Hardicanute
Born in Bourne, LincolnshireBorn in 1018
Died in Lambeth, Lincolnshire
Died on 8th of June 1042
Hardicanute was born in England in 1018, he was the son of King Canute, and Emma Of Normandy who was the widow of Ethelred II. Hardicanute was raised in the Danish Court as a Viking, and was heir to the Danish throne. King Canute died in Shaftesbury in 1035 and was later buried in Winchester's old Minster. Hardicanute ascended to the throne in Denmark and ruled as Canute III, the English throne however, was taken by his half brother Harold Harefoot. Hardicanute was busy at the time of his fathers death with the affairs of Magnus I of Norway, but did eventually set sail to England in order to claim his throne, however, Harold died before he arrived on 17th March 1040. Hardicanute was crowned, but was destined to become an unpopular king, one of his first acts was to raise taxes by an enormous amount in order to pay for the vast amounts of ships that he thought had been needed to claim the crown, the people were angry at the so called Fleet Tax which had savagely altered the amounts they had to pay. This only intensified his unpopularity, he fell out of favour with the church as he had his brother's remains disinterred and beheaded, the citizens of Worcester rebelled strongly against the high taxes and killed his tax collectors, Hardicanute was furious, and, in a show of strength ordered that the whole town be raised to the ground by fire.
He called his half brother Edward The Confessor back from Normandy where he had been in exile, and as Hardicanute had never married or had produced an heir, he named Edward as heir to the throne. Hardicanute died after a drinking bout at a celebration in Lambeth, he died in 1042, and was buried at Winchester Cathedral. He had been king of Denmark since 1035, and King of England since 1040, his death heralded the end of the Viking dynasty. He was succeeded by Edward, who was to rule as Edward III, and to be known as the Confessor, later canonised as the patron saint of Kings
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