Anonymous: Encomium Emmae Reginae

This work, known as the Encomium Emmae Reginae, is a history written in praise of Emma of Normandy, queen of England as the wife first of Æthelred and then of Cnut. The anonymous author, a monk writing at Emma’s command, opens with a greeting to the queen, professing that he cannot do justice to her virtue, and reflecting on the historian’s duty never to stray from the path of truth. The work is divided into a prologue, an argument and books narrating the Danish conquest of England under Sweyn and Cnut, Cnut’s marriage to Emma, and the struggles that followed his death. The edition adds an extract from the chronicles of Thomas Rudborne concerning Emma.

The Encomium is a classic example of political history written for a patron: it presents events in the way most favourable to Emma and her sons, notably passing over her first marriage to Æthelred. It is generally thought to have been written by a monk of Saint-Bertin at Saint-Omer around 1041–1042. Despite its partisanship, it is a major source for the reign of Cnut and the succession crisis of the 1030s and 1040s, and it contains lively scenes, including speeches and battle narratives modelled on classical historians. It also offers rare insight into the self-presentation of an eleventh-century queen.