Cnut, the first Viking chieftain welcomed by…

Cnut, the first Viking chieftain welcomed by the church as an equal to Christian kings, establishes close ties with his fellow Vikings, the Normans.

Eventually embracing Christianity, he becomes a founder and patron of monasteries.

When, in the early tenth century, the relics of the martyred king, St Edmund, were translated from Hoxne to Beodricsworth, afterwards known as St. Edmundsbury, the site had already been in religious use for nearly three centuries.

To the small household of Benedictine monks who guard the shrine the surrounding lands are granted in 1020, during the reign of Cnut.

Monks are introduced from St Benet's Abbey under the auspices of the Bishop of Elmham and Dunwich.