Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie and this is episode 351, Collapse.

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I wonder if Canute could see what was coming. All the signs were right there in front of

him. Everything was starting to line up. But was he actually putting it together?

Anger in Norway was reaching a boiling point over the austerity policies and heavy enforcement

imposed by Elf Gifu and Canute's son, Swain. And as such, armed rebellion was just around

the corner. Furthermore, Swain, who was now about 16 or 17 years old, was probably starting

to make his own decisions as a ruler. And from what we hear from Snory about the laws

during this period, Swain probably needed some better advisors. The young king was seizing

the inheritance of any person that he declared an outlaw. He was also demanding that all

farmers give him substantial quantities of malt, oxmate and butter every Christmas.

And he declared that if anyone left the kingdom without his permission, their lands would

be seized by the crown. Norway was experiencing a crackdown, and the Norse were not going

to put up with much more. But was Canute even aware of the crisis? Was news of this even

reaching him, given that people were literally being barred from leaving the country? And

then he had Normandy. Canute had completely misjudged his nephew, Duke Robert. He had

failed to realize that when Robert said that Edward should be sitting on the English throne,

he wasn't asking. And when Canute didn't take the hint, Robert began constructing an

...