Welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie and this is Episode 340.

A bit of a canute.

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When we left off, canute had managed to get Eddric to go on the record, calling for the

execution of the English claimants to the throne.

And then, once that suggestion was offered, canute rejected it, and instead outlawed Edwig

and exiled the sons of Edmund to Sweden.

And what the public likely didn't know during this period was that canute had also quietly

hired an assassin to finish the job with Edwig.

And he had also given orders to King Olaf of Sweden to execute Edmund's sons once they

reached his shores.

And we know these things because we have the benefit of hindsight, as well as multiple

chronicles that were written after the reign of canute.

But if you are living in 1016, you likely knew none of that.

All you knew was that you heard from somewhere that canute had protected the line of Alfred

from Eddric Strayon as greedy bloodlust.

It was a clever move, but there was a small problem with canutes planned to avoid blame

...