The Fall of Olaf II

Olaf Haraldsson (c.995 - 29 July 1030) started out the son of a petty king in a Norway district but rose to become King of Norway by uniting the other petty kings. He could not retain their loyalty, however. His nicknames at the time were "the Fat" or "the Stout" and even "the Lawbreaker."

His attempt to conquer Denmark brought the wrath of Cnut, who drove him away easily. The Battle of Helgeå in 1026 was lost decisively against the combined Danish and English force of Cnut, and Olaf fled to the Kievan Rus. When Cnut's lieutenant in Denmark died in a shipwreck a short time after, Olaf returned to Norway to re-take it from Cnut. His former subjects had had enough, however, and opposed him. This led to the Battle of Stiklestad, a farm in a valley north of Trondheim, in 1030.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's solo entry for 1030:

A.D. 1030. This year returned King Olave into Norway; but the people gathered together against him, and fought against him; and he was there slain, in Norway, by his own people, and was afterwards canonized. [my emphasis]

Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla offers more detail. He says Olaf received three major wounds, first in the knee and the neck, and then, while leaning against a large stone, he was killed with a spear thrust into his stomach by Thorir Hund, one of the Norwegian leaders opposing him. Olaf's body was buried near a river.

Some sources credit Olaf with the Christianization of Norway, despite the fact that most of what we can confirm involves fighting with other countries (and his own). A year after Stiklestad, however, he was disinterred and the coffin opened up, only to find that his body was uncorrupted—a sign of great holiness. The coffin was taken to St. Clement's Church in Trondheim.

Grimketel, an English bishop and missionary in Norway, began the process of beatification almost immediately. He likely wanted Norway to have its own saint ASAP. A century later, a cathedral was built on the site where Olaf's body was originally buried, and Olaf's body was transferred there and placed in a silver reliquary. (It's not there now: in the 16th century he was re-buried somewhere in the cathedral and the silver was melted down for coins.)

After Stiklestad, Cnut remained king for five years, leaving his first wife Ælfgifu in charge with their son, Svein. In 1035, Olaf's illegitimate son, Magnus "the Good" laid claim to the throne, and Ælfgifu and Svein fled to England. Tomorrow we'll see how things fared under Magnus.

Olaf II of Norway

Olaf Haraldsson was the son of a petty king of Vestfold (a district in eastern Norway), Harald Grenske, and Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, who we learn about mostly from the writing of Snorri Sturluson. Harald died before Olaf was born (c.995), so Åsta was a major influence on him growing up.

Olaf had a small army and was determined to accomplish great deeds. As a young man in 1008 he attacked an Estonian island, defeating the Osilians. He then sailed to the coast of Finland where he was ambushed, but he survived. He also went (according to Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla) to the Baltics, to Denmark, and to England where he is given credit for destroying London Bridge (see the post London Bridge is Falling Down).

Snorri says that Olaf helped Æthelred to drive the Danes out of England, but he could not defeat Cnut. Failing in England, he decided to return to Norway and conquer the whole country. Norway had by this time been divided into a Swedish side governed by Sveinn Hákonarson and a Danish part governed by Eiríkr Hákonarson. Eiríkr was off in England with his brother-in-law Cnut, so Olaf saw an opportunity. He went to Norway and contacted the smaller kings of the Upland districts, gaining their support in uniting Norway under one ruler.

Norway already had a man who considered himself the de facto ruler, Earl Sweyn, technically co-ruler with Eiríkr Hákonarson, who was his half-brother. Sweyn's forces were defeated at the Battle of Nesjar in 1016. Olaf then went on to defeat the petty kings of the southern districts and made peace with King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden, marrying Olof's (illegitimate) daughter, Astrid (the only woman to have a praise poem written to her, but we will explain that much later).

Things were looking good for Olaf, but his fortunes were to rise and fall, especially since Cnut was not pleased with him. We'll save that chapter for next time.

King Cnut of Norway

King Cnut of England and Denmark saw a chance to expand his rule to more of Scandinavia. King Olaf II Haraldsson of Norway had hassled Denmark in the past, thinking it weak while Cnut was busy ruling England. Olaf had also conquered the Orkney Islands off Great Britain's northern coast, so he was a little too close for comfort. Not only did Cnut return to Denmark and drive Olaf back, he decided it was time to teach Olaf a larger lesson.

In 1028, Cnut sailed with 50 ships to Norway. Olaf was unprepared and "outgunned" because Cnut had prepared his way by bribing many of the Norwegian nobles for their support. 12th-century historian John of Worcester (previously mentioned here) says Cnut learned that Norwegian nobles were not content with Olaf's reign, so he sent them gold and silver to gain their loyalty.

Part of Cnut's plan relied on Haakon Ericsson, one-time governor of Norway until he was pushed out by Olaf, in the same Battle of Nesjar that made Olaf King of Norway. Hakon fled to England and was befriended by Cnut; Haakon's mother was said to be a sister of Svein Forkbeard, making the two men cousins. Cnut made him Earl of Worcester.

Cnut's army with the support of the Norwegian nobles very handily took over Norway. Olaf was driven to exile in the Kievan Rus. Cnut was declared King of Norway, and Haakon Ericsson was made his lieutenant there, managing Norway in Cnut's absence (which was frequent). (Unfortunately, Haakon died in a shipwreck in late 1029 or early 1030, between the Orkneys and the Scottish mainland.)

Olaf saw Haakon's absence as a reason to return to Norway with an army, including some Swedes. It did not go well for him: at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030, his own people killed him.

Cnut now left Norway in the hands of his first wife, Ælfgifu of Northampton and Cnut's son by her, Svein Knutsson. This era experienced heavy taxation and a rebellion that led to the return of Olaf's dynasty.

You know, it's been almost an entire week about Cnut, and yet Olaf keeps weaving in and out of the story. I think it's time to look at Olaf, his bad decisions, how he became a saint, and how his illegitimate son eventually became king of Norway. We'll start that journey next time.

King Cnut of Denmark

The death of Svein Forkbeard in 1014 made his youngest son into King Harald II of Denmark. He had been left as regent when his Svein and Harald's older brother, Cnut, went to conquer England. Harald died in 1018, and Cnut, who had established himself as King of England, became King of Denmark as well.

Cnut sailed to Denmark for his coronation. A letter he wrote at the time states that he also intended to end Danish incursions into England for plunder. This did not sit well with some Danes, who found England ripe for plucking in the past, but now their king forbade them. After seeing to affairs in Denmark, Cnut left his sister Estrid's husband, Ulf Thorgilsson, as regent. Cnut had a son by Queen Emma, Harthacnut, whom he left with Estrid and Ulf to raise. Cnut was back in England in 1020.

Because of his time in England, the King of Norway, Olaf II Haraldsson, decided Denmark was open to attacks. Olaf in 1016 had become king of Norway after capturing it from Denmark in the Battle of Nesjar. (Norway was half-ruled by Denmark and Sweden, but the person managing the Danish part joined Cnut on his attack on England, leaving an opening for Olaf.) Cnut decided he needed a show of Danish strength in the North Sea, so he mounted a successful expedition against Jomsborg (location unknown to modern scholars), the stronghold of the Jomsvikings.

In Denmark, his regent Ulf declared that the child Harthacnut was king (being resident in Denmark and not far away in England like Cnut pleased the locals), and that Ulf was now Harthacnut's regent, not Cnut's. Learning this, Cnut sailed to Denmark to set things straight. A battle in 1026 against the Norwegians and Swedes to firmly establish who was in charge was successful. Ulf fought alongside Cnut, but this was not sufficient for Cnut to be assured of his loyalty. One day the two were playing chess and started arguing. The next day, Christmas Day 1026, Ulf was killed by one of Cnut's nobles, apparently with Cnut's blessing.

King of England and Denmark, but he had one more to go to establish what is refereed to as the North Sea Empire. He set his sights on Norway (and maybe a little Sweden?). I'll explain tomorrow.

The Reign of Cnut

Once Cnut was firmly established as king, he set about ensuring his power. He first executed or drove away (if they were wise) potential rivals, and put Danes in positions of authority until Anglo-Saxons proved their loyalty to him sufficiently.

Remember that England at this time was home to several separate kingdoms (like Northumbria, Wessex, Mercia, etc.) that looked to a more-powerful king as their "first among equals" or "high king." Cnut kept Wessex in his own hands.

He also created a new coinage equal in value to what was being used in Denmark, aiding trade between the two countries (eventually, he would be King of two other countries as well).

Despite his unorthodox double marriage to Ælfgifu of Northampton and Emma of Normandy, he was respectful of the Church and converted to Christianity. Christ Church in Sandwich (his first landing point in England when he came to conquer it) received a tax exemption.

He traveled to Rome in Easter 1027 for the coronation of Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor to strengthen the relations between the Empire and his own North Sea Empire. He also claimed the trip was to repent for his sins before Pope John XIX, and to negotiate with the pope that English archbishops' fees to receive the pallium should be lower. In a letter he wrote in 1027, he talked about the need for better travel conditions for pilgrims:

... I spoke with the Emperor himself and the Lord Pope and the princes there about the needs of all people of my entire realm, both English and Danes, that a juster law and securer peace might be granted to them on the road to Rome and that they should not be straitened by so many barriers along the road, and harassed by unjust tolls; .... And all the magnates confirmed by edict that my people, both merchants, and the others who travel to make their devotions, might go to Rome and return without being afflicted by barriers and toll collectors...

The best-known anecdote about Cnut was recorded by Henry of Huntingdon a century later in which we see what Cnut could not accomplish:

When he was at the height of his ascendancy, he ordered his chair to be placed on the sea-shore as the tide was coming in. Then he said to the rising tide, "You are subject to me, as the land on which I am sitting is mine, and no one has resisted my overlordship with impunity. I command you, therefore, not to rise on to my land, nor to presume to wet the clothing or limbs of your master." But the sea came up as usual, and disrespectfully drenched the king's feet and shins. So jumping back, the king cried, "Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and worthless, and there is no king worthy of the name save Him by whose will heaven, earth and the sea obey eternal laws."

So he couldn't rule the sea. He did rule more than England, however, when his brother, King Harald II of Denmark, died in 1018. Let's talk about that next, and how he managed two kingdoms so far apart.

King Cnut of England

After over a year of fighting for control of England, Cnut of Denmark and Edmund Ironside made an agreement: Edmund would have London and everything south of the Thames; Cnut would take everything north of the Thames. If Edmund pre-deceased Cnut (the two were of similar age), Cnut would inherit all.

Unfortunately, Edmund had been wounded in the most recent Battle of Assandun. The historian Henry of Huntingdon, writing a century later, says Edmund died in Oxford from multiple stab wounds while using the privy. It is more likely that he died in London, on 30 November 1016. More contemporary records like the Encomium Emmae Reginae ("Encomium of Queen Emma") do not mention murder. Death from battle wounds is a more likely outcome. His burial place at Glastonbury Abbey was destroyed during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, so an examination of his remains is impossible.

Cnut was now King of England. Archbishop of Canterbury Lyfing crowned him in 1017. As King of England with ties to Denmark, he made sure that both Danes and Anglo-Saxons flourished, with exceptions: he had to make sure that there would be no challenges to his throne. The children of Edmund Ironside, and his father Æthelred's other children, fled to Normandy. Edmund's brother Eadwig Ætheling fled, but was followed and killed by Cnut's men.

Cnut then wed Emma of Normandy, Æthelred's widow. He was, of course, already married to Ælfgifu of Northampton, but this caused no problem. Setting aside one wife for another was common, especially if the first marriage was not by a Christian ceremony. Ælfgifu remained part of the family and the royal court, and her sons by Cnut still had standing.

There was another piece of business he had to conclude: paying off the thousands of mercenaries he had hired to help him conquer England. They had joined for the promise of payment once the country was secure. Cnut collected a Danegeld of £72,000, and a further £10,500 from London alone. He paid his army and sent most of them away, keeping some ships and men. He then used an annual tax called heregeld ("army gold") to maintain a standing army.

Cnut ruled  England for about two decades, and we'll go into some of his accomplishments (and his orchestrated failure) next time.

Cnut's Battles

Svein Forkbeard was King of Denmark and King of England, but when he died in 1014, his son Cnut (c.990 - 1035) was denied succeeding him in Denmark by his brother, Harald II, and in England by the witenagemot, which elected for the return of Æthelred the Unready, who had been driven out by Svein the previous year. If Cnut wanted a kingdom, he was going to have to fight for one, which is exactly what he did.

He landed in southeast England in September 1015 with 10,000 men from all over Scandinavia. The Encomium Emmae Reginae ("Encomium of Queen Emma"), an 11th century encomium of Emma of Normandy (written about 30 years later) described this grand appearance:

...so many kinds of shields, that you could have believed that troops of all nations were present. ... Gold shone on the prows, silver also flashed on the variously shaped ships. ... For who could look upon the lions of the foe, terrible with the brightness of gold, who upon the men of metal, menacing with golden face, ... who upon the bulls on the ships threatening death, their horns shining with gold, without feeling any fear for the king of such a force? Furthermore, in this great expedition there was present no slave, no man freed from slavery, no low-born man, no man weakened by age; for all were noble, all strong with the might of mature age, all sufficiently fit for any type of fighting, all of such great fleetness, that they scorned the speed of horsemen.

Wessex quickly capitulated in the face of this army. Some nobles resident in England joined Cnut. Æthelred's son, Edmund Ironside, was Cnut's chief opposition, but was unable to halt Cnut's advances northward and westward. When Æthelred died on 23 April 1016, Edmund was safe behind the walls of London, whose citizens chose him to succeed his father. The witenagemot, however, seeing the way the wind was blowing, gathered in Southampton and voted to offer the kingship to Cnut. Edmund left London for Wessex to rally that part of the country, getting out before Cnut's forces could complete a siege of the city. Edmund managed to return to London and drive the siege away, but when he went back to Wessex for fresh troops, the Danes once again besieged London.

On 18 October 1016, a series of battles took place with each side alternately having the upper hand. Finally, however, Edmund's brother-in-law, who had joined Cnut upon the Dane's first arrival in England and had since gone back to supporting Edmund, deserted Edmund and removed himself and his forces from the Battle of Assandun, leading to an English defeat.

The two leaders met to negotiate terms. Cnut would take all of England north of the Thames, excepting London. London and everything south of the Thames was for Edmund to keep. Upon Edmund's death, the south of England would also become Cnut's domain. As it turned out, that would happen sooner than expected. Although the two probably never met face-to-face as the above illustration shows, Edmund had been wounded in battle. He died mere weeks after the truce was drawn up. Was it the result of his wounds, or was it murder? Let's talk about that tomorrow.

Cnut of Denmark

The Danish Prince Cnut (also spelled Canute) put together what was called the North Sea Empire: England, Denmark, and Norway. This was a remarkable accomplishment for the early 11th century.

He was born about 990, the son of King Svein Forkbeard of Denmark, and his mother is alternately given as Świętosława, a daughter of the founder of the Polish state, or Gunhild, a daughter of Burislav from Scandinavian sagas. A third chronicle claims Cnut's mother was an unnamed former queen of Sweden.

The 13th-century Icelandic Knýtlinga saga describes him:

Knut was exceptionally tall and strong, and the handsomest of men, all except for his nose, that was thin, high-set, and rather hooked. He had a fair complexion and a fine, thick head of hair. His eyes were better than those of other men, being both more handsome and keener-sighted.

Nothing definitive about his youth is known until 1013, when his father invaded England and ousted Æthelred the Unready. Svein married Cnut to Ælfgifu of Northampton. Svein died a few months after the conquest, on 3 February 1014. Back in Denmark, Svein was succeeded by Harald II (Cnut's brother). The Danes in England chose Cnut as the new king, but the native English nobility gathered the witenagemot and elected to have Æthelred return, which he did.

Æthelred's army drove Cnut out of England handily, but Cnut left a lot of bodies in his wake as he departed from Sandwich. Cnut's brother offered him an army to try to take back England, so long as Cnut had no designs on the kingdom of Denmark itself.

By the summer of 1015 Cnut had assembled mercenaries from all over Scandinavia, numbering perhaps 10,000 in 200 ships. They landed first at Sandwich, and then began a series of bloody battles in a conflict that lasted more than a year.

I'll tell you more next time.

The Town of Sandwich

So...Sandwich. Most people just think about the food item that shares its name, but it has had more history than that, and not just as a Cinque Port. Its significance as a port in southeast England helped to weave it through many events that have been mentioned in this blog before.

The name Sondwic is mentioned first in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, covering events in England from the 800s to 1154. The Domesday Book, an account of all property in England so the new Norman rulers knew what they had, calls it Sandwice. The suffix -wic is Anglo-Sacon for a fortified place where trade takes place (a town). The name means a market town on sandy soil, appropriate for a coastal location.

When Rome invaded Britain in 43 CE, Sandwich was their landing point (technically, a town called Stonar across the river Stour from Sandwich, but Stonar disappeared in the 14th century).

King Cnut (c.990 - 1035) had history with Sandwich, initially leaving a pile of bodies strewn across the beach when he fled to Denmark after fighting with King Æthelred the Unready, but then later giving special rights to the church at Sandwich.

When Richard Lionheart was released from captivity after the Third Crusade and returned to England, Sandwich was his choice of landing port.

During the First Barons War (mentioned here) against King John, Prince Louis (later King Louis VIII) of France landed at sandwich to support the barons against John. The Battle of Sandwich was part of the First Barons War, and had the participation of Eustace, the Pirate Monk.

In the 14th century, a hospital (an almshouse for the poor) was established, named for St. Thomas Becket and still standing (see illustration).

In 1660, an earldom was created to bestow on Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. The 4th Earl of Sandwich was First Lord of the Admiralty and sponsored the voyages of Captain Jame Cook, who named the Sandwich islands for the Earl. The 4th Earl, John Montagu, is also credited with the naming of a food item when asking for meat between two pieces of bread so that he would not have to stop his activities. It bears mentioning, however, that a 1st century CE rabbi, Hillel the Elder, put the lamb and bitter herbs of the Seder between two pieces of matzoh, so this concept predates Montage by several centuries. (I doubt, however, that you'd get anything but blank stares of you ask for a "roast beef hillel" next time you want lunch.)

In a more serious vein: once again, I find a gap in my reporting: although King Cnut has had several references in this blog going back over a decade, he himself has not had his story told. Stay tuned.

The Cinque Ports, Part 2

The Cinque Ports were, initially, five port towns on the southeast coast of England. Over the centuries, the rights and privileges granted to them in exchange for having ships and men available for the king's purposes were extended to other towns, but three of the original five—Dover, New Romney, and Sandwich—were mentioned as having this royal obligation as far back as the Domesday Book.

That royal obligation was laid out in statistical terms: the five had an annual obligation to provide 57 ships for 15 days of service, if requested. The motivation for the obligation was never put on paper. A chief assumption is that they were necessary as part of the royal navy for military purposes. The evidence, however, suggests that those towns did not contribute proportionately more than any other towns to military efforts.

Because the privileges granted (chiefly of self-governance and the ability to salvage and keep the flotsam and jetsam of wrecked ships) started in the time of Edward the Confessor, one assumption is that he simply wanted to ensure the loyalty of a handful of ports that were essential to control traffic and trade to the continent.

Their importance gave them seats in Parliament. Representatives to Parliament were called Barons of the Cinque Ports. These days, the "Baron of the Cinque Ports" is purely honorary and used for those elected by the mayor to attend coronations. The barons had the right to hold the canopy over the monarch during the coronation, a practice which was last enjoyed in 1821 for George IV. For the coronation of Charles III, 14 barons represented the Cinque Ports (five original ports, two "ancient towns," seven "limbs") in the congregation.

In the centuries that followed their establishment, weather was a strong enemy causing their decline. Floods, especially in 1287 and 1362, changed coastlines radically, silting up harbors or washing towns away. Sandwich and New Romney are now each more than a mile from the coast. Hastings was washed away by the sea in the above-mentioned floods, and the remaining town was raided and burnt by the French during the Hundred Years Wars. Dover is still a major port, but the decline of the significance of the Cinque Ports was fairly total by the time of Elizabeth I. Major shipbuilding sites in Bristol and Liverpool stole some of their thunder as well.

Next time, I'm going to focus on one of the five towns: Sandwich. (And yes, I will mention that story.)

The Cinque Ports, Part 1

The Cinque Ports (Old French: "Five Harbors") were five towns on the southeast coast of England where the distance to the continent was shortest. There are and were, of course, more than five towns in this area, but these five were given a special charter from the king to maintain ships in case of need.

The term "Cinque Ports" for these five was in use by 1135, even though a royal charter designating them as special was not created until 1155, and they were not granted liberties in exchange for their obligations until 1260. They were important enough to be listed as part of the 1297 re-issuing of the Magna Carta. The five were required annually to make available a total of 57 ships for 15 days' duty as needed by the king.

What did they get in return for this support? They could handle their own criminal and civil cases. They had the authority to punish murderers, delinquents, thieves, etc. They could claim unclaimed property, stray animals, and the debris and cargo of ships wrecked on their shores. They also had representation in Parliament.

The original five were Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich. Although the name for the five did not get amended, the number of towns that were part of the arrangement with the king grew over time. Two towns were added in 1190, Winchelsea and Rye. Instead of changing the French name, after these two were included reference was made to the "Cinque Ports and two Ancient Towns."

That was not the end, however. More towns that were near the original five were brought into the confederation and referred to as "limbs" of the original five. Hastings, Dover, and Sandwich each had two limbs. Rye and New Romney each had one limb. Over time, more limbs were added. Eventually, 40 towns were attached to the Cinque Ports, many of whom no longer belong because they have disappeared or are no longer ports due to coastal changes.

So are the Cinque Ports still relevant? Does this designation still have any meaning? Let's talk about the later history tomorrow.

South England Flood of February 1287

We've been looking lately at catastrophic floods of the Middle Ages, like those that took place on the feast days of St. Marcellus and St. Lucia. These floods not only caused great destruction and loss of life, in some cases they also made topographical/geographical changes that persisted into the future.

St. Lucia's Flood in December 1287, along with an event called the South England Flood of February 1287, radically changed the coastline of part of England.

The map shows dotted lines where the current coastline lies, and how previously there were towns linked to the sea that are now far inland. Unlike in the Netherlands where water forced its way inland and created new coastal towns that were formerly landlocked, the storm surge in February 1287 not only did this in some cases but also caused collapsing cliffs and silting that blocked formerly coastal towns from the sea. A cliff at Hastings collapsed, taking part of Hastings Castle with it and blocking the harbor at Hastings from future trade.

Another town, New Romney, used the River Rother as its trade link to the sea. The storm diverted the river, leaving New Romney a mile away from the water. The river's course ran to Rye, increasing its value as a trading port.

Further north along the coast was the town of Dunwich, an important seaport on the North Sea. A storm surge in 1286, followed by the South England Flood and St. Lucia's, so hammered the East Anglian coast that it declined economically as well as geographically. At its peak it was similar in size to London in the 1300s; the census of 2001 put its population at 84.

The flood of 1287 changed the makeup of the Cinque Ports, a designation that has been technically wrong for a very long time. Next time we'll discuss what the Cinque Ports are, and if there really are cinque.

St. Lucia's Flood

St. Lucia's Day, commemorating a 4th century martyr, is 13 December. On that date in 1287, one of the largest floods in recorded history took place in the North Sea. A similar flood in 1953 allows us to look back and ascribe the 1287 event to a particularly high tide and a particularly low pressure system. The North Sea rose enough to pour over dikes and seawalls, flooding the Netherlands and North Germany. Estimates put the death rate at 50,000 in Germany alone, 80,000 people in total.

The flood also made permanent changes to the countryside. The term "Zuider Zee" (Frisian "Southern Sea") begins to be used at this time for the body of water that was created by this flood. The Zuider Zee was expanded by the flood on St. Marcellus day in 1362. The area called the Zuider Zee was already a body of water: the freshwater Lake Flevo (also called Almere). The Flood connected it to the North Sea through a flooded forest and turned it into the saltwater Zuider.

Economic and political changes followed the geographical upheaval. The West Frisian city of Stavoren (officially the oldest city in Friesland, having been granted a charter in the 1060s) was a trade center on the bank of a river (the Vlie). The flood built up a sand bank that interfered with its shipping and started its decline. The Zuider also brought the coastline to other cities that promptly took advantage of it. The formerly landlocked city of Harlingen became a new seaport. The province of West Frisia became separated from the rest of Friesland by a strait that was nine miles wide at its narrowest; it was annexed by the County of Holland (a state of the Holy Roman Empire).

The same storm affected England, where the water rose several feet in Norfolk. It was a year of storms and flooding in England. Several months earlier England experienced the South England Flood of 1287. It likewise caused economic changes, as it crippled one of England's chief seaports, Dunwich. Tomorrow we'll see what happened then and there.

Saint Marcellus's Flood

A year ago, in May 2023, a survey in the Wadden Sea off North Frisia discovered the remains of the sunken church of Rungholt. The town of Rungholt had a population of about 3000 people. It was one of numerous places destroyed on the night of 15 January 1362, during an event called the Grote Mandrenke (Low Saxon: "Great Drowning of Men").

Also known as St. Marcellus's Flood (because the storm surge peaked on the 16th, which was the feast day of St. Marcellus), it was the result of a new moon with high tides and an extratropical cyclone.

A storm surge/tide swept from the North Sea from England and the Netherlands to Denmark and Germany. It battered and eroded the coasts, changing coastlines. Islands were broken up, new islands were created by breaking up the mainland near the coasts, and whole coastal towns were destroyed. An estimated 25,000 people lost their lives in the flooding.

This event is also called the "First St. Marcellus's Flood" because, on the same date in 1219, a storm surge along the coasts of West Friesland and Groningen (most northeastern province of the Netherlands) killed 36,000 people.

The Zuider Zee (Dutch: "Southern Sea"), a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest Netherlands, is believed to have been expanded at this event. It had been called that before this time, however, because of an even greater flood, also named for a saint. Tomorrow I'll tell you about St. Lucia's Flood and the creation of the Zuider Zee.

al-Farghani's Accomplishments

Despite the potentially reputation-damaging error in calculation made by al-Farghani in the case of a canal, he is better known for other accomplishments.

Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī (c.800 - 870) was known as Alfraganus in Western Europe (see illustration, from a 1493 astronomical work). He was described as Arab and as Persian; there is a suggestion that his name comes from being born in Farghana in Uzbekistan.

His best-known work was Kitāb fī Jawāmiʿ ʿIlm al-Nujūm (Elements of astronomy on the celestial motions), a summary of Ptolemey's astronomical Almagest with revised calculations. He concentrated less on the mathematics and more on explaining the concepts in ways that were easy to understand. This work reached the West in translations by John of Seville and Gerard of Cremona. Dante's knowledge of astronomy came from al-Farghani.

One of his first recorded acts is being involved in a team that calculated the diameter of the Earth. This work influenced Columbus in his voyage across the Atlantic. Columbus, however, misunderstood the translation of al-Farghani's use of "mile." Columbus assumed al-Farghani was using the 4856-foot Roman mile; actually, al-Farghani used the 7091-foot Arabic mile. Columbus thought the diameter of the Earth was smaller.

In Cairo, al-Farghani wrote a treatise on the astrolabe earlier than al-Ashraf Umar II and Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi. Also while in Cairo he supervised the New Nilometer. The Nilometer, as you might guess, was designed to measure the height and clarity of the water of the Nile River.

The annual flooding of the Nile was crucial to Egypt's agricultural cycle, but it was unpredictable. Too heavy a flood was destructive; too light could lead to famine. Knowing what was coming was important. Nilometers come in different designs, but the simplest was a vertical column submerged in the river with markings to denote height of the water. Later, more elaborate versions involved shafts with steps that led down. Noting the height and comparing it to previous years helped predict whether the crops would be successful.

Speaking of flooding...next I want to tell you about a flood that killed thousands in more than one country. See you tomorrow.