Canute I the Great

Born c. 995; died Nov. 12, 1035, in Shaftesbury. King of Denmark from 1018, England from 1016, and Norway from 1028.

Canute I the Great was the son of the Danish king Sweyn I Forkbeard, with whom, beginning in 1013, he engaged in the conquest of England; he was confirmed as king of all England after the death of the English king Edmund Ironside. In England he relied for support on the small landowners and patronized the high English clergy, granting them land and immunity privileges. In Denmark he became king after the death of his brother Harold II. During his reign there a special army (thinglid), composed of representatives of the most illustrious families, took shape (this was the origin of the knight class in Denmark), and the regular minting of coins was begun. He became king of Norway after he banished King Olav II Haraldsson. The great power that he had amassed collapsed soon after his death.