Canute or Knud Valdemarsen (1207 – 1260) was an illegitimate son 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� ...

, who became

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

of Revelia,

Blekinge Blekinge () 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-smallest provin ...

and

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

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

Helena Guttormsdotter {{Short description, Swedish noble and landholder 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 a Swedish Jarl, Guttorm. She married the Dani ...

, widow of Danish nobleman

Esbern Snare Esbern Snare (1127–1204), also known as Esbern the Resolute, was a '' høvding'', or chieftain, royal chancellor and crusader. His family were members of the powerful Hvide clan. In 1192, during the Crusades and after the fall of Jerusalem, h ...

and daughter of Guttorm, Riksjarl of Sweden. His father gave him lands in

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 ...

as a hereditary duchy in 1219. He was made Duke of Reval (Tallinn) in 1219, but was dispossessed as Denmark was thrown out by the

Livonian Brothers of the Sword The Livonian Brothers of the Sword (; ) was a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (monastic society), military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert of Riga, Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theode ...

in 1227. As compensation, he was given

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

Abel Abel ( ''Hébel'', in pausa ''Hā́ḇel''; ''Hábel''; , ''Hābēl'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within the Abrahamic religions. Born as the second son of Adam and Eve, the first two humans created by God in Judaism, God, he ...

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 ( – 10 August 1250), also known as Eric Ploughpenny or Eric Plowpenny (), 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 Eric was the son of Val ...

in 1246, and was imprisoned at Stegeborg Castle.

Bricka, Carl Frederik Carl Frederik Bricka (10 July 1845 – 23 August 1903) was a Danish archivist, historian and biographer. Biography Carl Bricka was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His father, Frederik Vilhelm Theodor Bricka (1809–79), was a medical doctor. He ...

, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. IX yde - Køtschau 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 (died 1304) and Lord Svantepolk Knudsen (died 1310), as well as a daughter who is said to have married a Folkung. Canute's land of Blekinge, with Lister, was given to his great-grandson lord Knut Folkason in the 1330s by King Magnus VII of Norway. Lord Knut's heirs continued to claim the lordship.

Citations and references

Cited sources

* * House of Estridsen Illegitimate children of Danish monarchs Burials at St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted 1260 deaths 13th-century Danish nobility Dukes of Estonia Dukes of Lolland 1207 births Sons of kings Valdemar II of Denmark {{Estonia-bio-stub