''Encomium Emmae Reginae'' or ''Gesta Cnutonis Regis'' is an 11th-century Latin
encomium
''Encomium'' (: ''encomia'') is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek ''enkomion'' (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is '' laudatio'', a speech in praise of someone or something.
Originally was the ...
in honour of the English queen
Emma of Normandy. It was written in 1041 or 1042, probably by a monk of
Saint Bertin, which was then in the
County of Flanders
The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...
.
Manuscripts
Until 2008, it was believed that there was just a single manuscript surviving from that time. Kept in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, it is lavishly illustrated, and believed to be the copy sent to
Queen Emma or a close reproduction of that copy. One leaf has been lost from the manuscript in modern times, but its text survives in late paper copies.
Then a new manuscript, the
Courtenay Compendium, was found in the papers of the
18th Earl of Devon at the
Devon Record Office. This version, however, is believed to have been compiled in 1043, around two years after the other surviving text.
It adds detail to the content, showing the rise and succession of
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex.
Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...
in a very positive light. The first manuscript offers him just a fleeting mention.
The new manuscript was acquired by the
Royal Library of Denmark in 2010.
Date and provenance
It is usually thought that the text was written in 1041 or 1042, in response to a politically delicate situation, which had arisen recently at the English court.
[Stafford, ''Queen Emma'', p. 28.] Harthacnut
Harthacnut (; "Tough-knot"; – 8 June 1042), traditionally Hardicanute, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042.
Harthacnut was the son of King Cnut the Great (wh ...
(reigned 1040–42), Emma's son by
Cnut the Great
Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...
, was
king of England
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ...
, and Edward the Confessor, her son by
Æthelred, had been invited back from exile in Normandy and sworn in as Harthacnut's successor. The concurrent presence of a king and another claimant to the throne was a recipe for unrest, especially considering that Edward's brother,
Ælfred (died 1036), had earlier been betrayed (as rumour had it, at the instigation of
Earl Godwin).
[Stafford, ''Queen Emma'', p. 29.]
As the portrait above emphasises, the work appears to have been directed specifically at Harthacnut and Edward, instilling a message about their past and future.
As such, the ''Encomium'' is a heavily biased and selective work. Commissioned by Queen Emma herself, it strives to show her and Cnut in as favourable a light as possible. Thus, it silently glosses over Emma's first marriage to Æthelred, contests whether
Harold Harefoot
Harold Harefoot or Harold I (died 17 March 1040) was regent of Kingdom of England, England from 1035 to 1037 and King of the English from 1037 to 1040. Harold's nickname "Harefoot" is first recorded as "Harefoh" or "Harefah" in the twelfth cen ...
, Cnut's son by his first wife
Ælfgifu Ælfgifu (also ''Ælfgyfu''; ''Elfgifa, Elfgiva, Elgiva'') is an Anglo-Saxon name, Anglo-Saxon feminine personal name, from ''ælf'' "elf" and ''gifu'' "gift".
When Emma of Normandy, the later mother of Edward the Confessor, became queen of Engla ...
, was indeed a son of Cnut, and places the blame for Ælfred's murder squarely on Harold.
Despite its shortcomings, the ''Encomium'' is an important primary source for early 11th-century English and Scandinavian history.
Authorship
The anonymous author, often simply referred to as "The Encomiast", was probably a Flemish monk,
as he identifies himself in the text as a monk of the
Abbey of Saint Bertin
The Abbey of Saint Bertin was a Benedictine monastic abbey in Saint-Omer, France. The buildings are now in ruins, which are open to the public. It was initially dedicated to but was rededicated to its second abbot, . The abbey is known for its ...
. He mentions that he wrote the work at the specific request of his patroness Emma, to whom he shows some gratitude, and that he had witnessed Cnut when the king visited the abbey on his journey homeward.
Form and content
The form and style of the text show much indebtedness to classical authors.
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
and his ''
Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...
'' are explicitly cited in the prefatory letter and in Book I, Chapter 4, while influences from
Sallust
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (, ; –35 BC), was a historian and politician of the Roman Republic from a plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became a partisan of Julius ...
,
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...
,
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
,
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...
,
Juvenal
Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ; 55–128), was a Roman poet. He is the author of the '' Satires'', a collection of satirical poems. The details of Juvenal's life are unclear, but references in his works to people f ...
and
Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus ( ; ; – October 15, 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem '' De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, which usually is t ...
have also been detected.
The ''Encomium'' divides into three books. The first deals with
Sweyn Forkbeard
Sweyn Forkbeard ( ; ; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 until his death, King of England for five weeks from December 1013 until his death, and King of Norway from 999/1000 until 1014. He was the father of King Ha ...
,
King of Denmark
The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe Is ...
, and his conquest of England. The second deals with his son, Cnut the Great, his reconquest of England, his marriage to Emma and his period of rule. The third book deals with events after Cnut's death: Emma's troubles during the reign of Harold Harefoot, and the accession of her sons, Harthacnut and Edward the Confessor, to the throne.
According to the medievalist
Eleanor Parker
Eleanor Jean Parker (June 26, 1922 – December 9, 2013) was an American actress. She was nominated for three Academy Awards for her roles in the films ''Caged (1950 film), Caged'' (1950), ''Detective Story (1951 film), Detective Story'' (1951 ...
, "The ''Encomium'' reveals an active and forceful woman participating in the writing of history, reshaping the story of her own life in a way that suited her interests."
["The Queen's Encomium", ''History Today'' (Vol. 67/5, May 2017).]
Footnotes
References
*Alistair Campbell, editor and translator, 1949: ''Encomium Emmae Reginae''. Camden 3rd series No. 72. London: Royal Historical Society
*Alistair Campbell, editor and translator, and Simon Keynes, supplementary introduction, 1998,: ''Encomium Emmae Reginae''. Cambridge University Press
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Encomium Emmae ReginaeOverview by Stephen J. Murray
Georg Heinrich Pertz's 1865 edition
{{Authority control
11th-century history books
11th-century books in Latin