Early Life
Harthacnut was born shortly after his parents' marriage in July or August 1017. Cnut had put aside his first wife Ælfgifu of Northampton in order to marry Emma, and according to the Encomium Emmae Reginae, a book she inspired many years later, Cnut agreed that any sons of their marriage should take precedence over the sons of his first marriage. In 1023, Emma and Harthacnut played a leading role in the translation of the body of the martyr St Æelfheah from London to Canterbury, an occasion seen by Harthacnut's biographer, Ian Howard, as recognition of his position as Cnut's heir in England.
Read more about this topic: Harthacanute
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