What a bath, taken 1,000 years ago, can tell us about the conflicted English kingdom of the 11th century

On June 8, 1023, 1,001 years ago, King Cnut took a bath. In itself this was not particularly remarkable. Contrary to the image of a ubiquitously grubby middle ages that dominates film and television, there is evidence to suggest that among the upper classes, at least, bathing was a regular pleasure.