coattails. 630 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,480 But if we look at Eadric's later career, 631 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:00,600 what it seems to teach us is that he's somebody 632 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:03,360 who is interested in one thing and one person only. 633 00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:05,440 And that was Eadric Streona. 634 00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:09,160 So what he does is he decides to jump before he is pushed, 635 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:13,160 and figures that his best bet for maintaining his position of power 636 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:15,440 and influence is to then be the kingmaker, 637 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:19,160 to be the one who secures Knut's claim to the throne, 638 00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:21,760 and then hopefully reaps dividends from that. 639 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,760 Like his father two years earlier, 640 00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:29,840 Knut strikes at the very heart of the kingdom. 641 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,680 Once again, Aethelred does nothing to stop the invasion. 642 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:39,920 Left to fend for themselves, 643 00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:43,640 the nobles have no choice but to submit to the Dane, 644 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:45,600 one after another. 645 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,000 By securing the allegiance of this aristocracy 646 00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:51,400 through his very presence, 647 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:54,840 Knut symbolically exposes the King's absence. 648 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,160 The ruler is not there to defend his ancestral lands. 649 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,120 He is a failed king and therefore an illegitimate one. 650 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,800 Politically, it is a masterstroke, and above all, it works. 651 00:45:10,720 --> 00:45:13,400 The campaign seems almost effortless. 652 00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:17,400 Yet Knut does not realise that this time, 653 00:45:17,560 --> 00:45:20,400 a far more formidable opponent awaits him. 654 00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:37,360 Fate intervenes once again. 655 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:41,640 King Aethelred falls gravely ill. 656 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:44,920 Setting aside old quarrels, 657 00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:49,800 he entrusts command of the war to his son, Edmund Ironside. 658 00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:55,360 The big change that happens with Edmund Ironside taking over 659 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:59,600 is that we have a competent and present, English leader. 660 00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:04,000 But he is the Englishman who will fight back against Knut. 661 00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:07,520 Between those two, there's an equality in their fights. 662 00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:11,280 If you read this as a narrative, you're not quite sure which way 663 00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:14,480 it's going to go until the final battle happens, 664 00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:15,920 as it were. 665 00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:20,000 To confront Knut, 666 00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:22,920 Edmund must rally the full strength of the kingdom. 667 00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:29,040 For now, his army is dangerously thin. 668 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:33,560 Accompanied by his personal guard, 669 00:46:33,720 --> 00:46:36,080 he rides tirelessly across the regions 670 00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:38,280 still loyal to the crown, 671 00:46:38,440 --> 00:46:42,200 calling upon the fyrd, the levy of free men. 672 00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:47,080 Fyrd is the terms for the army, 673 00:46:47,240 --> 00:46:51,960 and it would have been composed typically of a small inner entourage 674 00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:55,280 of potentially professional soldiers or near professional soldiers, 675 00:46:55,440 --> 00:47:00,040 senior aristocrats who saw war as one of their main pastimes, 676 00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:03,680 but then supplemented with a local militia. 677 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:08,320 So with individuals called up from local counties to serve in the army. 678 00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:11,280 These men were expected to arrive 679 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:14,240 with their own resources and weapons, which was far from simple. 680 00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:16,880 Such levies often produced armies that were uneven, 681 00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:18,840 poorly equipped, unevenly trained. 682 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:23,080 To resist Knut, Edmund repeatedly mobilises the kingdom's free men, 683 00:47:23,240 --> 00:47:25,400 raising new forces whenever possible. 684 00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:31,880 To his troops, Edmund strives to embody leadership. 685 00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:35,920 But the conflicts that once opposed him to his father 686 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:37,880 have left deep scars. 687 00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:42,440 Many distrust the young prince, 688 00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:45,560 judging him to be overly ambitious. 689 00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:50,440 There was a real question for those loyal to Aethelred 690 00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:54,840 as to whether or not Edmund was friend or foe, 691 00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:57,720 and this is one of the things that hamstrings Edmund's 692 00:47:57,880 --> 00:47:59,360 initial attempts to resist 693 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:01,800 is that he's not able to secure that support, 694 00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:05,040 and that the main English army under Aethelred's authority 695 00:48:05,200 --> 00:48:06,960 is not willing to join Edmund's. 696 00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:08,560 This is quite serious. 697 00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:11,400 This is a refusal to do the King's bidding. 698 00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:13,560 Edmund is there on behalf of his father, 699 00:48:13,720 --> 00:48:16,240 and these armies are refusing to come to the meeting places 700 00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:19,040 and join up. This is very, very bad news. 701 00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:28,960 In London, Aethelred receives a message. 702 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:34,520 His son pleads for aid. 703 00:48:35,360 --> 00:48:37,560 Despite the illness consuming him, 704 00:48:37,720 --> 00:48:42,000 the king orders his guard to assemble and rides west. 705 00:48:46,720 --> 00:48:51,560 A few days later, Edmund welcomes his father. 706 00:48:55,160 --> 00:48:56,720 He studies him closely. 707 00:48:57,640 --> 00:49:02,480 All of England's hopes now rest on this old, weary, aging king. 708 00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:08,280 As a final little sort of bump in this, Aethelred is warned, 709 00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:11,040 maybe it's real, maybe it's just paranoia, 710 00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:15,040 that some part of the army or somebody there is going to kill him. 711 00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:20,600 The king apparently panics and runs into the safety of London, 712 00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:24,000 and the army just disbands. 713 00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:27,200 What you can see- You can see the problems here 714 00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:29,880 and the fragility of the English forces. 715 00:49:30,040 --> 00:49:33,160 And this is the major problem that Edmund has. 716 00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:39,960 But once again, Aethelred withdraws. 717 00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:45,200 Edmund is isolated and has no choice. 718 00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:50,240 He rides north, prepared to risk everything. 719 00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:59,440 At Bamburgh, he meets Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria. 720 00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:05,080 The man supported Sweyn and Knut the previous year, 721 00:50:05,240 --> 00:50:09,200 yet remains tied to Edmund through marriage alliances. 722 00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:12,160 He's experienced as a warrior. 723 00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:15,200 He's got troops, he's got power, 724 00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:17,800 and so Edmund reaches out to Uhtred 725 00:50:17,960 --> 00:50:21,000 and Uhtred actually joins forces with the English forces 726 00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:22,440 against the Danes. 727 00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:24,920 This might seem somewhat anachronistic, 728 00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:27,880 because earlier Uhtred seemed to have some association 729 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:29,360 with the Danes, but Uhtred, 730 00:50:29,520 --> 00:50:33,960 he's going to be friends with whoever gets Uhtred the most power. 731 00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:36,320 This is then combined with the fact 732 00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:39,640 that he was closely allied with people like Morcar and Sigefurth, 733 00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:41,400 who've just been purged from the court. 734 00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:45,760 And therefore, do not look kindly upon Aethelred and his regime. 735 00:50:45,920 --> 00:50:49,200 And so, for Edmund, Uhtred is a logical ally. 736 00:50:52,920 --> 00:50:55,680 With Uhtred now at his side, 737 00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:59,920 Edmund finally commands forces capable of challenging Knut. 738 00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:07,680 Yet instead of facing his rival... 739 00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:11,920 ...he turns south toward Mercia... 740 00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:20,640 ...unleashing his strength against those nobles accused of treachery. 741 00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:33,520 Once again, the English fight among themselves 742 00:51:33,680 --> 00:51:36,480 while the Danes devastate the kingdom. 743 00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:42,600 Everybody thought that they would attack the Danish army, 744 00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:45,440 but it's much better from their perspective 745 00:51:45,600 --> 00:51:48,040 to pursue their own interests. 746 00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:53,400 And at this point, I think that their interests are Eadric Streona. 747 00:51:53,560 --> 00:51:55,480 So, Knut is a problem? Yeah, sure. 748 00:51:55,640 --> 00:51:59,040 But Eadric's support for Knut is the big problem. 749 00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:00,680 And I don't think at this point 750 00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:04,880 they necessarily have national interests at heart. 751 00:52:05,040 --> 00:52:07,440 But, you know, in these circumstances, 752 00:52:07,600 --> 00:52:08,920 who could blame them? 753 00:52:16,040 --> 00:52:19,440 Facing the growing alliance between Edmund and Uhtred, 754 00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:22,320 Knut turns to strategy. 755 00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:26,720 A direct confrontation would be too great a risk. 756 00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:31,560 Together with his commanders, he devises a daring plan. 757 00:52:32,720 --> 00:52:35,520 At dawn, they will outmanoeuvre the enemy 758 00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:39,040 and strike deep into the heart of Uhtred's own lands. 759 00:52:41,560 --> 00:52:43,480 Of course, the Uhtred episode, 760 00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:45,400 glorious though it is for the English, 761 00:52:45,560 --> 00:52:47,080 is unfortunately short lived. 762 00:52:47,240 --> 00:52:50,440 What Knut does again, always the brilliant tactician, 763 00:52:50,600 --> 00:52:53,280 he himself and Erik, they go to Uhtred's house 764 00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:54,840 and they threaten him at home 765 00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:57,960 when he's taken most of his forces away with him to the south. 766 00:53:03,720 --> 00:53:07,240 Danish forces descend upon Northumbria, 767 00:53:07,400 --> 00:53:11,120 ravaging territories left dangerously undefended. 768 00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:17,120 In their wake, towns and villages fall one after another. 769 00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:20,600 Uhtred is panicked. 770 00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:22,320 He was not ready for this at all, 771 00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:24,920 and he withdraws from the fight in the south of England, 772 00:53:25,080 --> 00:53:26,560 and he heads home. 773 00:53:31,240 --> 00:53:32,920 Returning to Bamburgh, 774 00:53:33,080 --> 00:53:36,960 Uhtred discovers his stronghold already in Danish hands. 775 00:53:40,800 --> 00:53:43,800 In the great hall of his palace, Knut awaits him... 776 00:53:45,320 --> 00:53:49,120 ...seated upon the throne that once belonged to his host. 777 00:53:52,120 --> 00:53:53,720 Facing the young Dane, 778 00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:57,560 Uhtred immediately understands that there is no way out. 779 00:53:59,080 --> 00:54:02,240 Submission is his only hope of survival. 780 00:54:05,520 --> 00:54:08,680 The difference between Knut and Sweyn is clear. 781 00:54:08,840 --> 00:54:12,320 Sweyn relied on hostages and negotiated loyalty. 782 00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:16,080 Knut however had already experienced how fragile aristocratic allegiance 783 00:54:16,240 --> 00:54:17,360 could be. 784 00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:21,000 Shortly after submitting, Uhtred was most likely assassinated. 785 00:54:22,800 --> 00:54:24,360 Uhtred is gone from the picture. 786 00:54:24,520 --> 00:54:26,160 This mighty English warrior 787 00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:28,240 who could have turned the tide for Edmund. 788 00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:30,880 He's a piece that's off the chessboard. Click. 789 00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:32,040 And he's gone. 790 00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:34,440 And it's checkmate to Knut, just for the moment. 791 00:54:36,240 --> 00:54:39,400 Wessex, Mercia and much of northern England 792 00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:41,560 now lie under Knut's control. 793 00:54:44,840 --> 00:54:49,000 Edmund can rely only on his own strength if he hopes to prevail. 794 00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:55,200 As for Aethelred, sick and weakened, he remains confined within London. 795 00:54:57,720 --> 00:55:01,320 For Knut, the conquest of England now seems inevitable. 796 00:55:02,640 --> 00:55:07,400 And yet, once more, fate is about to intervene. 797 00:55:26,040 --> 00:55:29,120 Subtitles by Sky Access Services