Letter writing in the eleventh century: how I recreated Lady Estrid's connections with her vast family #histfic

In trying to bring together the narrative for Lady Estrid, the sister of King Cnut and daughter of King Swein of Denmark, I faced a bit of a problem: the vast distances involved. Lady Estrid had family in England, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, many of them she may never have met in person.

Today, we might pick up the phone or have a quick look on the internet, but in the eleventh century, how would people have communicated?

And so to letter writing. Two surviving letters from the eleventh century were sent by King Cnut, Estrid’s brother, to the English, when he was absent from his newly conquered country, in AD1020 and AD1027. I give a small example below. 

'Be it known therefore to all of you, that I have humbly vowed to the Almighty God himself henceforward to amend my life in all respects, and to rule the kingdoms and the people subject to me with justice and clemency, giving equitable judgments in all matters; and if, through the intemperance of my youth or negligence, I have hitherto exceeded the bounds of justice in any of my acts, I intend by God’s aid to make an entire change for the better.’  From Cnut’s letter to the English from AD1027.

These might well have been an exercise for Cnut in asserting his authority over the English and giving his regents a little bit of extra support, but they open up the possibility of just who else was busy writing and sending letters to one another. 

There’s always the assumption that unless you were a holy man, you perhaps couldn’t read or write. In fact, in one of the books I referenced for Lady Estrid, I found a fascinating chart detailing people who are known to have been used by the ruling family of Normandy as messengers, another way that messages could be sent between people. But surely, sometimes, it was just better to write everything down; that way, nothing could be lost in translation. 

Without the possibility of Lady Estrid ever meeting some members of her family, using letter writing allowed me to create conversations between the characters artificially, and while it might not have been the ‘norm’, it was certainly something that happened. Indeed, three centuries earlier, there is a great wealth of information to be found in the letters of Alcuin of York (c735-804), so it wasn’t as though it was a new thing. With Denmark’s conversion to Christianity, there would have been a ready selection of scribes just waiting to note down Lady Estrid’s frustrations and complaints, even if she didn’t pen them herself.

Here’s an example of one of Estrid’s letters I created in the book.

Dearest Mother, Lady Sigrid. Queen of Denmark.’

‘This marriage doesn’t agree with me. How could you agree to it? I trusted you more than any other to understand how difficult it would be to be forced to live amongst strangers. I relied on you to argue with my father about the necessity of the union.’ 

And don’t tell me I will one day be the queen of the Rus, as my father planned. Prince Ilja is not a strong man. I don’t foresee him living long. Not at all. The poor man. He has barely been able to consummate our union. I hope I will not carry his child. It will be weak and feeble, and I will not tolerate such.’ 

My children will be strong and powerful. One day, it is they who will be kings and queens. But these children will not be shared with Prince Ilja. I am sure of it.’

And even if he were to survive, his brothers are a treasonous coven. None of them wishes the other to succeed at their expense. I foresee only bloodshed and paranoia when Ilja’s father is dead.’

Frida is my only friend and ally, reminding me of home. I hope to return to Denmark one day. I never imagined leaving her. I miss her. The kingdom of the Rus is not the same. Not at all.’

Send me news of my father and brothers. I wish to know if my father has finally triumphed in England over King Æthelred. I should like to know that he didn’t callously send me away without so much as seeing me in person for no good reason, because he was absent, in England, as so often the case. If he fails in England again, I will never forgive him for his actions towards me.’

Your despairing daughter, Lady Estrid Sweinsdottir, from Kiev.’

Grab Lady Estrid now.