Sveinsson Knut, Canute the Great, King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018 and King of Norway from 1030 until he died in 1035, was perhaps the most successful and effective of the early rulers of England. He brought to the general population firm government, justice, and security from internal disorder and external threat. Yet all his bravery in battle, efficiency in administration and shrewdness in statecraft are forgotten and he is scornfully remembered simply as the foolish king who thought he could turn back the sea-tide. One wonders how many other outstanding characters, and crucial episodes, in the historical account have been mis-represented. I notice that the malignantly evil reputation of Richard 111 of England, whose burial place was recently discovered under a concrete parking lot, is at last being comprehensively reassessed.
It is so easy to give a man a bad name. A word here, a whisper there, and a reputation lies in ruins.
