The Early Cult of Canute Lavard

Tjuandedag-Knut

jagar jula ut

- Old Norwegian saying

Despite the fact that Norway became officially Lutheran, as part of the kingdom Denmark-Norway, in the 1530s, several vestiges of the Catholic past remained as a part of folklore and tradition. One such remnant was the name of certain dates from the sanctorale. Candlemas (February 2) and Peter's Chair (February 22) and Michaelmas (September 29) were all important reference point even to my grandparents' generation, and Michaelmas remained a holy day in Norway until 1770. (1) Another Catholic leftover was twentieth-day Canute, a name given to Canute Lavard (c.1096-1131, can.1169), and the old Norwegian saying - often quoted to me by my grandmother - claimed that "twentieth-day Canute chases the Christmas out", putting an official end to the celebrations at January 13, the twentieth day of Christmas. I'm a bit at a loss to understand how Canute Lavard was given this name, especially since his feast day traditionally was January 7. However, because of this Norwegian tradition, I will today give a quick presentation of Canute Lavard, duke of southern Jutland and martyr.

Wall painting of the enthroned Canute Lavard, St. Bent's Church, Ringsted, early 14th century

Courtesy of Danske leksikon

Copyright Nasjonalmuseet, Copenhagen

Canute was the son of King Eric Ejegod (the Good) of Denmark and was brought up in part at the Saxon court of Lothair who later became emperor. As a second son, he was a duke whose territory served as a bulwark against the Slavic Wends, whom he also encouraged Bishop Vicelin of Oldenburg to convert. His power in the Wendish march grew, to the anxiety of his uncle King Niels, especially as he was recognised by Lothar as the king of the Wends.(2) Whether Canute himself had any royal ambitions can not be ascertained, but he was hailed as a just and peaceful man, and his name suggests he was viewed, either by contemporaries or posthumously, as a lord. His cognomen, Lavard, means bread-giver, and is related to the Old English word "hlaford", "loaf-giver", from whence "lord" is derived. If this name was appended in his lifetime, it must certainly have made King Niels worried about his nephew's aspirations, and he feared Canute sufficiently much to have two of his sons murder their cousin near Ringsted in 1131.

Some decades later, Canute's son and king of Denmark, Valdemar I requested his father's canonisation. This was in the 1160s and royal saints had very recently become something of a vogue of Western sainthood, and this must be seen in light of the schism which divided Western Christendom at the time. Although theological considerations should not be underestimated in these proceedings, the canonisations of royals were procured in large part due to the support from the saints' royal successor. The first of these canonisations was that of Edward the Confessor in 1161, a canonisation that had been pending for some time, but the support of Henry II given to Pope Alexander III must certainly given added impetus. This canonisation was countered by Antipope Paschal III in support of Frederick Barbarossa, and although King Valdemar I had supported Barbarossa during the schism, Alexander decided to grant Valdemar's request in 1169. At this time the antipope was dead and the schism healed, so the canonisation might be to welcome Valdemar back into the fold, or perhaps as a reward for Archbishop Eskil who had remained loyal to the pope. Interestingly, the canonisation bull from 1169 was modelled on that of Edward the Confessor, (3) suggesting very clearly that the "royal saint" was now becoming a type of its own.

Evidence for Canute's sanctity was brought to bear by the archbishops of Lund and Uppsala, and on June 25 in the year after the canonisation, Canute's relics were translated at Ringsted, presided over by Archbishop Eskil. Although Canute was a Danish martyr, and an important rallying point for a Denmark torn by years of civil strife, the most important impulses to his cult might have come from abroad. As stated, the papal bull was in essence a recycling of that used for Edward the Confessor, and this might have had ramifications for how he was formulated by the liturgists at Ringsted. Furthermore, his hagiography, Vita sancti Canuti ducis, had been composed by the Englishman Robert of Ely shortly after Canute's death in the 1130s. The office for Canute Lavard hailed him for his mildness and his Christlike suffering, and he was depicted as shepherd and the light of his people. It has been suggested by Professor Nils Holger Petersen that this non-military representation might stem from a desire to depict Denmark as a Christian nation as a contrast to the decades of civil unrest. (4)

This non-military representation can be seen for instance in the 12th repertory of the Canute office, where he is rendered in monkish terms, a helper of the poor, rather than a military leader (as would be natural considering his title "dux", which has military implications). (5) Other characteristics menitoned are Canute's exile and noble heritage. (6) Such a representation might suggest inspiration from the cult of Edward the Confessor, whose characterisation was markedly non-military, and where exile and heritage is referred to, but this might also be a consequence of the typology of martyrdom. However, it is interesting to note that Roskilde Cathedral used to celebrate Edward the Confessor's dies natalis on January 7, the very feast which a few years later became the dies natalis of Canute Lavard. Whether this had implications for the cult of Canute is not known, but it is an interesting thing to note anyway. (7)

Wall painting from Vigersted Church near Ringsted, c.1450

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The cult of Canute Lavard was a Benedictine cult, embracing the peaceful aspects of the saint, and although the expansionist ambitions of Denmark was performed in the name of Canutus Dux, his iconography was never militarised, not even by the late 12th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus.(8)

References

1) http://snl.no/Mikkelsmess

2) Farmer, David, Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford, 2005

3) Bergsagel, John, "Between Politics and Devotion: the Canonizations of Knud Lavard and Edward Confessor", printed in Hankeln, Roman, Political Plainchant? Music, Text and Historical Context of Medieval Saints' Offices, Institute of Mediaeval Music, Ottawa, 2009: 54 and Bergsagel, John, The offices and masses of St. Knud Lavard (Kiel, Univ.Lib. MS S.H. A. 8 ), Copenhagen, 2010: xviii-xix

4) Petersen, Nils Holger, "Theological construction in the offices of St Knud Lavard", seminar presentation given at Hell, Norway, August 16 2012

5) Petersen 2012

6) Hope 2012: 49, n363 and XIX

7) Bergsagel 2009: 54

8) Petersen 2012

Sources

Bergsagel, John, "Between Politics and Devotion: the Canonizations of Knud Lavard and Edward Confessor", printed in Hankeln, Roman, Political Plainchant? Music, Text and Historical Context of Medieval Saints' Offices, Institute of Mediaeval Music, Ottawa, 2009

Bergsagel, John, The offices and masses of St. Knud Lavard (Kiel, Univ.Lib. MS S.H. A. 8 ), Copenhagen, 2010

Farmer, David, Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford, 2005

Hope, Steffen, The King's Liturgical Image - the representation of Edward the Confessor in historiography, hagiography and liturgy, MA-thesis, Trondheim, 2012

Petersen, Nils Holger, "Theological construction in the offices of St Knud Lavard", seminar presentation given at Hell, Norway, August 16 2012

Encyclopedias

http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Danmarks_geografi_og_historie/Danmarks_historie/Danmark_f%C3%B8r_Reformationen/Knud_Lavard

http://snl.no/Mikkelsmess