St Knuds church
Knud den Hellige
Saint Canute's Cathedral (Danish:
Odense Domkirke or Sct. Knuds Kirke) is named after the Danish king Canute the
Saint (Danish: Knud den Hellige). It a fine example of brick Gothic
architecture. The church's most visited section is the crypt where the remains
of King Canute and his brother, Benedict are on display.
St Canutes' Church in one form or another has stood on Nuns' Hill (Danish:
Nonnebakken) for over 900 years. Odense was established as the seat of the
Bishop of Odense (Othinia) before 988 under the supervision of the Archbishop of
Schleswig. The diocese included the southern Baltic islands of Denmark. The
first bishop's names have not been recorded. Odense passed to the jurisdiction
of Roskilde in 1072 for a short period of time before falling to the Archdiocese
of Lund.
The earliest known church on the present location was a travertine church which
was reported under construction by Aelnoth of Canterbury, a Benedictine monk at
St Albans in 1095. The foundations of the travertine church can still be seen in
the crypt of the present building. The church was built in Romanesque style with
half-round arches supporting a flat timber ceiling. The travertine church was
built specifically to house the earthly remains of King Canute, who was murdered
at nearby St Alban's Priory church in 1086.
St Canute, the son of King Sven Estridsen, was born about 1040 and ruled Denmark
from 1080-1086. In 1075 Canute accompanied the Danish fleet on the last great
Viking raid of that age. It is suggested that he stole relics of St Alban from
Ely which he deposited in St Alban's Priory which he had founded in Odense.
Canute reigned at a difficult time in Danish history. The country was a
patchwork of powerful autonomous feudal landowners. The idea of a united Danish
nation wasn't on anyone's agenda at the time, except for King Canute. After the
death of his older brother, the national assembly (Danish:Ting) met on Zealand
to proclaim Canute king of Denmark. Once the assembly had shouted their
approval, Canute stood up and spoke to those assembled, both peasant and nobles.
"You called my brother Harald, the Whet-stone, but you will learn that I will be
hard as granite!" (Danish: kampesten). Soon after, he ordered the people of
Halland to supply him with horses and wagons to transport himself and his
household throughout the kingdom. The assembly met to discuss the king's
request. The people decided that the request was not lawful according to the
ancient customs and laws they all knew. Canute was enraged by what he heard. "It
is your right to hold fast to your rights and laws and bear only the burdens the
law allows, but you must also accept that I am free to do with mine what I will,
and I forbid you to let your swine graze in Halland's Great Forest which belongs
to me!" After hasty consultations the Hallanders supplied the required
equipment. Canute did the same in Scania (southern Sweden). At the assembly he
required men and supplies to build the new cathedral at Lund. When the assembly
balked, Canute swore he would forbid them to fish in the Øresund. Likewise they
too acceded to the king's request.
Sct. Knuds Kirke
Canute was a devout Christian and
believed that a strong central church in Denmark would give him more power.
Canute was instrumental in improving the nation-wide system of bishops by using
his own local officials (Danish:fogeder) to collect tithes, a new tax, which
were used to build the churches, hospitals, and monasteries which were just
beginning to be introduced into Denmark. Many people were Christian in name, but
the old ways were only half-forgotten, and suspicions about foreigners ran high.
Peasants were pressed hard to put food on the table and the forced tithes
infuriated peasants, merchants, and nobles alike.
Canute brought about the wrath of some of his chiefs when he hanged Jarl Egil
Ragnarsen, his hand-picked governor of Bornholm, and most of his household for
piracy. Many nobles took to the seas on occasion looking for a quick way to
bolster income. The execution of a ranking chief, caused more than one chief to
reconsider his support for such a troublesome monarch.
Canute's headaches came to a head in 1085-86. Canute decided to invade England
and try to take the throne from William I who was old and by some reports
failing. As a close relative of Canute the Great, Canute's claim was easily as
valid as that of William of Normandy's. With the cooperation of Robert of
Flanders, his father-in-law, Canute ordered an armada of 1000 Danish ships and
60 Norwegian ships to assemble at Struer in the Lim Fjord, northern Jutland, in
the summer of 1085. As had been the tradition since the first Viking raid on
England, local chiefs gathered ships, supplies, sailors, and warriors for a
share of the profits, loot, slaves, and treasure taken during the raid. Canute
in the meantime traveled from assembly to assembly in southern Jutland ordering
his people to pay tithes, a tenth of all their produce for the church. At the
same time he tried to institute a head tax (Danish:nefgjald) to raise money from
the peasants. The tithes and new tax were not well received, and when his
brother, Olaf, protested, Canute had him arrested and exiled to Flanders in
chains, believing that Olaf was responsible for the growing unrest. It took so
long to pacify the south that Canute didn't come north for weeks. In the
meantime, the Danes at Struer were hungry, bored, and very unhappy with the
king. Finally they agreed that they would sail home. They told themselves that
the weather would turn bad before they could complete a successful raid, such a
late start would spell disaster. The order to assemble had not been made at an
assembly, and was,therefore, unlawful in the popular view. To the Norwegians
they said, "You can stay here in this place of starving, if you will. We are
going home."
When Canute arrived at Struer and found the fleet disbanded, he was furious. He
thanked the Norwegians for their patience and sent them home. "Now we (Danes)
will play," he said ominously. Canute blamed the wives of several leading chiefs
from Jutland of causing bad weather and ordered his officers to collect such
heavy fines from their families that it would have bankrupted all of them. Then
he proceeded from assembly to assembly to outlaw any man, sailor, peasant or
noble who left Struer until they paid a heavy fine, more than the annual income
of any but the wealthiest nobles. Within days the peasants in Vendsyssel, the
most northern part of Jutland, rebelled. Royal property was burned,royal
officials were tortured and murdered.
The Jute chiefs decided to cast their lot with the peasants for once, and the
rebellion spread rapidly. Canute and his household and other loyal followers
fled from Jutland with the intent to return to Zealand, where Canute had more
support. Canute was convinced instead to sail over to Funen and then on to the
royal farm (Danish:gård) at Odense by his trusted advisor, Asbjørn Blak. Blak
persuaded the king that he could reconcile with the great landowners and
peasants.s.
Canute and his brothers, Benedict and Erik and their housecarls went to the
king's farm outside Odense. When the peasants and their leaders realized the
king was at Odense, they raced to the king's farm, but Canute and Benedict fled
into the little timber church of St Albans Priory, near the river for sanctuary.
The rebels refused to recognize sanctuary. "Come out to us, you devil. Too long
you have used the edge of your sword to hurt your own people. Now you will feel
the edge of our weapons!" Prince Benedict and several others defended the doors.
The mob hurled stones and arrows through the windows shouting, "This is for
stealing my cow! This is for taking my horses!" Since they couldn't get through
the heavy outer doors, the mob tried to set fire to the church, but a light rain
kept the fire from taking hold. They began tearing at the timber walls to get
access. Prince Benedict shouted, "It would be better that you go home to thresh
your grain than stand here and exchange blows with the king's men!" The
remaining defenders retreated to the choir door which separated the altar area
from the nave of the church. The floors ran with blood. "There he is!" shouted
Blak, but before the traitor could move against the king, he was slain by Prince
Benedict. The mob hacked Prince Benedict to death. Canute had received communion
and tradition says he offered no resistance when he was killed at the main
altar. Forensic evidence suggests he was speared from the front and had his
skull smashed, perhaps by a stone thrown through an opening that had been torn
through the wall of the choir. Prince Erik, later King Erik Ejegod managed to
talk his way out of the king's farm and fled to Zealand and then with his wife
and child to Skania. The seventeen housecarls loyal to Canute were massacred
within the confines of the church on 10 July 1086.
a national shrine
The Benedictine monks buried Canute
and Prince Benedict in front of the main altar at St Albans. The story of
Canute's death at the altar and his well-known devoutness quickly caught the
popular imagination. When Queen Edele came to move her husband's body to
Flanders, a bright light shone around St Albans Church. The queen left her
husband where he was, and the faithful streamed to the church which housed the
remains of their saintly king. Almost immediately there were reports of
miraculous healings at the site of his burial in St Albans. Blind, deaf, and
lame were healed. Seven years of famine following Canute's death were another
sure sign that Canute was worthy of veneration. His brother and successor, King
Oluf, was given the nickname Hunger because he was unable to do anything about
the famine that ravaged Denmark for years after Canute's death.
The unique circumstances of Canute's death was seized upon by the Catholic
church as an example of saintly behavior for the newly converted peoples of
Scandinavia. Canute was canonized in 1101 by Pope Pascal II. Some confusion
exists among writers about the location of the new St Canute's church thinking
it rose on the site of the assassination, but St Alban's and St Canute's
churches were not in the same location. The new cathedral, constructed in
imported tufa stone, was constructed a little farther from the river, and was
well underway before Canute became a saint. Aelnoth of Canterbury, an English
monk, reported the building of St Canute's in 1095 described the miracles
reported at the site of Canute's grave. When the first St Canute's church was
completed, a three day fast was proclaimed for the entire kingdom and the
remains of Canute and Benedict were moved to the cathedral. It was believed that
if the king was truly a saint that the shroud should be set on fire and the body
would not be harmed. The shroud of St Canute was set alight, but the fire left
no mark upon the body of the king.
During the civil war between Erik Plovpenning and his brother, Abel, Odense and
the cathedral were burned down in 1247. The present church was constructed in
several phases to replace the aging and inadequate stone church about 1300 by
Bishop Gisico (1287-1300). The new cathedral was built in Gothic style with its
typical pointed arches and high vaulted ceilings. The building material of
choice for the time was over-sized red brick which was cheaper and easier to
work with than the porous stone available at the time. Portions of the stone
cathedral were taken down and the new building expanded around the old. In all
it took approximately two hundred years to complete the cathedral. It was
dedicated 30 April 1499. The church was built in cruciform shape without a
tower. The ancient crypt was expanded in such a way that pilgrims could visit
the reliquary of St Canute beneath the raised choir and not interfere with the
canons hourly services above. The canons also claimed they had relics of St
Alban which Canute supposedly stole on his 1075 attack on Ely, England.d.
King Hans of Denmark was buried in the cathedral in 1513. The body of his wife,
Queen Christina of Saxony, was eventually moved from St Peter's Church in Ghent
to lie beside her husband in the Franciscan Abbey. Queen Christina, who lived
the latter part of her life at a nunnery in Odense, commissioned the famous
German sculptor Claus Berg to create a magnificent burial chapel with the
Franciscans. King Christian II and his wife, Queen Isabella/Elizabeth of Austria
were interred in the royal family chapel. In 1807 the former Franciscan Abbey
Church was torn down. Claus Berg's magnificent late Gothic altar piece and the
four royals were transferred to St Canute's Church. The altar piece is truly a
one of Denmark's national treasures. It was carved between 1515 and 1525. Each
of the three sections are intricately carved and gilded. It survived the
iconoclastic ferver of the Reformation perhaps because of the royal burials.
The single tower was completed in 1586 over the west entrance in the same style
as the rest of the cathedral. Five bells hang in the tower. The oldest from 1300
cast by Adam..., one cast in 1597 by Jens Hansen, a bell cast in 1677, and one
from 1767 cast by ... Leitze. The most recent bell cast by MP Allerup in 1880.0.
In 1633 Valkendorf's Chapel was added, by all accounts a fine example of
Renaissance artistry. Unfortunately it was dismantled in the great restoration
of 1868.
Thomas Kingo was made the Lutheran Bishop of Odense in 1634. He was Denmark's
most famous psalmist and produced a new hymnbook to which he personally
contributed 85 hymns.s.
During restoration work in the 1870's, the crypt which had been closed since the
Reformation was refurbished and opened as a chapel, and St Canute once more went
on display.y.
Thomas Kingogo
St Alban's churchch