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Hardaknut Knutsson or Hardacanute or Hardicanute 1018-42
King of Denmark and of England

He was the son of Knut Sveinsson (Canute the Great) and Emma (the widow of King Ethelred II, the Unready), and was Knut's only legitimate heir. He inherited Denmark on his father's death (1035), but the English elected his illegitimate half-brother, Harold I Knutsson (Harefoot), as regent, confirming Harold as king in 1037. Hardaknut prepared to invade England to claim the Crown, but Harold died before he arrived. Hardaknut was made king (1040), and promptly punished the English by imposing a savage fleet-tax to pay for his expedition. His reign was universally disliked, and he died of convulsions at a wedding party.