During the closing years of his life, Canute's policy was completely identified with that of the mediæval Church as regards his attitude toward heathen and un-Christian practices. So long as the Norwegian problem was unsettled, the King dared not take a decided stand against the old faith, as he was too much dependent on heathen or semi-heathen assistance against King Olaf. But after the conquest there was no reason for further delay, and the English Church got its desired legislation. In two comparatively long enactments, one ecclesiastical and one secular, all the old and important church laws were re-enacted and various new provisions added.[383] Archbishop Dunstan was canonised and given May 13th as his mass day.[384] Added protection was given to churches and to the ministers of the altar: outlawry was to be the punishment for slaying a priest.[385] It was carefully explained that the privileges of the priesthood were due to the exalted character of the divine office; for
great is the exorcism and glorious the consecration that cast out devils and put them to flight whenever baptism is celebrated or the host is consecrated; and holy angels are present to watch over the sacred act and through the power of God to assist the priests so long as they worthily serve Christ.[386]
Sundays and other church holidays were to be properly kept; and no commercial transactions were to be tolerated on Sundays, nor were the public courts to hold sessions on those days except in cases of extreme necessity.[387] Due attention was to be given to the seasons when the Church prescribed fasting; but it was explicitly stated that except in the case of penitents, no fasting was to be required between Easter and Pentecost, or from Christmas to the close of the week following Epiphany,[388] the joyous period of the Northern Yule-tide.
It seems clear that enactments of this sort would be necessary only in regions where there might still be a considerable number of recent converts with whom the observance of Christian rites and customs had not yet become a habit. It may be, therefore, that these laws were particularly intended for certain parts of the Danelaw. Perhaps it was the need of improving the religious conditions in the Danish settlements that inspired the royal demand for general instruction in the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
And we order every Christian to learn at least so much that he can understand clearly the teachings of the true faith, and to learn thoroughly the Pater Noster and the Credo.[389]
Some attention is also paid to ecclesiastical finance. Fines were provided for neglect in the payment of church dues; part of these were to be paid to the bishop. The Anglo-Saxons were in the habit of making contributions for church lights at the feast of the Purification (Candlemas, February 2d), at Easter Eve, and on All Saints' day (November 1st). A fortnight after Easter plough alms were to be paid. A tithe of young beasts was due at Pentecost. Peter's pence were contributed on Saint Peter's day (August 1st). A tithe of the harvested crops was due at All Saints' day. The last tax of the year was the church scot which was paid at Martinsmas (November 11th). All these contributions are specifically mentioned and urged in Canute's laws for the English Church.[390]
The second part of Canute's legislation, the secular laws, is a document of considerable length, of which only a comparatively small part is copied from the earlier "dooms." It deals with a variety of subjects, several of which may be classed as religious rather than secular. A very important act was the definition and prohibition of heathendom and heathen practices.
Heathendom is the worship of idols, namely the worship of heathen gods, and the sun or moon, fire or flood, fountains or rocks or forest trees of any sort; also to practise witchcraft or to commit murders in any manner, whether in sacrifices or in auguries, or to busy oneself with any such delusion.[391]
As it is not customary to forbid what is never performed, we have in this enactment evidence for a persisting heathendom on English soil. In the Scandinavian colonies pagan practices were probably hard to uproot; at the same time, it is not likely that the old faith was a force that needed to be considered any longer.
The matter of Christian marriage is dealt with in both the secular and the ecclesiastical laws. It was difficult to enforce the regulations of the Church on this subject and particularly among the vikings, whose ideas as to the binding force of marriage were exceedingly vague.[392] Canute forbade clandestine marriages; to the old law that a man should have but one wife he added the important provision that "she should be his legally espoused wife."[393] He also gave the protection of the state to widows and virgins who preferred to remain unmarried.[394]