base, Canute ravaged Kent, Somerset, Dorset, and Wiltshire; later, he laid waste Mercia and Northumbria, and subdued them; but while he was still preparing for the final reconquest of Wessex, his rival Ethelred died on April 23rd, 1016.
Edmund Ironside was chosen king by the citizens of London, who were at that moment threatened by the presence of Canute in the Thames. Canute had been reinforced by the desertion from Edmund of Edric Streona, one of Ethelred's oldest, most trusted, and most deceitful advisers, with forty ships.[1] Edric subsequently deserted back to Edmund, and again, at the battle of Assandun, back to Canute—all within a year. Edmund was in the west when in May or June Canute's fleet approached London; and the invaders were able, by digging a canal round the south side of the city, so to station their vessels that they could act both above and below bridge. The place was held by the inhabitants, but it was closely blockaded by water and invested by land, until Edmund, after much fighting, returned, and obliged the Danes to raise the siege and retire down the river. Various successes[2] were gained by each side until towards the close of 1016, when the Danes won so conclusive a victory at Assandun, supposed to be Aslington in Essex, that the Saxon Witan itself proposed the division of the country between the rivals. This solution had scarcely been agreed to ere Edmund died, after a reign of only seven months, and Canute became sole monarch of England.
The naval exploits of Canute after 1016 scarcely belong to English history, for although this great king spent most of his time in this country, and reckoned it the chief of his numerous possessions, England was at peace during most of his reign. Nicolas[3] thus summarises from the Saxon Chronicle his goings and comings: "In 1018 he sent part of his forces back to Denmark; but he retained forty ships until the following year, when he went with them to that kingdom. Canute returned to England early in 1020, and in 1022 he is said to have accompanied his fleet to the Isle of Wight; but, as in 1023, he is stated to have 'come again to England,' it would seem that he had made a more distant voyage, probably to Denmark. In 1025 Canute again visited Denmark with his ships, and being attacked at the Holm by a Swedish fleet and army, after a sanguinary conflict the Swedes remained in
