Saint Knud, also known as Canute Lavard ( Danish: Knud Lavard; cognate with English

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

; 12 March 1096 – 7 January 1131) was a Danish prince. Later he was the first

Duke of Schleswig The following is a list of earl, jarls and dukes, who ruled over Schleswig respectively Southern Jutland (Sønderjylland). First jarls/dukes House of Estridsen (1080–1375) House of Schauenburg (1325-1459) Under domain of Oldenburg In ...

and the first border prince who was both a Danish and a German vassal, a position leading towards the historical double position of Southern Jutland. He was killed by his cousin Magnus the Strong ( – 1134), who saw him as a rival to the Danish throne. Canute Lavard was canonized in 1170. He was an ancestor of the Valdemarian kings (''Valdemarerne'') and of their subsequent royal line. Canute Lavard was the father of King

Valdemar I of Denmark Valdemar I Knudsen (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known as Valdemar the Great (), was King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval zenith under his s ...

(''Valdemar den Store'') and grandfather of King

Valdemar II of Denmark Valdemar II Valdemarsen (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious () and Valdemar the Conqueror, was King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. In 1207, Valdemar invaded and conquered Bishopric of L� ...

(''Valdemar Sejr'').

Biography

Canute was the only legitimate son of King Eric I of Denmark (died 1103) and Boedil Thurgotsdatter, but as a minor he was bypassed in the election of 1104. He grew up in close contact with the noble family of Hvide, who were later on to be among his most eager supporters. In 1115, his uncle, King Niels of Denmark, placed him in charge of the

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been div ...

(''jarl af Sønderjylland'') in order to put an end to the attacks of the Slavic

Obotrites The Obotrites (, ''Abodritorum'', ''Abodritos'') or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (), were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany (see Polabian Slavs). For ...

. During the next fifteen years, he fulfilled his duty of establishing peace in the border area so well that he was titled Duke of Holstein (''Hertug af Holsten'') and became a vassal of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. He seems to have been the first member of the Danish royal family who was attracted by the knightly ideals and habits of medieval Germany, indicated by his changing his title to Duke of Schleswig (''Hertug af Slesvig''). His appearance made him a popular man and a possible successor of his uncle, but he also acquired mighty enemies among the Danish princes and magnates, who apparently questioned his loyalty and feared his bond with Emperor Lothair III, who had recognized him as sovereign over the western

Wends Wends is a historical name for Slavs who inhabited present-day northeast Germany. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people, tribes or groups depending on where and when it was used. In the modern day, communities identifying ...

. Both Niels and his son, Magnus the Strong, seem to have been alarmed at Canute's being recognized by the Emperor. On 7 January 1131, Canute was trapped in the Haraldsted Forest (''Haraldsted Skov'') near Ringsted in Zealand and murdered by Magnus. Ringsted Abbey, one of the earliest

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

houses in Denmark, became the initial resting place of Canute Lavard, which in 1157 were moved to a new chapel at St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted. During medieval times a chapel (''Knut Lavards Kapel'') was erected on the site where he died but it disappeared after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. The ruins were rediscovered in 1883. In 1902 a memorial in the form of a 4-metre

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

was erected near the site of the death of Canute Lavard. After the death of Canute Lavard, the Obotrite lands were partitioned between Pribislav and

Niklot Niklot or Nyklot (died August 1160) was a tribal chief, chief or prince of the Slavic peoples, Slavic Obotrites and an ancestor of the House of Mecklenburg. He became chief of the Obotrite confederacy, including the Kissini and the Circipani, bet ...

(1090–1160), both chiefs of the Obotrites. Some sources consider the death of Canute to be a murder committed by Magnus, while others attribute it to Niels himself. In any case. the death provoked a civil war that continued intermittently until 1157, ending only with the triumph of Canute's posthumous son Valdemar I. The fate of Canute and his son's victory formed the background for his

canonisation Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...

in 1170, at the request of King Valdemar. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

('' Knutsdagen'') was originally celebrated on the day of his death, 7 January, but when the end of Christmas was moved to a week later in Sweden, Finland, and (parts of) Norway in the late 17th century, the feast day moved with it, and is now celebrated on 13 January. The Canute Guild in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

was named in commemoration of Canute Lavard. The guild later gave its name to the "Canute Street" (''Kanuti tänav'') and to the "Canute Garden" (''Kanuti aed'') in the town.

Issue

Canute Lavard married Ingeborg of Kiev, daughter of

Mstislav I of Kiev Mstislav I Vladimirovich Monomakh (; Christian name: ''Fedor''; February 1076 – 14 April 1132), also known as Mstislav the Great, was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1125 until his death in 1132. After his death, the state began to quickly disin ...

and his wife Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden. They had four children: # Margaret, married Danish nobleman Stig Tokesen Hvitaledr (died 1150) of the Hvide family from

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

(then a Danish province) and had Christina Hvide # Christina (b. 1118), married (1133) Magnus IV of Norway # Catherine, married Pribislav of Mecklenburg, son of

, prince of

(born 1131)

References

Other sources

* *Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John (1993) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. (New York: Penguin Books) *Mortensen, Lars Boje (2006) ''The Making of Christian Myths in the Periphery of Latin Christendom (Ca. 1000-1300)'' (Museum Tusculanum Press)

External links

Sankt Knud Lavard skoleSankt Knud Lavard KirkePiotr Boroń, Kanut Laward - Rex Obodtitorum. Kontrowersje wokół tytulatury duńskiego księcia, władcy słowiańskich plemion
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Canute Lavard House of Estridsen Dukes of Schleswig 12th-century Christian saints Danish Roman Catholic saints Roman Catholic royal saints Burials at St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted 1096 births 1131 deaths 12th-century Danish nobility People from Roskilde Sons of kings Danish royal saints

Biography

Issue

See also

References

Other sources

External links