Encomium Emmae Reginae - Date and Provenance

Date and Provenance

It is usually thought that the text was written in 1041 or 1042, in response to a politically delicate situation that had recently arisen at the English court. Harthacnut (r. 1040-2), Emma's son by Cnut, was king of England and Edward, her son by Æthelred, had been invited back from exile in Normandy and sworn in as Harthacnut's successor. The presence of a king and another claimant to the throne was a recipe for social unrest, especially considering that Edward's brother, Ælfred (d. 1036), had earlier been betrayed (as rumour had it, at the instigation of Earl Godwine). As the portrait (above) emphasizes, the work appears to have been specifically directed at Harthacnut and Edward, instilling a message about their past and future. As such, the Encomium is a heavily biased and selective work. Commissioned by Queen Emma herself, it strives to show her and Cnut in as favourable a light as possible: thus it silently glosses over Emma's first marriage to Æthelred the Unready, contests that Harold Harefoot, Cnut's son by his first wife Ælfgifu, was indeed a son of Cnut and puts the blame for Ælfred's murder squarely on Harold.

Despite its shortcomings the Encomium is an important primary source for early 11th-century English and Scandinavian history.