Numbered dots are the stops; hover or focus a stop in the list to find it here.
Stop by stop
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1
1013
Denmark (Jelling, the dynasty's royal seat)
Sails with his father Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion fleet. The actual port of departure is unrecorded.
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2
1013
Gainsborough, England
Left in charge of the ships and hostages on the Trent; the army acclaims him king when Sweyn dies here in February 1014.
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3
1014
Denmark (Jelling)
Driven out by the returning Æthelred, he puts his mutilated hostages ashore at Sandwich and sails home to raise a new army.
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4
1015
Sandwich, England
Returns with a large fleet, then sails round Kent to ravage Wessex.
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5
1016
Ashingdon (Assandun), England
Defeats Edmund Ironside on 18 October 1016. Edmund dies in November; Cnut is king of all England and in 1017 marries Emma of Normandy.
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6
1019
Denmark (Jelling)
Crosses to Denmark to secure the throne after the death of his brother Harald.
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7
1026
Helgeå, Skåne (Sweden)
Sea battle against the kings of Sweden and Norway; the outcome and exact site are disputed, but Cnut keeps control of Scandinavia.
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8
1027
Rome, Italy
Attends the coronation of Emperor Conrad II at Easter 1027 and negotiates lower tolls for northern pilgrims and merchants; he returns by way of Denmark.
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9
1028
Limfjord (western mouth), Denmark
Sails from England with 50 ships and joins the Danish fleet in the Limfjord, according to the kings' sagas.
- 1028 · North Sea, off Utsira. across the Skagerrak and up the west coast of Norway, holding assemblies as he goes.
- 1028 · Off Stad, Norway. round the Stad peninsula.
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10
1028
Trondheim (Nidaros), Norway
Olaf II flees and Cnut is acclaimed king of Norway. He dies at Shaftesbury, England, on 12 November 1035 and is buried at Winchester.
The story
What happened
Cnut first came to England in 1013 as a young man in his father Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion fleet. Driven out the following year, he returned in 1015 and by the end of 1016 was king of all England. He secured Denmark after his brother's death, fought Swedes and Norwegians at Helgeå, walked in the emperor's coronation procession in Rome and in 1028 took Norway without a battle; he died in England in 1035. Well documented in English sources; Danish embarkation points are not recorded.
On the timeline
What else was happening along the way
Events from 1013–1028 that took place at one of this journey’s stops or involved its people. Open one to read it in the timeline.
- 1013 Sweyn Forkbeard Conquers EnglandGainsborough, Lincolnshire (England) · Written sources of the time
- 3 February 1014 Sweyn Forkbeard Dies at GainsboroughGainsborough, Lincolnshire (England) · Written sources of the time
- 1015 Cnut Invades EnglandSandwich, Kent (England) · Written sources of the time
- 18 October 1016 Battle of AssandunAshingdon, Essex (England); Ashdon also proposed · Written sources of the time
- 1017 Cnut Sole King; Marries EmmaLondon, England · Written sources of the time
- 1018 Oxford Assembly; Cnut Pays Off the FleetOxford, England · Written sources of the time
- 1019 Cnut Becomes King of DenmarkRoskilde, Zealand (Denmark) · Written sources of the time
- c. 1026 Battle of the HelgeåHelge å, Scania (Sweden); site disputed · Written sources and archaeology · Disputed by historians
- 26 March 1027 Cnut's Pilgrimage to RomeRome, Italy · Written sources of the time
- 1028 Cnut Takes NorwayTrondheim (Nidaros), Trøndelag (Norway) · Written sources and archaeology
See it move
Follow Cnut the Great on the map
The map animates this journey stop by stop, with the regions and routes of the time behind it.