Sweyn's Daughter, Estrid

Estrid Svensdatter, daughter of Sweyn Forkbeard and sister of Cnut, was born c.990 and lived at least until 1057. We do not know about her early life, and there is a great deal of speculation about who her mother was.

One story is that she was the daughter of Sigrid the Haughty, the wife of King Eric the Victorious of Sweden. After Eric's death Sigrid married Sweyn. Other stories about Sweyn say his wife was a Polish princess, Świętosława, the daughter of Duke Mieszko I of Poland.

If she were the daughter of Sigrid, it would make her the sister of Olof Skötkonung. Olof, also called Olof the Swede, became King of Sweden. When Estrid's son, Sweyn II, married Gunnhildr Sveinsdóttir, Pope Leo IX annulled it on the grounds of consanguinity. Gunnhildr was the maternal granddaughter of Olof Skötkonung, whose mother we are certain was Sigrid. This is the anecdotal evidence that Sigrid was her mother.

When Sweyn Forkbeard died in 1014, Estrid came under the guardianship of her brother, King Cnut. She had at least three marriages proposed and/or contracted, the order of which is uncertain because they are all mentioned in different sagas and histories. There is no definitive history written of her life by contemporaries.

One marriage supposedly was to a Kievan Rus son of either Grand Prince Vladimir the Great or Yaroslav the Wise, making her a Rus princess. Whomever it was, that prince died shortly after. She seems to have been, married to a Duke of Normandy, either Richard II or his son, Robert I (depending on which chronicler you read), but these seem unlikely, and most Western European chroniclers do not mention this, or they mention it as very short-lived with no children.

The longer-lasting union seems got have been with Ulf Thorgilsson (also called Ulf Jarl), a Danish earl. Their children were Sweyn II Estridsson, Beorn Estridsson, and Asbjørn Estridsson. 

Ulf was a trusted earl, and Cnut even gave his son, Harthacnut, to Ulf and Astrid to raise. Unfortunately, Cnut and Ulf had a falling out, and Ulf was killed, apparently with Cnut's blessing. (I wrote about it here.)

Although Estrid had not been a consort to a king, during the reign of her son Sweyn she was referred to as dronning, which means "queen." She was also known as Estrith, and sometimes as Margaret. We do not know when she died, but it was recorded that Bishop William of Roskilde officiated at her funeral. Since he was bishop from 1057 to 1073, she must have died during those years.

Her son Sweyn II became King of Denmark, and it is he that we will talk about tomorrow.

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.