A.D. 1017. DEATH OP ΚΕΝΟ EDMUND. 517 token of peace, and Edmund became Canute, and Canute Edmund. And so the kingdom was divided between the two, but the crown remained with Edmund, with Easez and .East-Anglia, and the city of London, and all the country to the south of the river Thames; Canute having the northern part of the kingdom. But peace continued between them on the firmest footing till the death of the noble king Edmund. King Edmund had two sons, Edward and Edwin, by his wife Aldgiva, a woman of noble family ; and they will be spoken of hereafter in their proper place. Therefore, while Edmund, king of England, surnamed Ironside, was merciful and kind to the just persons in his kingdom, and terrible to the unjust, there was stiH a traitor envious of his prosperity ; and Eadric, the wicked duke of Mercia, was incessantly tninking how he might destroy the king. At last, when the king was passing the night at Oxford, when he retired to a more secret part of the house for the necessities of nature, the son of the said Eadric, prompted by his father, lay in ambush in a secret cupboard, and, on the night of the festival of the Apostle Saint Andrew, stabbed the king twice, in a fatal part with a sharp knife ; and, having mortally wounded him, fled, and left the weapon in his bowels. And he was buried at Glastonbury, near his grandfather king Edgar, and all England mourned for him exceedingly, because they hoped that with him for their leader they would have a respite from the oppression of the Danes. CH. XX.—FBOM A.D. 1017 το A.D. 1042. Canute becomes sole king of England—Banishes the nobles— Marries Emma, sister of Richard, duke of Normandy—A conference at Oxford establishes the laws ofEdward—Character of Canute ; his liberality—Subdues Norway—Birth of William of Normandy—He succeeds to hisfather9 s dukedom—Death of Canute—Coronation of Harold—Hardicanute is set up in opposition to him by Godwin, and is crowned king—Dies, and is succeeded by Edward the Con fessor. A.D. 1017. Edmund, king of England, being dead, Canute seized upon the whole kingdom of England, and reigned twenty years. And, in the earliest days of his reign, he divided England into four portions, retaining Wessex for him