HOME > GALLERY > NORSEMEN & DANES >  DANISH RULERS

 

1013-14 Sweyn Forkbeard (960–1014), king of Denmark from 986 to 1014. He was the father of King Harald II of Denmark, King Cnut the Great and Queen Estrid Svendsdatter. In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father, Harald Bluetooth, and seized the Danish throne.  In 1013, shortly before his death, he became the first Danish king of England after a long effort, however no coins were issued in his name.  Sweyn was proclaimed King on Christmas Day, 1013. He ruled England only for about two months, and died 3 February, 1014. In that two month period of Sweyn's rule, he did not issue any coins in his name, but coins were issued during his reign: the Last Small Cross type, struck circa 1009-1017. Advances in die chain analysis now allows a higher confidence as to which coins may have been issued during this two month period.

    1016-35 Cnut :  As a Danish prince, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe. His later accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut sought to keep this power-base by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, as well as through sheer brutality.   
     

  1035-40 Harold I ("Harefoot"):  The son of Cnut the Great and Ælfgifu of Northampton, Harold was elected regent of England, following the death of his father in 1035. He was initially ruling England in place of his brother Harthacnut, who was stuck in Denmark due to a rebellion in Norway, which had ousted their brother Svein.   Harold died in 1040, having ruled just five years; his half-brother Harthacnut soon returned and took hold of the kingdom peacefully. 
     
    1040-42 Harthacnut :  the son of King Cnut the Great (who ruled Denmark, Norway, and England) and Emma of Normandy. When Cnut died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father's possessions. Magnus I took control of Norway, but Harthacnut succeeded as King of Denmark and became King of England in 1040 after the death of his half-brother Harold Harefoot.  Harthacnut died suddenly in 1042 and was succeeded by Magnus in Denmark and Edward the Confessor in England. Harthacnut was the last Scandinavian to rule England.