It may have been the vigorous argument of Saint Edith, or genuine piety, or political considerations that wrought the change, but it is clear that Canute soon developed a profound respect for the saints that rested in England. He caused the relics of Saint Wistan to be translated from Repingdon to a more suitable home in the honoured abbey of Evesham.[238] The remains of Saint Felix were brought back to Ramsey in the face of strong opposition from the jealous monks of Ely.[239] On one of his northern journeys the King turned aside to Durham to adore the bones of the mighty Saint Cuthbert. Five miles did the King walk with bare feet to the Durham sepulchre, and after showing proper respect and veneration, he concluded his visit with a royal gift of lands, two manors, we are told, with all their belongings.[240] Toward the close of his reign, by legislative act, he gave the strenuous Dunstan a place on the calendar of English saints.[241]
By far the most famous act of homage of this sort was the translation of Saint Alphege from London to Canterbury in 1023, famous not because of its peculiar importance, but because certain literary monks saw fit to write long accounts of it. This, too, was an act of expiation: so far as the sins of Canute's people were concerned the case of Bishop Alphege was much like that of the martyred King Edmund. Alphege was from Western England and became a monk at Deerhurst in Gloucestershire. He was for a time abbot of Bath and later bishop of Winchester. It was he who confirmed Olaf Trygvesson and thus indirectly began the work that resulted in the conversion of Norway. As Archbishop of Canterbury he seems to have taken a pastoral interest in the Danish besiegers, for which he was rewarded with indignities and death. His bones had been laid at rest at Saint Paul's in London; but Canterbury was naturally anxious to have her first martyred bishop in her own house, while London, on the other hand, is said to have watched over the sacred remains with a jealous care that bore the marks of avarice rather than of veneration.
We are told that Canute earlier had formed the purpose of translating the relics and that certain calamities had recalled the intention to his mind. He suggested the project to Archbishop Ethelnoth, who doubted the feasibility of the venture. According to the highly-coloured report of the monk Osbern who claims to have his information from an eye-witness, the King and the Archbishop secretly removed the body from its resting-place and gave it to a monk who bore it to the Thames where the King's ship lay ready to receive it. The attention of the Londoners was diverted to other parts of the city by feigned excitement at the farther gates, for which the King's housecarles were responsible. Meanwhile, the royal ship, with Canute himself at the rudder, was conveying the remains to Southwark, where they were given into the keeping of the Archbishop and his companions, who bore them joyfully on to Rochester. Here the party was joined by Queen Emma and the five-year-old princeling Harthacanute accompanied by a strong force of housecarles. The translation was effected in June and occupied seven days.[242]
The Dane's interest in the Church also expressed itself in frequent and important endowments. While it is not always possible to verify these grants, there can be little doubt that the monastic records are usually correct on the points of possession and donors, though the extant charters are frequently forgeries produced at a time when titles were called into question. In some of these gifts, too, we see clearly a desire to atone for past wrongs. Canterbury, which had suffered heavy losses at the hands of Thurkil and his wild comrades, was assured of its liberties and immunities early in the reign.[243] Another act of expiation was the visit and gift to Glastonbury, the famous monastery that had received the bones of Edmund Ironside. A century after Canute's time Edmund's grave was covered with a "pall of rich materials, embroidered with figures of peacocks." Legend ascribes the gift to Canute, and may in this case be trustworthy. With the King at Edmund's grave stood Archbishop Ethelnoth, who was at one time a monk at Glastonbury.[244] The visit seems to have been made in 1026, perhaps on the eve of Canute's expedition against the Norwegians and Swedes.
Perhaps Canute's most famous gift was the golden cross at Winchester. Some time in the early years of his reign, apparently in 1019, probably just before his visit to Denmark, he gave to the New Minster a "magnificent golden cross, richly ornamented with precious stones"; in addition to this, "two large images of gold and silver, and sundry relics of the saints."[245] It seems to have been a gorgeous present, one that was keenly appreciated by the recipients, and the history of which was long recounted. The gift was apparently accompanied by a donation of valuable lands.[246]
Canute also showed an interest in the monastery of Saint Benet Hulme, to which three manors were given.[247] It is claimed that he granted certain immunities to the church of Saint Mary Devon in Exeter, but the evidence is not trustworthy.[248] The great abbey of Evesham was not forgotten: the blessed Wistan was given a black chasuble and other ornaments, probably at the time of his translation.[249] It may be that in making this gift the King wished to show his appreciation of the abbot as well as to honour the saint: Abbot Elf ward is said to have been Canute's cousin; if such was the case he must have been the son of the ill-starred Pallig.
Gifts there also were of a more personal character, gifts to various ecclesiastics, monks, and priests whom the King wished to honour; especially may we mention the grants to Bishop Burhwold and to Bishop Lifing.[250] But such donations were not numerous; Canute seems to have preferred to honour foundations, probably because in mediæval times the institution was of greater consequence than the individual.
The gifts enumerated were made during the first half of the reign. Grants were made in the second period as well: Abingdon claims to have enjoyed his favour[251]; the Old Minster at Winchester was endowed with lands and adorned with specimens of the goldsmith's art[252]; a considerable gift of lands was made to York cathedral[253]; but these seem to reveal a different spirit and purpose in the giver. Before his career closed the great Dane became an ardent Christian; but in his earlier years, the politician left little room to the churchman: the Church was a factor merely, though a great factor, in the political situation. Other kings have gloried in new foundations as monuments to religious zeal; Canute selected the long-established, the widely-influential shrines and houses and gave his favour chiefly to them. In return he doubtless expected the favour of Saints Cuthbert, Alphege, Edmund, Felix, and Dunstan, and the support of Canterbury, Evesham, Winchester, and the other great institutions that he endowed. It is to be noted that nearly all the institutions that shared the royal bounty were located in the Anglo-Saxon South where Canute especially needed to build up a personal following. The exceptions were York, Durham, and Coventry where the faithful rejoiced in an arm of Saint Augustine, a relic of peculiar value that Canute is said to have bestowed on the city.[254]
Whatever his motives were, it is clear that Canute showed an interest in matters ecclesiastical far beyond what the Church might reasonably expect from a king whose training had scarcely been positively Christian, and who still kept in close touch with the non-Christian influences that dominated so much of the North. Still, one desire remained unsatisfied: thus far the King had done nothing to make the Christian faith compulsory in England. The Proclamation of 1020 looks in that direction; but it contains no decree of the desired sort. It is a peculiar document, remarkable more for what it omits than for what it actually contains. God's laws, by which the rules of the Church are doubtless meant, are not to be violated; but the important task of bringing the violators to justice is committed to the old pirate, Thurkil the Tall, whose appreciation of Christian virtues and divine commandments cannot have been of the keenest.[255] Certain characteristically heathen sins are to be avoided: among the things forbidden is to consort with witches and sorceresses.[256] But the only crime of this nature for which the document prescribes a specific penalty is that of marrying a nun or any other woman who has taken sacred vows: