North Sea Empire

North Sea Empire

Presentation

Ines Hodges

Index

Culture

Origin Story

Citations

Origin Timeline

Economy

Map

The Fall

Military

Invention

slide 1 of origin story

Drawing of Sweyn Forkbeard, Cnut the Greats dad, invading England (More information on next slide).

Origin Story

Drawn by Mattheus Paris (dead 1259).

The North Sea Empire was completed twice, once in 1013 and once in 1028. The the first sort of Empire was ruled by Viking Sweyn Forkbeard, but he died 3 months after gaining conrtol of England. The second ruler was his son, Cnut the Great. After Sweyns death he did not inherit anything. He completed this Empire after becoming Ruler of Norway in 1028. He had already reclaimed England in 1016 and took over Denmark after his brother died in 1018. More information on the next slide of how.

slide 2 of origin story

Origin Story Timeline

1018

1013

1016

1028

Norway

Denmark

New King

England

When Cnut's Father, Sweyn ForkBeard, took control of England in the Invasion of Eastern England

Cnut gained control of Denmark.

Cnut gained control of Norway.

Cnut gained control of England through battles and treatys (not inheritence).

This timeline is to make understanding the origin story easier. Hover above the + above for each event.

Fun Fact: Sweyn Forkbeard died from falling off his horse, just 3 months after becoming King of England.

Map

North Sea Empire

North Sea Empire

Dates of when Cnut gained control of each Empire: England - 1016 Denmark - 1018 Norway - 1028 It's called the North Sea Empire because it contained the majority of land surrounding the North Sea.

Military - Vikings

The North Sea military was mostly made up of vikings, and they are nutorious for being good fighters and raiding (amoung other things of course), and helped Cnut take over England, aswell as hold the everything together, as there were many rebellions within the empire.

They used some variations of ships to travel around, but mostly longships. Longships were fast and maneuverable, making them perfect for transporting troops and such.

This is a diagram explaining a certain type of longship, the snekkja which was apparently one of the most common ones for vikings back then.

Economy

Trade 3 things that helped strenghten the North Sea Empires economy: Location: The Empire had a geographical advantage because it was easy for other regions to access. Boats: The Empire was knowledgeable in all things related to sea travel, and used ships (most likely longships) to transport goods efficiently. Commercial "centers": People would put trade posts along trade routes.

These things helped the North Sea Empire a perfect place to trade, and Cnut could use money from some of these trades to help fund the military to clear up unwanted rebellions.

Culture

Chrisianity Like many people in Europe during this time, Cnut was christian. It's said he helped convert many other Kings, and there are many stories about things he did relating to Christiany. The most famous one being why he stopped wearing his crown. Cnut went to the beach and stood in the water, and told the tides to stop. This was to show he was still mortal and had no control of these things. He stopped wearing his crown and never wore it again in honor of God. (This is also the image description.)

This helped him maintain control because many of his followers were chrisian, many of the converted by him.

Innovation

2.

1.

Problem

What was it?

LongshipsWhile longships already existed, the North sea empire worked to perfect it, and it's now arguably "the greatest maritime technological advancement" from that time period (medieval),

Vikings wern't able to do things like trade, explore and colinize across such long distances.

It was a ship innovated by the North Sea Empire to transport things while still being able to maneuver things at a high speed.

4.

3.

Unintended Effects

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Details

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The North Sea Empire specilized in creating and invovating ships, while there isn't a story, there is a certain way they built them.

The End

The Empire fell in 1042, but it started to collapse sooner. Cnut died in 1035 and everything slowly went downhill from that. The Empire was first passed down through his two biological sons, until both died and then Edward took control. Edward was Cnut's stepson, and became king because of a treaty he made with one of his stepbrothers saying if one died he would become leader, marking the end of the North Sea empire.

Artwork of Edward the Confessor

End

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sweyn I". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Nov. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sweyn-I. Accessed 9 December 2023. “King Cnut the Great and the North Sea Empire - Tribes & Tales.” Tribesandtales.com, 20 Oct. 2023, tribesandtales.com/vikings/notable-figures/king-cnut/. Accessed 19 Dec. 2023. “King Cnut the Great | DiscoverMiddleAges.” Discover Middle Ages, www.discovermiddleages.co.uk/kings-and-queens/king-cnut-the-great. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023. “Cnut.” Wikipedia, 26 Feb. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023 “North Sea Empire.” Wikipedia, 27 June 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_Empire. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023 Brain, Jessica. “King Cnut the Great.” Historic UK, 20 July 2022, www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Cnut-The-Great/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023 “Viking History : 1013 - Sweyn Forkbeard Conquered England.” Viking History, vikinghistorytales.blogspot.com/2013/12/1013-svein-forkbeard-conquered-england.html. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023. MyBib Contributors. “MLA Citation Generator – Easy & Free – (8th Edition, 2019).” MyBib, 26 May 2019, www.mybib.com/tools/mla-citation-generator. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.

Unintended Effects

• Spread of Christianity.
• Used to transport slaves.
• Among other things, but those were intended.
• Cultures mixing.
• Use of English. (Cnut encouraged people to speak it.)
• Influenced ship-building in other regions.

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