(no subject)

Died on this day in 1035 aged 50 King Cnut the Great (my toy,wikipedia). Cnut was King of Denmark, Norway, England, and parts of Sweden. That's a lot of places to be King of in a world where you had to send all your instructions by horse and sail boat. He married Emma, the window of Aethelraed who had keen King of England before him, and tried to have Aethelred's children killed but many of them successfully fled into exile and Edward the Confessor would later successfully retake England.

Born on this day in 1274 to Philip of Courtenay and Beatrice of Sicily, Catherine of Courtenay (my toy,wikipedia). Married the half-brother of Margaret (who married Edward I). Catherine was the "Latin Empress of Constantinople" which meant very little in practice, on account of how Constantinople was run by the Byzantines; the "Latin Empire" was founded by some Crusaders who had apparently confused the Orthodox Byzantines with the Muslims, or possibly the purpose of Crusading, it's all very confusing to me really. Catherine was betrothed to three men before she married her eventual husband, that seems like quite bad luck in men.