Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CANUSIUM (Gr. Kaaboaov, mod. Canosa)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 222 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

CANUSIUM (Gr. Kaaboaov, mod. See also:Canosa) , an See also:ancient See also:city of See also:Apulia, on the right See also:bank of the Aufidus (Ofanto), about 12 M. from its mouth, and situated upon the Via Traiana, 85 m. E.N.E. of Beneventum. It was said to have been founded by Diomede, and even at the See also:time of See also:Horace (Sat. i. 10. 30) both See also:Greek and Latin were spoken there. The legends on the coins are Greek, and a very large number of Greek vases have been found in the See also:necropolis. The See also:town came voluntarily under See also:Roman See also:sovereignty in 318 B.C., afforded a See also:refuge to the Roman fugitives after See also:Cannae, and remained faithful for the See also:rest of the See also:war. It revolted in the Social War, in which it would appear to have suffered, inasmuch as See also:Strabo (vi. 283) speaks of Canusium and See also:Arpi as having been, to See also:judge from the extent of their walls, the greatest towns in the See also:plain of Apulia, but as having shrunk considerably in his See also:day. Its importance was maintained, however, by its See also:trade in agricultural products and in Apulian See also:wool (which was there dyed and cleaned), by its See also:port (probably Cannae) at the mouth of the Aufidus, and by its position on the high-road.

It was a See also:

municipium under the See also:early See also:empire, but was converted into a colonia under See also:Antoninus See also:Pius by Herodes See also:Atticus, who provided it with a See also:water-See also:supply. In the 6th See also:century it was still the most important city of Apulia. Among the ancient buildings which are still preserved, an See also:amphitheatre, an See also:aqueduct and a city See also:gate may be mentioned. See N. Jacobone, Ricerche See also:sulla storia e la topografia di Canosa Antica (Canosa di Puglia, 1905). (T. As.) CANUTE (CNUT), known as "the See also:Great" (c. 995-1035), See also:king of See also:Denmark and See also:England, second son of King Sweyn Forkbeard and his first wife, the daughter of the See also:Polish See also:prince, Mieszko, was See also:born c. 995. On the See also:death of his See also:father he was compelled to quit England by a See also:general rising of the Anglo-See also:Saxons, on which occasion in a See also:fit of rage, for he was not naturally cruel, he abandoned his hostages after cutting off their hands, ears and noses. In the following See also:year, 1015, he returned with a great See also:fleet manned by a picked See also:host, " not a See also:thrall or a freedman among them." He speedily succeeded in subduing all England except See also:London, now the last refuge of King eEthelred and his heroic son, See also:Edmund Ironside. On the death of "See also:Ethelred (23rd of See also:April 1016) Canute was elected king by an See also:assembly of notables at See also:Southampton; but London clung loyally to Edmund, who more than once succeeded in raising the western shires against Canute.

Edmund indeed approved himself the better general of the two, and would doubtless have prevailed, but for the treachery of his own ealdormen. This was notably the See also:

case at the great See also:battle of Assandun, in which by the See also:desertion of Eadric an incipient Anglo-Saxon victory was converted into a crushing defeat. Nevertheless, the antagonists were so evenly matched that the great men on both sides, fearing that the interminable war would utterly ruin the See also:land, arranged a See also:conference between Canute and Edmund on an See also:island in the See also:Severn, when they agreed to See also:divide England between them, Canute retaining See also:Mercia and the See also:north, while Edmund's territory comprised See also:East Anglia and Wessex with London. On the death of Edmund, a few months later (See also:November 1016), Canute was unanimously elected king of all England at the beginning of 1017. The See also:young monarch at once showed himself equal to his responsibilities. He did his utmost to deserve the confidence of his Anglo-Saxon subjects, and the eighteen years of his reign were of unspeakable benefit to his adopted See also:country. He identified himself with the past See also:history of England and its native See also:dynasty by See also:wedding Emma, or lElgifu, to give her her Saxon name (the Northmen called her Alfifa), who came over from See also:Normandy at his bidding, Canute previously repudiating his first wife, another lElgifu, the daughter of the ealdorman IElfhcm of See also:Deira, who, with her sons, was banished to Denmark. In 1018 Canute inherited the Danish See also:throne, his See also:elder See also:brother Harold having died without issue. He now withdrew most of his See also:army from England, so as to spare as much as possible the susceptibilities of the Anglo-Saxons. For the same See also:reason he had previously dispersed all his warships but See also:forty. On his return from'Denmark he went a step farther. In a remark-able See also:letter, addressed to the prelates, ealdormen and See also:people, he declared his intention of ruling England by the See also:English, and of upholding the See also:laws of King See also:Edgar, at the same time threatening with his vengeance all those who did not judge righteous See also:judgment or who let malefactors go See also:free.

The See also:

tone of this document, which is not merely See also:Christian but sacerdotal, shows that he had wisely resolved, in the interests of See also:law and See also:order, to See also:form a See also:close See also:alliance with the native See also:clergy. Those of his own See also:fellow-countrymen who refused to co-operate with him were summarily dismissed. Thus, in 1021, the stiffnecked jarl Thorkil was banished the land, and his See also:place taken by an Anglo-Saxon, the subsequently famous See also:Godwin, who became one of Canute's See also:chief counsellors. The humane and conciliatory See also:character of his See also:government is also shown in his See also:earnest efforts to atone for Danish barbarities in the past. Thus he rebuilt the See also:church of St Edmundsbury in memory of the saintly king who had perished there at the hands of the earlier Vikings, and with great ceremony transferred the See also:relics of St See also:Alphege from St See also:Paul's church at London to a worthier resting-place at See also:Canterbury. His See also:work of reform and reconciliation was interrupted in 1026 by the See also:attempt of See also:Olaf Haraldson, king of See also:Norway, in See also:conjunction with Anund See also:Jakob, king of See also:Sweden, to conquer Denmark. Canute defeated the See also:Swedish fleet at Stangebjerg, and so seriously injured the combined squadrons at the mouth of the Helgeaa in East Scania, that in 1028 he was able to subdue the greater See also:part of Norway " without hurling a dart or swinging a See also:sword." But the See also:conquest was not permanent, the Norwegians ultimately rising successfully against the tyranny of Alfifa, who misruled the country in the name of her See also:infant son Sweyn. Canute also succeeded in establishing the dominion of Denmark over the See also:southern shores of the Baltic, in Witland and See also:Samland, now forming part of the See also:coast of See also:Prussia. Of the details of Canute's government in Denmark proper we know but little. His most remarkable institution was the Tinglid, a military brotherhood, originally 3000 in number, composed of members of the richest and noblest families, who not only formed the royal bodyguard, but did See also:garrison See also:duty and defended the See also:marches or See also:borders. They were subject to strict discipline, embodied in written rules called the Viderlog or Vederlag, and were the See also:nucleus not only of a See also:standing army but of a royal See also:council. Canute is also said to have endeavoured to found monasteries in Denmark, with but indifferent success, and he was certainly the first Danish king who coined See also:money, with the assistance of Anglo-Saxon See also:mint-masters.

Of his alliance with the clergy we have already spoken. Like the other great contemporary See also:

kingdom-builder, See also:Stephen of See also:Hungary, he clearly recognized that the church was the one civilizing See also:element in a See also:world of anarchic barbarism, and his submission to her guidance is a striking See also:proof of his perspicacity. But it was no slavish submission. When, in 1027, he went to See also:Rome, with See also:Rudolf III. of See also:Burgundy, to be See also:present at the See also:coronation of the See also:emperor See also:Conrad II., it was quite as much to benefit his subjects as to receive See also:absolution for the sins of his youth. Ile persuaded the See also:pope to remit the excessive fees for granting the See also:gallium, which the English and Danish bishops had found such a grievous See also:burden, substituting therefor a moderate amount of See also:Peter's pence. He also induced the emperor and other See also:German princes to See also:grant safe-conducts to those of his subjects who desired to make the See also:pilgrimage to Rome. Canute died at See also:Shaftesbury on the 12th of November 1035 in his 4oth year, and was buried at See also:Winchester. He was cut off before he had had the opportunity of developing most of his great plans; yet he lived See also:long enough to obtain the See also:title of " Canute the Wealthy " (i.e. " Mighty "), and posterity, still more appreciative, has well surnamed him " the Great." A violent, irritable See also:temper was his most salient defect, and more than one See also:homicide must be laid to his See also:charge. Bu( the fierce See also:Viking nature was gradually and completely subdued; for Canute was a Christian by conviction and sincerely religious. His humility is finely illustrated by the old See also:Norman poem which describes how he commanded the rising See also:tide of the See also:Thames at See also:Westminster to go back. The See also:homily he preached to his courtiers on that occasion was to prepare them for his subsequent See also:journey to Rome and his submission to the See also:Holy Sec.

Like his father Sweyn, Canute loved See also:

poetry, and the great Icelandic skalder, Thorar Lovtunge and Thormod Kolbrunarskjold, were as welcome visitors at his See also:court as the learned bishops. As an See also:administrator Canute was excelled only by See also:Alfred. He possessed in an eminent degree the royal See also:gift of recognizing greatness, and the still more useful See also:faculty of conciliating enemies. No English king before him had levied such heavy taxes, yet never were taxes more cheerfully paid; because the people See also:felt that every See also:penny of the money was used for the benefit of the country. According to the Knytlinga See also:Saga King Canute was huge of See also:limb, of great strength, and a very goodly See also:man to look upon, See also:save for his See also:nose, which was narrow, lofty and hooked; he had also long See also:fair See also:hair, and eyes brighter and keener than those of any man living. See Danmarks Riges Historie. Old Tiden og den aeldre Middelalder, pp. 382-406 (See also:Copenhagen, 1897–1905) ; See also:Freeman, Norman Conquest (See also:Oxford, 187o-.1875) ; Steenstrup, Normannerne (Copenhagen, 1876-1882). (R. N.

End of Article: CANUSIUM (Gr. Kaaboaov, mod. Canosa)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CANTU, CESARE (1804-1895) 		[next]
CANUTE VI

Site © 2006 - Net Industries