An illustration from the New Minster Liber Vitae (Winchester, 1031),showing King Cnut the Great and

An illustration from the New Minster Liber Vitae (Winchester, 1031),showing King Cnut the Great and his wife, Emma of Normandy.Cnut was the king of England from 1016 until he died in 1035.  Hebecame king of Denmark in 1019, and of parts of Norway from 1028 to1034.  This made him the most powerful king in Viking AgeScandinavia.During the 800s and 900s AD, the Vikings were creating new kingdomsin Britain and Ireland.  By 950, England was becoming something likea unified kingdom.  In 1013, the Danish king Svein Forkbeard seizedthe English throne after a period of intense raiding, and his sonCnut succeeded him three years later.England was the centre of Cnut’s empire, and he brought stability tothe country.  In this portrait, the only known one of him and Emma, he is portrayed as an Anglo-Saxon king, despite being Danish. He always was careful to be seen as a Christian ruler, and a generouspatron of the Church. -- source link

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