Editing Æthelred the Unready (section)

=== Invasion of 1013 ===
Sweyn then launched an invasion in 1013 intending to crown himself king of England. By the end of 1013, English resistance had collapsed and Sweyn had conquered the country, forcing Æthelred into exile in [[Normandy]]. But the situation changed suddenly when Sweyn died on 3 February 1014. The crews of the Danish ships in the Trent that had supported Sweyn immediately swore their allegiance to Sweyn's son [[Cnut|Cnut the Great]], but leading English noblemen sent a deputation to Æthelred to negotiate his restoration to the throne. He was required to declare his loyalty to them, to bring in reforms regarding everything that they disliked and to forgive all that had been said and done against him in his previous reign. The terms of this agreement are of great constitutional interest in early English history as they are the first recorded pact between a King and his subjects; they are also widely regarded as showing that many English noblemen had submitted to Sweyn simply because of their distrust of Æthelred.{{sfn|Stenton|2001|pp=384–386}} According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'':
{{blockquote|they [the counsellors] said that no lord was dearer to them than their natural (''gecynde'') lord, if he would govern them more justly than he did before. Then the king sent his son Edward hither with his messengers and bade them greet all his people and said that he would be a gracious (''hold'') lord to them, and reform all the things which they hated; and all the things which had been said and done against him should be forgiven on condition that they all unanimously turned to him (''to him gecyrdon'') without treachery. And complete friendship was then established with oath and pledge (''mid worde and mid wædde'') on both sides, and they pronounced every Danish king an exile from England forever.|source={{harvnb|Williams|2003|p=123}} }}

Æthelred then launched an expedition against Cnut and his allies. Only the people of the [[Kingdom of Lindsey]] (modern North Lincolnshire) supported Cnut. Æthelred first set out to recapture London, apparently with the help of the Norwegian [[Olaf II of Norway|Olaf Haraldsson]]. According to the Icelandic historian [[Snorri Sturluson]], Olaf led a successful attack on London Bridge with a fleet of ships. He then went on to help Æthelred retake London and other parts of the country. Cnut and his army decided to withdraw from England in April 1014, leaving his Lindsey allies to suffer Æthelred's revenge. In about 1016, it is thought that Olaf left to concentrate on raiding [[western Europe]].{{sfn|Hagland|Watson|2005|pp=328–333}} In the same year, Cnut returned to find a complex and volatile situation unfolding in England.{{sfn|Hagland|Watson|2005|pp=328–333}} Æthelred's son, [[Edmund Ironside]], had revolted against his father and established himself in the North, which was angry at Cnut and Æthelred for the ravaging of Lindsey and was prepared to support Edmund in any uprising against both of them.