Canute or Knud Valdemarsen (1207 – 1260) was an illegitimate son of King Valdemar II of Denmark, who became

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Revelia Revala (also ''Rävälä'', la, Revalia, by Henry of Livonia ''Revele'', by Danish Census Book ''Revælæ'') was an Ancient Estonian county. It was located in northern Estonia, by the Gulf of Finland and corresponded roughly to the present terri ...

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second ...

and

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...

. Canute was the son of the king by his mistress,

Helena Guttormsdotter Helena Guttormsdotter, fl 1205, was a Swedish noble and landholder, known as the royal mistress of Valdemar II of Denmark. Helena was the daughter of the Swedish earl Guttorm jarl. She married the Danish noble Esbern Snare and became the mother ...

, widow of Danish nobleman Esbern Snare and daughter of Guttorm, Riksjarl of Sweden. His father gave him lands in

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

as a hereditary duchy in 1219. He was made Duke of Reval (Tallinn) in 1219, but was dispossessed as Denmark were thrown out by the Estonians in 1227. As compensation, he was given

in 1242, which he held until his death. Canute supported the younger rebel brothers, Abel and

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

, against King

Eric IV of Denmark Eric IV, also known as Eric Ploughpenny or Eric Plowpenny ( da, Erik Plovpenning), ( – 10 August 1250) was king of Denmark from 1241 until his death in 1250. His reign was marked by conflict and civil wars against his brothers. Early life E ...

in 1246, and was imprisoned at

Stegeborg Castle Stegeborg Castle is a ruined castle in St Anna parish, Söderköping, Östergötland, located on an island in a narrow sound at the bay of Slätbaken. Brief history The oldest part of the castle is a square brick tower in the southeast corn ...

. Bricka, Carl Frederik, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. IX

yde - Køtschau Yde () is a village in the municipality of Tynaarlo in the province of Drenthe in the Netherlands. It lies about 11 km south of Groningen. Yde is twinned with De Punt as Yde-De Punt, however both remain separate villages. Yde is known as th ...

1895, pp. 272
Available online
/ref> The king forced him to exchange Blekinge temporarily for

, but Blekinge was soon restored to Canute's possession. Canute left two sons

Erik Knudsen Skarsholm Erik Knudsen (1255-1303) was a Danish duke and Drost, the son of Canute, Duke of Estonia and Jadviga of Rügen and therefore a grandson of Valdemar II of Denmark.In 1277 he was mentioned as a Junker. In 1279 he lived in Zealand on his farm of S ...

(died 1304) and Lord Svantepolk Knudsen (died 1310), as well as a daughter who is said to have married a

Folkung In modern Swedish, Folkung has two meanings, which appear to be opposites: # The medieval "House of Bjelbo" in Sweden, which produced several Swedish statesmen and kings. # A group of people (singular ''Folkunge'', plural ''Folkungar''), who were ...

. Canute's land of Blekinge, with Lister, was given to his great-grandson lord

Knut Folkason Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used wh ...

in the 1330s by King

Magnus VII of Norway Magnus IV (April or May 1316 – 1 December 1374; Swedish ''Magnus Eriksson'') was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364, King of Norway as Magnus VII (including Iceland and Greenland) from 1319 to 1355, and ruler of Scania from 1332 to 1360. By ...

. Lord Knut's heirs continued to claim the lordship.

Citations and references

Cited sources

* * {{authority control House of Estridsen Illegitimate children of Danish monarchs Burials at St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted 1260 deaths Medieval Danish nobility 13th-century Danish people Dukes of Estonia Dukes of Lolland Year of birth uncertain 1207 births Sons of kings