Canute IV of Denmark
King of Denmark from 1080 to 1086
Feast: 19 January (1962 Missal, commemoration) · not on the current Roman calendar
Who they were
Canute took part in expeditions in 1069 and 1075, and fought successfully against the Estonians and Prussians. When his father died in 1076 the nobles chose his younger brother Harald as king, and Canute fled to Sweden. When Harald died in 1080 Canute returned and was elected king.
He strengthened the bishops, freed the clergy from civil jurisdiction and supported the reform of Gregory VII; he protected foreigners and freed slaves, giving them the status of free peasants. The tithe he imposed for the Church and the hardship of a failed naval expedition turned the people, stirred up by the nobles, against him. He took refuge in the church of St Alban at Odense, where, while he knelt in prayer, he was killed by a spear on 10 July 1086.
The miracles
Miracles at his tomb led the bishop of Odense to move his body to the cathedral in 1095; by 1100 he was venerated as a saint and patron of Denmark.
Why that counted as sanctity
Canute governed by the Gospel, freeing slaves and protecting the Church, and died at prayer for it.
Connected on this site
- Charles I, Count of Flanders Blessed Child
- Vatican News - Saint of the day (Italian): Canute IV of Denmark
- Wikidata Q212284 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Canute IV of Denmark (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.