Canute the Saint of Denmark - Definition and Overview

Canute IV, (1040 — 1086), also known as Canute the Saint and Canute the Holy, was King of Denmark from 1080 until 1086. He is also the patron saint of Denmark.

Canute was the illegitimate son of Sweyn II Estridsson. Canute succeeded his brother, Harald III. Canute wanted to establish a strong royal authority on the basis of a strong church. He also considered the title of King of England to be his, as he was the grandnephew of Canute the Great, who had reigned as king of England, Denmark and Norway from 1016 until 1035. When Canute tried to force peasants from Jutland to participate in a raid against England (and its current ruler, William the Conqueror), the peasants led an uprising that culminated with his death inside the wooden Church of St. Alban's in Odense, along with his brother Benedict and 17 of their followers. In 1101 he was canonized as a saint, and in 1300 he and his brother were interred in the new Saint Canute's Cathedral.

He married Adelaide (Adela) of Flanders (who later became grand duchess Adelaide of Silicy), daughter of Robert I, the count of Flanders, and had a son, Charles the Good, who became count of Flanders.