It was a weak structure, founded too largely on the military and diplomatic achievements of a single man; but the King was young—in the ordinary course of nature he should have lived to rule at least thirty years longer—and with careful diplomatic effort, of which he was a master, he might be expected to accomplish great things in the way of consolidating his dominions. But instead of thirty years, the fates had counted out less than half a dozen. In this period he was able to do almost nothing to strengthen the bonds of empire. Canute's power did not long remain at its zenith—the decline began almost immediately. In this there is nothing strange; the marvel is in the fact that such an empire was actually built.
Of Canute's many dominions, the kingdoms of Denmark, England, and Norway had fairly distinct boundaries. Lothian might be in question between England and Scotland; the Norwegian kings had claimed certain territories across the Scandinavian watershed, Jemteland, a Norse colony in Swedish possession; but otherwise the limits were tolerably definite. The fourth division, the Slavic lands on the southern rim of the Baltic, was a more indefinite area. Its limits are unknown; perhaps it should be called a sphere of influence rather than a province. There were, however, certain evident nuclei; the regions about the lower course of the Oder with Jomburg as the chief city were doubtless the more important part; in addition there was Semland in the extreme east of modern Prussia, Witland a trifle farther west where the Vistula empties into the sea; and doubtless some of the intervening territories. There are indications that Danish settlements had also been planted in the region of the modern city of Riga[358]; but as to their probable relation to Canute's empire the sources are silent.
In addition to England, Canute possessed important territories elsewhere in the British archipelago. The King of Scotland was his vassal, at least for a part of his dominions; and we have seen that at least one other Scottish king, probably from the extreme north of the island, had done homage to Canute. It has also been shown that the Norse-Irish kingdom of Dublin should, perhaps, be counted among his vassal states. As King of Norway, Canute was lord of the Shetlands and the Orkneys, perhaps also the Hebrides, and other Norse colonies on the west shores of Scotland. The Faroes were not wholly subject and the Icelandic republic still maintained its independence; but the straggling settlements in far-off Greenland seem to have acknowledged their dependence on the Norwegian crown.[359]
Any definite imperial policy Canute seems never to have developed. In his own day the various units were nominally ruled by earls or sub-kings, usually chosen from the King's own immediate family; but the real power was often in the hands of some trusted chief whom the King associated with the lord who bore the title. If time had been granted, some form of feudalism might have developed out of this arrangement; but it had few feudal characteristics in Canute's own day. It was evidently Canute's intention to continue the scheme of one king for the entire group of dominions, for at the imperial assembly at Nidaros, he placed Harthacanute in the high-seat and gave him the administration of Denmark, which was, after all, the central kingdom. The Encomiast bears further testimony as to Canute's intention when he tells us that all England had taken an oath to accept Harthacanute as king.[360] It seems that Canute, to secure the succession to his legitimate son, had adopted the Capetian expedient of associating the heir with himself in the kingship while he was still living.
So long as obedience, especially in matters of military assistance, was duly rendered, few difficulties were likely to arise between the supreme lord of Winchester and his subordinates in Nidaros, Roeskild, or Jomburg. As the union was personal, each kingdom retained its own laws and its own system of assemblies, though this must have been true to a less extent in the Slavic possessions, as these seem to have been regarded almost as a Danish dependency. When the reign closed, Harthacanute was governing Denmark; Sweyn assisted by his mother Elgiva had charge of Norway, though at that moment the Norwegian rebels were in actual control. Canute ruled England himself, not because it was regarded as the chief or central kingdom, but more likely because it could not with safety be entrusted to any one else.
So far as the Empire had any capital, that distinction appears to have belonged to the ancient city of Winchester. Here in the heart of Wessex was the seat of English government, the royal and imperial residence. We naturally think of Canute's household as an English court; but it is difficult to determine what racial influences were in actual control. Nor do we know what was the official language in Canute's royal garth; but the probabilities are that both Old English and Old Norse were in constant use. The housecarles who guarded the royal person and interests were in large part of Scandinavian birth or blood. The Norse poets who sang praise-lays in the royal hall at Winchester sang in their native dialects. Of the King's thegns who witnessed Canute's land grants, as a rule about one half bear Scandinavian names; there can be little doubt that most of these were resident at court, at all events those whose names appear in more than one document.
Other nationalities, too, were represented at Winchester. In the enrolment of housecarles, the King asked for strength, valour, wealth, and aristocratic birth; not, it seems, for Danish or English ancestry. The bishops that Canute sent from England to Denmark appear to have been Flemings or Lotharingians. William who in a later reign became bishop of Roeskild is said to have come to Denmark as Canute's private secretary or chancellor; but William is neither a Northern nor a Saxon but a Norman name. And thus with Dane and Angle, Norman and Norseman, Swede and Saxon, Celt and German thronging the royal garth the court at Winchester must have borne an appearance that was distinctly non-English. As at other courts, men came and went; and the stories of the splendours at Winchester were given wide currency. The dissatisfied Norsemen who sought refuge in England found at Canute's court
greater magnificence than in any other place, both as to the number in daily attendance and as to the furnishings and equipments of the palaces that he owned and occupied.[361]
Sighvat the Scald, who had seen Rouen and visited Rome, was so deeply impressed with the glories of Canute's capital that in his praise-lay he introduced the refrain:
Canute was under heaven
The most glorious King.[362]