CANUTE
307
CAPEFIGUE
died a month later after a heroic reign of seven
months; Eadric was murdered at the king's order;
Eadwig, Eadmund's brother was similarly removed;
and in July, 1017, Canute married .Elfgifu, or Emma,
Eadmund's widow, a strange union which some
writers attribute to political motives. Canute al-
ready had two sons, Harold and Sweyn, by another
wife, but the right of succession was to be with the
offspring of the new union.
Thus at the age of twenty-three, by right of might, Canute stood master of the realm; and if he was re- ceived unanimously by the people, it was because none durst oppose him. From this forward, however, his one desire seemed to lie to wipe out the memory of the bloodshed and horror in which his kingship had been secured. The Danish host, a fruitful source of animosity, was dismissed after a danegeld of £72,000 had been raised. London alone contributing £15,000. Canute retained the crews of forty ships as a body-guard, known as the huscarls or thingmanna. "Eadgar's Law", the old constitution of the realm, was revived and Dane and Englishman stood on a level footing. The Church had suffered heavily at Canute's hands, but he sought her friendship and built a church at Assandun to commemorate the victory; rebuilt the church of St. Eadmund at Bury and established the monks there; and was a bene- factor in many other places, contributing even to the erection of the cathedral of Chart res. On his visits to Denmark he took many missionaries with him. among whom were Kanier, Bernhard, and Gerbrand, Bishops of Fionia, Sconen, and Zealand. In 1026 Canute made a pilgrimage to Rome, his path being marked by his charities. He records in a letter bis joy at visiting the tombs of the Apostles; his meeting with Pope John and Emperor Conrad; his plea for security for English and Danish travellers to Rome; the pope's promise to lighten the tax for the pallium; and he adds his own vow to rule justly and regrets the misdeeds of his youth.
tlte's greatest gift to his people was peace, says Green. Eighteen years unbroken by domestic strife laid the foundations of a national tranquillity. The kingdom was divided into four earldoms, and little by little Danish names disappear anil are replaced by English (Freeman, Norman Conquest, I, 289). The people are to "love and worship one God and love King Cnut with right truthfulness". The ferocity which mutilated the hostages was not burnt out, for the king struck down one of his huscarls with his own hand. Bui lie pronounced heavy sentence upon his deed and, on another occasion, is said to have re- buked Ins flatterers by placing his crown upon the crucifix of tin' cathedral of Winchester. From the time I. enre. a sincere zeal for his peo-
ple's good slimes out in his life. The yoke is lightened and hi- benefactions are widespread. He is a patron '- and a lover of minstrelsy, and upon hearing I he monks of Ely cliani on I 'andiemas, he breaks out into the famous song; —
Meric sungen 5e muneches binnen Ely, Da i ien i Ihing reu oer by; lee M.er 5e land,
And hen- we pes muneches sseng.
(Merrily sang the monks of Ely when Cnut. King rowed by. Row, boatmen, near the land, and hear we these monks sing.' Intriguing, ambition-, and
violent , Canute yel atoned tor ins early cruelty by a Christianity that was not unworthy. He came as an invader and ruthless destroyer, ami by a change of oarkable as it was far-reaching in it, effects, remained to rule, in justice and peace, a wholly espoused. He was buried in the old minster at Winchester.
MAN, Norman Conquest (New York. 1873), I, 244-320, with valuable references to sources; Steenstrup, Norman-
nrmr. III; Green, Conquai of England, -lis sgq.; Idem, Short
History of the English r,o,,l, (New York. IssT . I. 'U 'is Palgkave, History of the Anglo-Saxons (l...ml.ui, lsi,; , ;i HliNTinDirf. Xal. />':„„. IX, 1 sqq.; Linqard, History of Eng- land (London, 1878), I, 156-162.
E. F. Saxton.
Canute IV (Cnut), Saint, martyr and King of Denmark, date of birth uncertain; d. 10 July, 1086, the third of the thirteen natural sons of Sweyn II, surnamed Estridsen. Elected king on the death of his brother Harold about 1080, he waged war on his barbarous enemies and brought Courland and Livonia to the faith. Having married Eltha. daughter of Robert, Count of Flanders, he had a son Charles, sur- named the Good. He was a strong ruler, as is proved by his stern dealing with the pirate Eigill of Bornholm. The happiness of his people and the in- terests of the Church were the objects he had most at heart. To the cathedral of RoskUde, still the royal burying-place, he gave his own diadem. His auster- ity was equalled by his assiduity in prayer. An ex- pedition to England, in favour of the Saxons against William the Conqueror, planned by him in 1085, failed through the treachery of his brother Olaf. His people having revolted on account of the cruelties of certain tax-collectors, Canute retired to the island of Funen. There, in the church of St. Alban, after due preparation for death, the king, his brother Benedict, and seventeen others were surrounded and slain HI July, 1086. His feast is l!i January, transla- tion, 10 July; his emblems, a lance or arrows, in memory of the manner of his death.
Acta SS.-July, III, 11S-149, containing the life (written in 1105) by .'Klxoth, monk of Canterbury, and also that by Saxo Grammaticus; Bollanpists, Bibliotloro Haiju-ii/rapfiiai Latina (Brussels, 1898), 232; Chevalier. Repertoire des sources historiques du mot/en Age (Paris, 1905), I, col. 771; Butler, Lives of the Saints, 19 January.
Patrick Ryan.
Capaccio and Vallo, Diocese of (Caputaquensis et Vallensis), suffragan of Salerno. Capaccio is a city in the province of Salerno (Italy), in an un- healthy region, not far from the ruins of the ancient Pa>stum. It is believed that ( lapaccio was built after the destruction of Paestum by the Saracens (915), and that the see was transferred there. The first known bishop of Capaccio is Arnolfo. present at the council of the Lateran in 117!). Lelio Morello, elected in 1586, obtained from Sixtus V the transfer of the bishop's residence to Dania. Other bishops worthy of mention were: the zealous monk Pietro Matta de Haro (1611), who was assisted by the venerable Than Filippo Romanello, founder of a congregation of priests for the instruction of the peasantry in the articles of faith: the learned ( lardinal Francesco Maria Brancacci (1627); Tommaso CaralTa (1639), and Giovanni delta Pace (1684). The bishop reside at Vallo. The diocese contains a population of 122,400, with 102 parishes, 282 churches and chapels, 256 lar and 14 regular priests, and 'J religious houses for men.
Cappelletti, Le chiese d'ltalia (Venice, 1844); Ann. eccl. (Rome, 1907), 365.
U. Benigni.
Cape Breton Island. See Nova Scotia.
Capefigue, BaPTISTE-HoNORE-RayMOND, histor- ian, b. at Marseilles. 1802; d. at l'aris. 22 December, 1872. In 1821 he was a law student at l'aris; at a later date he became a contributor to the "Quoti- dienne", and in L827 he was made editor of the Legit- imist journal. "Messager des Chambres". On ac- count of his journalistic activity in behalf of the gov- ernment. Capefigue soon received a position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but lost it in consequence of the Revolution of July. A. Strong [loyalist , he uas after this an active supporter of the Orleanists in
