Emma of Normandy

Pibisi podcastin, että puhutaan äänsä, että jota on yksi kärin. Ei huono! Prisma Selection, Little Prices, huvastormaustajengi. Kärin, jota on järjestelmässä. Jota on järjestelmässä. Kärin, jota on järjestelmä. Forkbeard was crowned the first Viking King of England. Check me out, Svain Forkbeard, a cool name, and King of Denmark, Norway, and England. England's Viking now. Nothing can stop me! Except he dropped dead five weeks later. Ah, foe. With Svain Forkbeard dead, could Emma and Ethelred take back power? Well, Ethelred did return to England, but the Danish army had already decided that Svain's son was the new king. So enter King Canut. Cool name. However, Ethelred, ill advised as ever, decided to set up a little stronghold in London, and insisted he was still in charge. I'll have my own country, a better country. I will never give up, never, never, never! Ethelred then probably died, in 2016. In his silly little stronghold, very much not King. Ah, foe. Now, Edward, Emma's child with Ethelred, was in no position to take on the Viking invaders, since he was only about ten. Edward, love, I think you can help with these Vikings. But mom, I'm playing Fortnite. Luckily, Ethelred had a spare heir, from his first wife, Elvkivu. The heir's name was Edmund Ionside. Cool name. Yeah, very cool. And he lived up to that tough name. Canut agreed to divide England with Edmund, so they could both rule a bit of it. Check me out. Edmund Ionside, a cool name, and King of the Lord of England. Nothing can stop me. Except, guess what happened. Well, it can't be that I dropped dead five weeks later. That couldn't happen twice. Yeah, he dropped dead five weeks later. You're kidding me! All these dead kings left Emma in a really scary position. With Edmund Ionside dead, Canut decided to stop sharing nicely and killed a bunch of Ethelred's family. Emma must have been terrified that she or her kids would be next. So how did she stop Canut killing her whole family? If you can't beat them. Mariam. Yep, she married Canut. Some sources, including a book that Emma commissioned herself, said it was all very romantic. I love your soul, even though I killed a load of your dead hubby's family. Well, it's just like a romcom. Kiss me. But other reports suggested it was a bit more. Oi, I need to make a strong political alliance by marrying someone with lots of power and influence. Guess that's you. Fine, as long as you don't name me after your first wife. And so, Emma became Queen of England for the second time. But there was one snag with Emma marrying Canut. Canut was already married. And guess what his wife was called? So is Elfkivu again? Is it? It is. Not another one. Yep, I third Elfkivu has entered the chat. And in our tale full of cool names, get ready for. Elfkivu of North Hampton. West cool name. Yeah, it does sound a bit like a car dealership. Eh, they can't all be winners. Regardless of the messy start, Emma and Canut's marriage seemed to have been quite stable. They had two kids together, a boy called Halfa Canut and a girl called Gunhilda. Which are both. Cool names. And the couple stayed together until 1035, when. Let me guess. Another man in my life dropped dead. During England, into chaos, and leaving me in big trouble? Yep, sorry, Emma. Honestly. So you've got one dead king, two surviving wives, and a lot of potential heirs to the throne. The main contender was Canut's first wife's son, Harold Heffert. Cool name. Both Elfkivu of North Hampton and Queen Emma were trying to make their boys king. Talk about competitive mums. My Harold was walking at ten months. Pathetic. My Halfa Canut was running by then. He should be running England. It was a surprise win for Elfkivu. At Oxford in 1035, Harold Heffert was made regent. Basically, King of England, while Emma was sent to Winchester to rule over a smaller chunk of England called Wessex, on Halfa Canut's behalf, while Halfa Canut himself swand off to Denmark. Why? Where are you off to? I just scored you a small kingdom! Cool story, Mum, but I'm off. Don't touch my stuff, bye! By 1037, Harold had the power. An Emma was alone. So was Harold nice to her? No. He took away all the treasures his dad, Canut, had given Emma. Why? There's a foot my hubby. And then he threw her out of the country. Exiling her to Flanders. Whoopsie doodly. Not that, Flanders. It's a place in what's now Belgium. Still, all of this was a horrid way to treat your step mum. I told you these guys were like a reality show. And since she was all about the messy drama too, Emma responded to all of this chaos in a very regal way. By spreading nasty rumours about Harold Heffert. Maybe he's not Son of Elfkivu at all. There's a load of Canut. There is a reason Harold looks like the babe! And the messy drama didn't stop there. Remember Alfred and Edward, the boy's Emma had with Ethelred? Well, in 1036, both Lads led separate attacks on England using norm and soldiers, hoping to claim the throne. But it looks like Alfred shared his dad's lack of common sense, because he was promptly captured. Uh oh. And blinded. Oh! And killed. Well, Fui. Whether Emma had advised them to go ahead with this terrible invasion idea is unknown. But we do know that Edward never forgave his mother for what had happened to his little bro Alfred. What a sad little life mother. Harold Heffert may have had a cool name, but he was a pretty unpopular king. And in 1041, guess what happened. Did another of my relatives who happened to be the king at the time drop dead? Yep, I'm sensing a passion here. Yeah, with her stepson, Harold Heffert, dead, Emma made sure that Arthur Canut was made king. Not her other boy, Edward. I guess Arthur Canut was her favourite son. Gets more pudding AND his favourite to be king? It's because he's the youngest. You baby him. Your half brother is a perfect angel dumpling. Mother, he is 23. And because they were all about the messy family drama, Arthur Canut celebrated by digging up the body of his half brother Heffert. Oh, and flinging it into a swamp. That's the getting more pudding than I got. Emma, the two-time queen of England, was now also the mother of the king of England, finally. And they say that behind every powerful man is a great woman. In early 11th century England, that woman was always Emma. Sadly, soon after that. Don't you dare say my son, the king dropped dead. Kind of. Sorry, Emma. He got really poorly. So Emma flew to her son's side and got him to invite her other son, Edward, to co-rule with him. So, when in 1042, Arthur Canut did drop dead. Can all you men please stop dying? Edward just took over as king, full time. It had taken a lot of work, but Emma was still the king's mother, again. Good news for her, right? Oh, come on! Edward was still pretty grumpy over Alfred's death, and he was scared of Emma having power. So he seized all of her wealth, leaving her just enough to live off. I work by political allegiances to the bone, getting you to the throne. And this is how you thank your mother. Not even flowers. Edward went on to be known as Edward the Confessor. But that's another story for another day. Emma spent her final years in Winchester, without her kids or grandkids. Bit lonely. They didn't even have zoom back then to keep in touch. Emma died on the 6th of March 1552, aged about 70. She was remembered for marrying well and giving birth to boys. In 11th century England, that would have been considered an impressive CV. But maybe we should celebrate her in all her messy glory as the powerful, business-minded centre of royal family drama. The Christiana of medieval politics. So, how much do you remember from today's speedy history lesson? Let's find out, pencils are the ready. Question one, who were the people that kept invading England in the early 11th century? Vikings! Question two, how many times was Emma Queen of England? Twice. Question three, what was the old English name Emma was given? And also the name of both her husband's ex-wives. Elvkivu? Well done, join us next time for another snappy history lesson. And if you're a grown-up and want to learn more about Emma of Normandy, listen to our episode of Your Dead To Me with Professor Elizabeth Tyler. Thanks for listening, bye! This was a BBC Studio's audio production for Radio 4. Dead Funny History was written by Gabby Hutchison Crouch, Athena Kaplanu and Dr Emma Negus. It was hosted by me, Greg Jenner and performed by Malian, Reese and John Luke Roberts. The script consultant was Professor Elizabeth Tyler.